Drinkin'

Album: The Highway (2013)
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Songfacts®:

  • This song is written from the perspective of a frustrated wife who turns to drinking after her cheating, no good, alcoholic husband leaves her. Fortunately, it's pure fiction: Holly married her drummer, Chris Coleman, in 2009, and while marital bliss is subjective, it's clear from Holly's lifestyle blog that when she wrote this song, she was more likely to make a pâté than to go on a bender.

    Holly, however, is the granddaughter of Hank Williams, perhaps the greatest storyteller in the history of country music. She told Songfacts it's an example of his influence: "That's always been very natural to me to write a really simple song, with repetitive verses and a story. 'Drinkin'' is more in the Hank Sr. style of writing."
  • Unlike many Nashville songwriters, Holly doesn't write by appointment, as she can't coax the inspiration. She finds that the songs come to her at random times, and this one appeared while she was driving at night. "A lot of times I'm driving in my car at night, and if I'm on the road, it's total quiet and there's not Internet and computers," she explained. "That came out of nowhere. That was one of those 10 minute songs that just fell out. And I love the melody of it. It's a really fun song to play."

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