Bottoms Up

Album: Just as I Am (2014)
Charted: 20
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Songfacts®:

  • Brantley Gilbert's first new song for three years finds country's bad boy having a good time as he fills his cup from a keg and hooks up with a "pretty little mama."
  • The phrase "Bottoms Up" is a call to drain one's glass, so that the bottom is uppermost. The drinking toast is of British naval origin.
  • The Prohibition-themed music video features Gilbert and his crew decked out in vintage duds preparing to party as they load up a vintage car with moonshine. "The video was a lot of fun to shoot," Gilbert said. "We had an absolute blast. I'm a huge fan of the Prohibition Era. There were outlaws around, real outlaws. [The video] tells a cool story and I think the band and I and everyone involved had a good time. So, we're proud of it."
  • This was Brantley Gilbert's third #1 on Hot Country Songs following "Country Must Be Country Wide" and "You Don't Know Her Like I Do."
  • This was named by TouchTunes, the largest in-venue interactive entertainment network in North America, as the most-played song on jukeboxes in 2014. Katy Perry's "Dark Horse" came second on their list and Pharrell Williams' "Happy" third.
  • Despite penning the boozy, party-hardy lyrics, Gilbert has been sober since late-2011. When asked why he still writes songs about drinking if he's sworn off alcohol, he replied: "Cause when I drank, I drank 10 times more than the majority of people drink in 10 lifetimes. I earned my stripes. I can sing drinking songs for the rest of my life if I want to."
  • The 2015 platinum edition of Just As I Am includes a T.I. remix of this song. Though it might raise eyebrows among country purists, Gilbert told Billboard magazine he didn't intend the collaboration to be controversial, "I didn't do it to piss anybody off or stir the water or give [ammunition to] the people that are on a power trip about the 'country and rap is crap' stuff," he said.

    "That song was already outside of the box," Gilbert added, "so why not spice it up just a little bit and add a little bit of fun?"

Comments: 3

  • Karen Needs A Life from LaWell Karen hate to tell u but I must u r old as hell if u think that is pornographic cause that would be a very cheap porno that wouldn't sell at all so stay there in Mississippi and be a stump jumper that u r and I have to agree with my peeps from the ATL.
  • Nota Karen from AtlantaKaren, your comment is disgusting. It most certainly is about shine and partying. Drop a tailgate (truck with a keg in back), bottoms up ( raise your glass to drain it)
  • Karen from Mississippi BrandonI think he's disgusting. The song is basically pornographic. Bottoms up is not referring to just the bottle. He's degrading a girl like he's picking her up up to screw her and this is distasteful country music. Brantley I can't stand your pig like demeanor. Those words too intelligent for you? Drink. Sex. Grab a keg bottoms up. DISGUSTING SOCIETY Creating a bad moral culture here and degrading country
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