Eric Church Wrote This Deep Cut After He Was Arrested For Trying To Steal Records Back From An Ex

Gotta love a suggestive country song about Willies, right?

Tyler Childers unreleased “Waylon On My Willie” is another cheeky one that’s worth a listen to as well, although a bit more direct, but this hidden gem from Eric Church has become a fan favorite over the years. Titled “Leave My Willie Alone” eventually became a bonus track on Eric Church’s 2009 sophomore album Carolina, but prior to that, Eric played the song quite a bit in his live show.

In one particular instance, he detailed the colorful inspiration, all completely true, behind the song:

“I had a girl in college… this particular girl, and I’m from North Carolina, and where I’m from whatcha call this particular girl it rhymes with ‘witch’ pretty much.

This is a true story and when she left me and went through my record collection, and she pulled out five records in the entire collection… and three of them were Willie Nelson records it just pissed me off. She never answered her phone when I called for some reason and that led to the whole thing about me getting arrested for stalking her… some cop said knocking a window out at 2am is stalking.

So I wrote this song, I decided ‘you know what, this is a great song, I’m gonna make money off this.'”

Well… mission accomplished. And I can’t help but wonder what those 3 records were… gotta be Red Headed Stranger, right? Maybe Stardust and Phases & Stages? I’m pretty partial to Shotgun Willie and Troublemaker myself, but when you have a catalog as deep as Willie’s, she could’ve filled up a truck with records.

There’s a little big of suggestive wordplay in the chorus, but ultimately, the song details the situation pretty clearly. Take a look at the lyrics, which reference albums from Madonna, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Merle Haggard, The Beatles and the Rolling Stones, and even Johnny Cash… but there was one in particular that she couldn’t get enough of…. the great Willie Nelson.

I played her everything from Material Girl
All of my Skynyrd and Merle
The Beatles and the Rolling Stones
Yea tried like hell to hook her on the Man in Black
She wasn’t havin’ any of that
And she kept goin back
To the only thing that turned her on
She wouldn’t leave my Willie alone

The song wasn’t included on the initial launch of Carolina, which was released on March 24th of 2009 with just 12 tracks, but then a limited edition Best Buy CD, with a handful of bonus tracks was released including “My Heart’s Got a Memory,” “Faster Than My Angels Can Fly,” and “His Kind of Money (My Kind of Love).” Those were all featured on Eric’s 2011 Caldwell County EP as well.

It’s unclear exactly when “Leave My Willie Alone” was released, but if you got to Spotify or Apple Music to stream Carolina, there’s lucky #13 right there… the song inspired by Eric Church’s own bout with burglary. Take a listen:

You can listen to Eric deliver the full explanation here.

Willie Nelson Praises Eric Church: “Really Talented”

And while Eric is obviously a fan of Willie Nelson, the respect is mutual.

In an interview with Parade, Willie was asked about his love for the music of Frank Sinatra, after all, Willie he recently released a Frank Sinatra cover album, but then he was asked if there were any younger artists that he listened to.

“There are. I don’t know if I’d call him young or not, but I like Jamey Johnson. There’s probably a half a dozen of those young guys coming up. Eric Church is someone who’s really talented.”

I suppose neither of them are that young, but it’s all relative. Either way, it’s hard to disagree with Willie’s taste.

Back in 2019, country music super stars like George Strait, Bobby Bare, Kris Kristofferson, Jamey Johnson, Chris Stapleton, Lee Ann Womack, Margo Price, Vince Gill, Jimmy Buffett, Steve Earle & more came together to honor the great Willie Nelson for a once in a lifetime tribute concert at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. With various stars performing Willie hits from over the years, and many teaming up with Willie himself, the night dubbed: Willie Nelson American Outlaw, also featured the first ever duet between George Strait and Willie Nelson.

Eric Church was in attendance, performing a solo cover of “Me & Paul,” as well as joining Willie and Kris Kristofferson for a performance of “Me & Bobby McGee.” A double-dose of the “Me &” songs. Released in 1985, “Me & Paul” was the title track from Willie’s album of the same name, a tribute to his longtime drummer and friend, Paul English. Paul passed away earlier this year at the age of 87.

The live album was released in December of 2020, with Eric eventually treating his fans to a live performance video from that night.

The post Eric Church Wrote This Deep Cut After He Was Arrested For Trying To Steal Records Back From An Ex first appeared on Whiskey Riff.