Drunk on Country Music

By R. Keith Rugg, 5-27-09

On the drive today, the classic country deejay played the Charlie Daniels Band‘s “Drinkin’ My Baby Goodbye” (Charlie Daniels has some Rocky Mountain tour performances taking place in mid-July, btw), with some advice on how to avoid a hangover.  ("Go light,” as in white wines and lighter-colored liquors, as opposed to dark rums, whiskeys, red wines and any darker-colored liquors.  Can’t vouch for this train of thought, though… I remember one hellacious day of packing out an elk, a day that came on the heels of a night of celebration that involved some sort of pinkish vodka, which is not only light, but purt’ near transparent...)

Anyway, got me thinking about just how very, very many country songs have to do with alcoholic beverages in general, and with alcohol and broken hearts in particular.  I suppose it says something about the cowboy lifestyle.  And following the deejay’s hangover prevention tips was an advertisement for an alcoholism treatment program, so I guess I’m not the only one to take note of the deep-running connection.

So I thought I’d turn this blog now and then toward an infrequent look at country music drinkin’ songs.  I realize that a person could probably post daily on this topic and not run out of subject matter, but I won’t go that far, at least not for now… consider me to be just a social country music drinker.

There’s one particular song on the airwaves right now that fits the bill and that I like to listen to; “People Are Crazy,” by Billy Currington.  Got to admit, Currington hasn’t really been on my radar before this, and checking into his discography, nothing before this single really floats my boat.  (No, wait, rewind that last bit… I LOVE “Good Directions”!  So, okay, one previous big-thumbs-up-song in his repertoire, because I don’t really much care for his “Must Be Doin’ Something Right,” ‘cause it’s just a little bit too black-velvet-lounge-singer for my taste, and “Don’t” and his other stuff is just kind of ... blah.) But his singing voice on “People Are Crazy” has a nice country-boy twang that belies the disheveled macaroni-hair photo of Currington put out by his p.r. people. 

The song itself is reminiscent of Benjamin Franklin’s utterance that “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” The line in the Currington song goes, “God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy.” And it isn’t just the lyrics and Currington’s singing voice that catches me on this song.  The music itself is nice and homey, with a wry little twist to it.  Currington says about it, “I remember when I popped it in, and from the first verse to the first chorus, it just put a big smile on my face. I was like, ‘You know, I’ve been waiting on a song like this for a long time.’ ... It’s got a laid-back melody that just puts you in that happy zone.”

So there’s the first on the list:  Billy Currington’s “People Are Crazy.” I’ll work my way through the archives and airwaves to bring the other country music drinking songs to light, but bear in mind, there’s a LOT of ground to cover, so don’t get your nose bent out of shape if I don’t get to your favorite one right away.  However, if you’ve got one in mind that just really tickles your fancy, do feel free to let me know, particularly if you’ve got any inside info on it that you’d like to share. 

And now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to turn on the radio and pop the top on a nice cold Moose Drool…