That Bottle Ain't Your Friend

Album: A Country Soul (2017)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Shane Richie married Coleen Nolan of the Irish family girl group The Nolans in 1990 and together they had two sons, Shane Roche Jr and Jake Roche (frontman of the boyband band Rixton). They divorced in 1999 as a result of Richie's alcoholism. This song is about the heavy drinking which caused the breakup of his nine-year marriage. Richie told The Sun in a 2017 interview:

    "It's been fairly well documented, my past, my divorce 20 years ago, was my fault, through my boozing ways. When we were writing that song, I thought, 'This is almost like an ode to myself'. It was very close to home."
  • The song is a track from Shane Richie's A Country Soul album. He recalled to HMV.com:

    "I wanted to call it 22 Gardens. The label wanted to call it Country Roads, but then you go straight to John Denver, I'm not interested in that. It came from my producer, we were chatting and I said how much soul there was in this album, and he said 'Country Soul. There it is.'"

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Jason Newsted (ex-Metallica)

Jason Newsted (ex-Metallica)Songwriter Interviews

The former Metallica bassist talks about his first time writing a song with James Hetfield, and how a hand-me-down iPad has changed his songwriting.

Divided Souls: Musical Alter Egos

Divided Souls: Musical Alter EgosSong Writing

Long before Eminem, Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj created alternate personas, David Bowie, Bono, Joni Mitchell and even Hank Williams took on characters.

Graham Nash

Graham NashSongwriter Interviews

Graham Nash tells the stories behind some of his famous songs and photos, and is asked about "yacht rock" for the first time.

Marvin Gaye

Marvin GayeFact or Fiction

Did Marvin try out with the Detroit Lions? Did he fake crazy to get out of military service? And what about the cross-dressing?

Oliver Leiber

Oliver LeiberSongwriter Interviews

Oliver Leiber talks about writing and producing hits for Paula Abdul, and explains his complicated relationship with his father, the songwriter Jerry Leiber.

Protest Songs

Protest SongsMusic Quiz

How well do you know your protest songs (including the one that went to #1)?