Sunday Drive

Album: Sunday Drive (2020)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This poignant piano-led number finds Brett Eldredge remembering weekend drives with his parents.

    They didn't ever say where we were going
    We just climbed into the backseat
    Eyes wide open to the picture show outside
    I guess we really didn't understand it all


    The nearly five-minute song tells a story of remembering those simple moments with your family. By the end of the track, it's Eldredge who is driving his aging parents.

    I never said where we were going
    I just helped them to the back seat
    Dad, just laughed and said
    "Son, don't drive too far"
  • Eldredge first heard this Barry Dean, Don Mescall and Steve Robson-penned song back in his days as an intern for Universal Music Publishing Group. He explained to Billboard that he was working in the tape room where he got to hear all these songwriters' songs. "It looked pretty much like a glorified dungeon with a bunch of CDs all over the place," he recalled. "I was transferring CDs to MP3s. I would hear all these songs by tons of different writers, hundreds and hundreds of songs. This certain song popped out when I heard it. I was just blown away by 'Sunday Drive' by this guy named Barry Dean that wrote there."

    Though he couldn't record the tune then, Eldredge never forgot about the "Sunday Drive" demo. "It felt like this certain song was written for me, the way I grew up and the way my relationship is with life and my family and everything. Obviously I didn't have a record deal yet. I didn't even have anything going on really. I was hoping one day I can get known for my music and I can put this on an album. And lo and behold, one day I do get a record deal. But I'm still not at the spot in my life where this song makes sense, I still need to do some more living."

    Eldredge continued to watch "Sunday Drive" like a hawk, hoping he wouldn't turn on the radio one day and hear the song. He finally got his opportunity with his fifth studio album, which he recorded during a very reflective time in his life. "I was like, this is the time. To be able to give a song life after 12 years or whenever it was that it was written was so special to be able to share to the world and share with the writers," Eldredge said. "It's one of the most special songs I've ever recorded."
  • Brett Eldredge was very much involved in the conceptualization of the black and white Reid Long-directed video. "I wanted to show a glimpse of a kid from the middle of nowhere in the heart of the heartland," he explained to People.

    Filmed in Eldredge's small hometown of Paris, Illinois, the clip shows him playing the piano on One O'clock Road, a country lane he traveled up and down as a child.

    Eldredge's screen time is intercut with the story, which follows the song in nostalgically reflecting on weekend trips over the years. The vehicle being driven is a 1971 Ford Country Squire station wagon. "I told them, I don't care what we do here, but can we have a station wagon?" Eldredge recalled. "I've just seen it in my mind a million times. My grandfather had a station wagon growing up, and I remember riding in the back, so I wanted one in the video."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Matthew Wilder - "Break My Stride"

Matthew Wilder - "Break My Stride"They're Playing My Song

Wilder's hit "Break My Stride" had an unlikely inspiration: a famous record mogul who rejected it.

Cy Curnin of The Fixx

Cy Curnin of The FixxSongwriter Interviews

The man who brought us "Red Skies" and "Saved By Zero" is now an organic farmer in France.

Experience Nirvana with Sub Pop Founder Bruce Pavitt

Experience Nirvana with Sub Pop Founder Bruce PavittSong Writing

The man who ran Nirvana's first label gets beyond the sensationalism (drugs, Courtney) to discuss their musical and cultural triumphs in the years before Nevermind.

Incongruent Opening Acts

Incongruent Opening ActsSong Writing

Here's what happens when an opening act is really out of place with the headliner, like when Beastie Boys opened for Madonna.

Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World

Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat WorldSongwriter Interviews

Jim talks about the impact of "The Middle" and uses a tree metaphor to describe his songwriting philosophy.

Harry Shearer

Harry ShearerSongwriter Interviews

Harry is Derek Smalls in Spinal Tap, Mark Shubb in The Folksmen, and Mr. Burns on The Simpsons.