Chase Rice “If I Were Rock & Roll” Song Review

Singer-songwriter Chase Rice defines his next step of his decade-long career with the first major release he’s written completely independently, “If I Were Rock & Roll”. Chase Rice has remained popular in the country music scene, with over two million albums sold and two billion streams. However, he promises with this initial release a new sense of authenticity within his music, collaborating with individuals who embody the values Rice holds within the lyrics of “If I Were Rock & Roll.”

“If I were rock ‘n’ roll / I’d be a middle finger in your face / If I were a lost soul / I’d be in church more than just Sundays / And if for some reason I was Jesus / I’d have a lot of forgiving to do / And if I weren’t a fool / Girl I’d still be with you”

“As I sat down to write this song at my dining room table, with nothing but a guitar and the line ‘If I Were Jesus,’ inspired by Bruce Springsteen’s ‘If I Was the Priest,’ I wanted to incorporate all of the things that have been such a huge influence in my life into the lyrics,” notes Rice. “From Earnhardt to my military buddies, to Johnny Cash, to my grandpa… these are all people and memories who have shaped the man I am. It’s a very personal, real song to me and yet how the song ends, with the one that got away, makes it one that I think a lot of people will relate to.”

Throughout the song, Rice shares his insecurities with varying statements beginning with “If I were…”, encapsulating a sense of doubt and dreaming altogether in one. He expresses the need to be a “NASCAR man”, “grandaddy”, “rebel kid”, a “smart man” and even Jesus. The intimate lyrics to the song reveal Rice’s need to be more— his hunger to be smarter, wiser, stronger, and all-knowing… but most of all– with the girl in which he dedicates the song to. In the end, he reveals himself in a moment of weakness, to be none of these things, but a fool.

“If I Were Rock & Roll” is only a tease of the next phase of Rice’s career, already promising a prominent sound full of personality and vulnerability that we can’t help but to crave more from.

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