Brett Eldredge surprised country music fans Friday morning by releasing his sentimental new song “Want That Back” and its nostalgic, official music video.

Eldredge wrote the song about yearning for simpler times with Scooter Carusoe. Reid Long directed its accompanying clip that follows a group of young friends who bury a time capsule and return as adults to dig it up. The video made its broadcast premiere on CMT, CMT Music and ViacomCBS Times Square Billboards Friday morning.

“I woke up at 3:33 one night and was feeling the weight of everything going on in the world,” Eldredge said in a statement. “From the pandemic to the hate and the violence - all these different things made me crave the pure and simple parts of life that I miss. I was looking for comfort in these moments that I feel bring purpose into my life. It was just such a powerful feeling that overtook me, and I couldn’t go back to sleep until I wrote the whole chorus.”

The lyrics to the chorus are:

The smell of old wood bleachers and the word of hometown preachers| Being rich with her and a cheap six pack| The shine of a new summer| Barefoot baseball with my brother| First-time freedom with the windows cracked| I want that back.

But the song’s timely poignance lies in its verses. Eldredge incorporated the weight he felt that kept him awake that night. He opens with the song with the line: You can have the small talk| You can have the hate.

“Want That Back,” produced by Mark Trussell, is the second new song Eldredge has shared in less than one month. He released “Holy Water” on Christmas Eve, a track he said “represents the cleansing of the spirit.”

“You can find it in ways by recognizing the love for yourself, for being there for yourself, and protecting that inner child,” Eldredge said. “This is a huge power that we all have, and it exists deep down in our hearts.”