Album: III (2005)

Charted: 32

License This Song 

• She said, "I'm goin' out with my girlfriends
  Margaritas at the Holiday Inn"
  But oh, have mercy my only thought
  Was tequila makes her clothes fall off
  
  I told her put an extra layer on
  I know what happens when she drinks Patrón
  Her closet's missin' half the things she bought
  Yeah, Tequila makes her clothes fall off
  
  She'll start by kickin' out of her shoes
  Lose an earring in her drink
  Leave her jacket in the bathroom stall
  Drop a contact down the sink
  
  Them pantyhose ain't gonna last too long
  If the DJ puts Bon Jovi on
  She might come home in a tablecloth
  Yeah, tequila makes her clothes fall off
  Wa-oh
  
  She can handle any Champagne brunch
  A Bridal shower with Barcadi punch
  Jello shooters full of Smirnoff
  But tequila makes her clothes fall off
  
  She'll start by kickin' out of her shoes
  Lose an earring in her drink
  Leave her jacket in the bathroom stall
  Drop a contact down the sink
  
  She don't mean nothin' she's just havin' fun
  Tomorrow she'll say, "oh, what have I done"
  Her friends will joke about the stuff she lost
  Yeah, tequila makes her clothes fall off
  
  Oh, tequila makes her clothes fall off
  Oh, tequila makes her clothes fall off Writer/s: Garry Hannan, John Wayne Wiggins
  Publisher: Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., NOTEWRITE MUSIC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 7

• Ab Firechick from PennsylvaniaTrevor, I'm not sure where you're getting your interpretation from. I read an article where the song writers were interviewed. It's not about an adultress having an affair. It's just a cute little song, about a woman who can't handle Tequila. At the bar they were drinking in a man said to them Tequila makes my pants fall off.
  So the drunker they got the began to write the song. In the video it's his grandma he is singing about. She gets naked at his pool party and dives in the pool.
• Derek from AlabamaHey, Trev!! This is for you!
  http://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2015/01/22/story-behind-song-tequila-makes-clothes/22192989/
• Derek from AlabamaNow that I got that out of the way, I want to know if Joe Nichols and Band knew that Grandma was going to run up onstage naked? His reaction looks real-ish, but a tad overboard. Anyone, anyone, Bueller?
• Derek from AlabamaWow, Trevor, I will never enjoy that song again. You turned fun, frolicky little song into a horrible drama about modern society and terrible people who can't be loyal in a relationship. I am going to have to go binge watch Twin Peaks just to feel better about life.
• Trevor from Richmond, VaKaren: Though the lyrics themselves are lame, you obviously do not comprehend the actual MEANING of the song. Don't feel bad, though; noone else (other than me) seems to have figured it out either.
  
  The woman in the song is an adulteress. She's cheating on her husband. The "lost" items were removed in preparation for sex with her paramour, then either lost or forgotten afterward. When she gets home, the singer confronts her about the missing items, and she comes up with these LAME excuses. Women do not remove their shoes in bars, and certainly don't forget them. Earrings get lost all the time, by stone cold sober women. The probability of losing them has nothing to do with how drunk a woman is, only how effective the clasping mechanism is. No woman would allow any item of clothing to come in contact with anything in a bar bathroom. Contact lenses do frequently come out and get lost, but no more often when the wearer is drunk, and no more often when drinking tequila than with other drinks. And there's only one reason for a woman to remove her pantyhose when away from home, and it isn't a Bon Jovi song. Speaking of which, hotel bars are not usually wild party places. The music, if they have any at all, is usually elevator music from a CD, not Bon Jovi by a DJ. One thing all hotel bars do have, though, is a hotel.
  
  From the singer's point of view, one of two things is going on. Either he is so madly in love with the woman (or so full of pride in his own prowess) that he cannot accept the fact that she is cheating on him; or he knows damn well that she's cheating on him and he's retelling her lame excuses, with an unspoken "yeah, right" at the end of each. As for the woman, I don't think she even cares if he knows, as she didn't bother coming up with more believable excuses for the missing items. In fact, she may be intentionally rubbing his nose in it by admitting she went to the Holiday Inn.
  
  The song is actually quite brilliant. In the same way that the singer is hiding his pain by believing her lame excuses, the songwriters are hiding the true meaning of the song with fun (or as you called them, juvenile) lyrics.
• Karen from Manchester, NhThis song is so unbelievably lame. It's a shame; Nichols has a wonderful voice, but he wastes his talents on juvenile lyrics like this one.
• Mark from Lancaster, OhYes. This is excellent and highly recommended. She is delivered home wearing a tablecloth.

More Songfacts:

Take Me HomePhil Collins

Phil Collins' "Take Me Home" is about a patient in a mental institution and was inspired by the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Station to StationDavid Bowie

David Bowie's "Station to Station" is over 10 minutes long. Bowie was doing a lot of drugs at the time and later said, "I have only flashes of making it."

RosannaToto

"Rosanna" by Toto got its name from the actress Rosanna Arquette, who was dating Toto keyboard player Steve Porcaro.

Raspberry BeretPrince

The UK band The Lightning Seeds of "Pure" fame got their name from a misheard line in Prince's "Raspberry Beret," mistaking "thunder drowns out what the lightning sees" for "thunder drowns out the lightning seeds."

E.T.Katy Perry

Katy Perry's song "E.T." came from a beat originally intended for the rap group Three Six Mafia. When her producer accidentally pulled up the beat, Perry asked to use it.

ForeverChris Brown

"Forever" by Chris Brown was written for a Wrigley's Doublemint Gum commercial. The full song contains the gum's tagline: "Double your pleasure, double your fun."

Editor's Picks

Vanessa CarltonSongwriter Interviews

The "A Thousand Miles" singer on what she thinks of her song being used in White Chicks and how she captured a song from a dream.

Bands Named After Real People (Who Aren't In The Band)Song Writing

How a gym teacher, a janitor, and a junkie became part of some very famous band names.

Boz ScaggsSongwriter Interviews

The "Lowdown" and "Lido Shuffle" singer makes a habit of playing with the best in the business.

Producer Ron NevisonSong Writing

Ron Nevison explains in very clear terms the Quadrophenia concept and how Heart staged their resurgence after being dropped by their record company.

Barry Dean ("Pontoon," "Diamond Rings And Old Barstools")Songwriter Interviews

A top country songwriter, Barry talks about writing hits for Little Big Town, Tim McGraw and Jason Aldean.

Alan Merrill of The ArrowsSongwriter Interviews

In her days with The Runaways, Joan Jett saw The Arrows perform "I Love Rock And Roll," which Alan Merrill co-wrote - that story and much more from this glam rock pioneer.