"Desperate Man"
Content[edit]
Church announced the single and album via a livestream with his fan club, the Church Choir, in July 2018.[1]
The song has been compared to "Sympathy for the Devil" by The Rolling Stones.[2] Church said that he chose to write with Ray Wylie Hubbard after name-dropping him in his 2015 single "Mr. Misunderstood". This led to the two performing together in concert, and Church collaborating on a song of Hubbard's. Church presented the opening line, about a fortune teller who tells a man that he "has no future", from which Hubbard developed more lyrics and the song's groove. Hubbard told Taste of Country that the song is about being "completely at a point where you're willing to try anything." Church also noted that much of the song's emotion, along with its message of showing hope even when one is feeling troubled, were inspired by the 2017 Las Vegas shooting.[3]
In the music video, which also features Hubbard in a cameo, Church gets "busted" by FBI agents whose uniforms read EMI, the name of his record label.[4]