Whiskey Lullaby

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“Whiskey Lullaby”
Single by Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss from the album Mud on the Tires
Released	2004
Genre	Country
Length	4:26 (album version)
Label	Arista Nashville
Writer(s)	Bill Anderson Jon Randall
Producer	Frank Rogers
Certification	Gold (U.S.)
Brad Paisley singles chronology
"Little Moments" (2004) "Whiskey Lullaby" (2004) "Mud on the Tires" (2004) Audio sample Image:Brad Paisley Whiskey Lullaby (Featuring Allison Krauss).ogg file info · help

"Whiskey Lullaby" is the title of a country song composed by Bill Anderson and Jon Randall. It was first recorded by Brad Paisley as a duet with Allison Krauss on Paisley's 2003 album Mud on the Tires, and released in mid-2004 as that album's third single, and the eleventh chart single of Paisley's career. The song reached a peak of #3 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts, and #41 on the Billboard Hot 100. One year after its release, Randall also recorded a version for his Walking Among the Living album.

Content

"Whiskey Lullaby" is a largely acoustic ballad in the key of B minor, accompanied mostly by acoustic guitar and Dobro. It centralizes on a couple who separate and eventually drink themselves to death ("he put that bottle to his head and pulled the trigger") because they cannot cope with being apart. Paisley sings the first verse and chorus (focusing on the male character), while Krauss sings the second verse and chorus.

Inspiration

Jon Randall, one of the song's co-writers, had just divorced from country singer Lorrie Morgan before writing this song. In addition, he had lost a record deal, and had not been able to find a songwriting contract either. He found himself drinking whiskey regularly, and pursuing sexual desires. After seeing the condition that Randall was in at the time, his manager told him, "Hey man, every now and then you've got to put a bottle to your head and pull the trigger."^[1] Randall then wrote down that line, and decided to use it in a song. He then met Bill Anderson and began to write the song, which eventually made its way to Paisley. Randall himself also included a version on his 2005 album Walking Among the Living.

Music video

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The full length music video is set in the World War II era. It starts out with a man (played by Rick Schroeder) returning home from the United States Army, as he walks into his house and looks at the pictures of him and his wife and has a flashback to a moment with them underneath a willow tree. He hears laughter upstairs and walks up expecting to find his wife alone, but she is in bed with another man. He then leaves her and the song begins again.

The first verse of the song in the video shows the man getting drunk, and not being able to get his wife off his mind. His drinking became chronic alcoholism that swiftly kills him due to his consumption, and the first chorus depicts his funeral and his wife crying.

The second verse of the song in the video depicts the wife starting a drinking habit close to her late husband. During her drunken state, she dances with several men, but finds herself seeing her husband's face in the other men. There is a scene in which the wife pushes a man (with whom she was going to sleep) out of the room and shuts the door on him. She obviously holds herself at fault for husband's death, and can only feel at ease while drinking whiskey from her bottle.

Just before the second chorus there is a shot of her at her husband's grave crying and drinking. When the chorus starts, it cuts to her funeral, which also took place in 1947. When the song finishes a little girl looks back at the graves and sees their ghosts, hugging and kissing and falling in love again.

Chart positions

References