Released July 14, 2009 Recorded 2005–2007; 2009 Label Mosley, Interscope | Format Digital download Genre Ballad | |
Length 4:27 (Album version)
4:18 (Single version) | ||
"Come Home" is a song written by OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder for the band's debut album, Dreaming Out Loud (2007). The piano-based ballad features orchestral flourishes, and lyrically revolves around the eponymous pleading hook "Come home, come home". Some reviewers felt the song had political undertones as an appeal to recall American troops as Tedder had written the song about a friend serving overseas. "Come Home" was highlighted as a refreshing change of pace from the many similar-sounding songs composing Dreaming Out Loud.
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In 2009, the song was remastered featuring singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles, and this version was issued digitally as the album's fifth and final single. The song debuted at #80 on the Billboard Hot 100 the week of July 14 before dropping off the chart the following week due to a lack of promotion. The song was never serviced to radio, and failed to chart outside the U.S. "Come Home" was featured on episodes of Gossip Girl, Cold Case and The Vampire Diaries.
Critical and commercial reception
Digital Spy′s Nick Levine praised the song for standing out from the non-memorable "Fray-style piano-rock" of the majority of Dreaming Out Loud thanks to the effective pairing of its somber lyrics and ballad-style approach. Reviewing the song for its Song of the Week segment, a blogger of The Reflective Inklings lauded the combination of Tedder and Bareilles's voices in the single remix, noting that it put a refreshing spin the "already-good" track. Sputnik Music and the About.com Top 40 page both labelled "Come Home" as an album highlight, with the former crediting the track for giving the end of the front-loaded album some life.
Receiving no promotion beyond its digital release, "Come Home" was not nearly as successful as the album's first two singles, peaking at No. 80 during its sole week on the Hot 100.
Faith Hill version
American country singer Faith Hill covered the song in 2011, drawing on power pop and country pop influences. Hill premiered her version at the 45th CMA Awards, which was subsequently released to iTunes on November 9, 2011 as the lead single for her upcoming seventh studio album, as well as her first (non-holiday) single release since 2007's "Red Umbrella".
Critical reception
Reviews for Hill's version of "Come Home" were mixed to positive, with most criticism targeting the production. Billboard gave the song a lukewarm reception, describing Hill's performance as "dead-on" and demonstrative of the "dramatic tones" of her voice, but felt the production was overpowering and that the song "never gets totally off the ground." In a similar vein, Ben Foster of The 1-to-10 Country Music Review lamented the "bloated power pop arrangement", and felt that "Come Home" failed to evoke the "vibrancy and sonic stickiness of Hill's best pop-country efforts". Though describing the song as a letdown, Foster did highlight Hill's redeeming vocals and "strong interpretive abilities".
Matt Bjorke of Roughstock was more complimentary, calling the song "one of the best vocals of Faith Hill's career" and applauding Hill for crafting a unique melody that draws from the realms of pop and rock music. Comparing the "soaring ballad" to the works of Lady Antebellum (a comparison Bjorke also drew), Taste of Country editor Billy Dukes wrote that "Come Home" proves that even after three decades in the business, Hill is still in touch with "what's hot in Nashville" and is more than capable of producing a country hit.
Chart performance
Hill's rendition of "Come Home" debuted on the US Hot Country chart at No. 35, her best opening week since "Mississippi Girl", as well as on the Hot 100 at No. 82. Over its twelve-week run on the former, the song reached a peak position of 26.