Eric Church walked onto the stage at UNC-Chapel Hill’s commencement last week and said four words: “I want to start with a sound.”
What followed was a graduation address that went viral, landed him on CNN, and earned the title of “greatest commencement speech ever” from the New York Post.
Church, a North Carolina native and lifelong Tar Heel fan, built his entire speech around the six strings of a guitar — each one representing something essential to a well-lived life.
The low E string is faith. The deepest, heaviest string. The foundation. “The people who tend to their faith in ordinary seasons,” he said, “do not come undone in extraordinary ones.”
The A string is family. The warm, resonant reminder that someone in that crowd loved you before you were easy to love — and stayed anyway.
The D string is your partner. “The person you choose to share your life with is the most important decision you will ever make, outside of your faith,” he told the graduates. “Choose them wisely, and then love them fiercely.”
The G string is ambition and resilience — the string that falls out of tune faster than any other. “Want the thing, say it out loud, build toward it with everything you have. And when you fail — get back up, tune the string, keep playing.”
The B string is community. Church pushed back on a generation tempted to be globally visible and locally invisible. “Learn the actual names — not usernames — of the people around you.”
And the high E string is individuality. The melody everyone takes home. “The world does not need another cover song,” he said. “It needs an original.”
When he finished, Church picked up his guitar and played “Carolina.” Seven thousand graduates in light blue caps swayed together in Kenan Memorial Stadium.
When all six strings are in tune, he said, they can carry a broken person through the worst night of their life, or make a room full of strangers feel like they’ve known each other forever.
On May 9th, they did exactly that.
Comments