"Hell on the Heart" is a song co-written and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer

Eric Church Kenneth Eric Church (born May 3, 1977) is an American country music singer-songwriter. He has released nine studio albums through Capitol Nashville since 2005. His debut album, 2006's '' Sinners Like Me'', produced three singles on the ''Billboar ...

. It was released in October 2009 as the seventh single of his career and the second one from his 2009 album '' Carolina''. The song became Church's second Top 10 hit on the U.S. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart with a peak at number 10. Church wrote this song with

Deric Ruttan Deric J. Ruttan (born January 27, 1972) is a Canadian country music singer, songwriter and record producer from Bracebridge, Ontario, Canada. A Nashville, Tennessee resident, he has released four studio albums and has written or co-written more ...

and Jeremy Spillman.

Content

In "Hell on the Heart," the male narrator addresses about a girl he knows, staying that she is "heaven on the eyes / But boy, she's hell on the heart."

Critical reception

Giving it three stars out of five, Chris Neal of ''

Country Weekly ''Nash Country Weekly'' was an American lifestyle weekly magazine about country artists and their music. It was in circulation between April 1994 and May 2016. The publisher, Cumulus Media, now maintains the site ''Nash Country Daily''. Overvie ...

'' magazine said that it "plays like an afterthought tucked away near the end of ''Carolina'', but its modest charms stand up reasonably well on their own." Karlie Justus of ''Engine 145'' gave the song a thumbs-up, criticizing the "lazy" lyrics and "awkward" production, but said that it showed Church's "knack for composing a

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...

that can make even the most inane song ��tick with listeners after its three minutes expire." Both Neal and Justus compared the song's theme to

Terri Clark Terri Lynn Sauson, known professionally as Terri Clark, born August 5, 1968, is a Canadian country music singer who has had success in both Canada and the United States. Signed to Mercury Records in 1995, she released her self-titled debut that ...

's 1998 single "

You're Easy on the Eyes "You're Easy on the Eyes" is a song co-written and recorded by Canadian country music artist Terri Clark. It was released in August 1998 as the second single from her CD, '' How I Feel'', it spent three weeks at the top of the '' Billboard'' Hot ...

Beatles-esque?

Some listeners have described this song as "Beatles-esque", and Eric and the band appear to be aware of this similarity - the online video of the song features them on a low, sparsely furnished stage in suits and neckties, with the drummer sitting and drumming in the rear in a very Ringo-like manner behind a slimmed-down kit and frequent shots of the mainly female audience, as in old films of Beatles performances from the 1960s. Only the Vox AC30 amps are missing.

Chart performance

"Hell on the Heart" debuted at number 52 on the U.S. ''

charts dated for the week of October 24, 2009, and, like his previous hit, "Love Your Love The Most," this one peaked at number 10.

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2009 singles 2009 songs Eric Church songs Capitol Records Nashville singles Song recordings produced by Jay Joyce Songs written by Eric Church Songs written by Deric Ruttan Songs written by Jeremy Spillman