Whiskey Lullaby
Encyclopedia
"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 Alison Krauss
on Paisley's 2003 album Mud on the Tires
, and released on April 12, 2004, as that album's third single, and the eleventh chart single of Paisley's career. The song reached a peak of number three on the Billboard
Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Best Hot Country Songs) charts, and 41 on the Billboard Hot 100
. The song won the 2005 Country Music Association
Song of the Year award. It is one of Paisley's three songs certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America
, the others being "She's Everything
" and "Then".
in the key of B minor
, accompanied mostly by acoustic guitar
and Dobro
. Its narrative centers on a couple who separate and eventually drink themselves to death: The man because of the woman's infidelity and the woman because of her guilt. Paisley sings the first verse and chorus, which focus on the male character, while Krauss sings the second verse and chorus, which focus on the female character.
, 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." 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
.
era. It starts out with a man (played by Rick Schroder
, who also directed the video) returning home from the United States Army
. As he walks into his house, he looks at the pictures of him and his wife (Marisa Petroro
) 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 instead 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 becomes 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 that of her late husband. During her drunken state, she dances with several men, but finds herself seeing her dead 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. The little girl in the video is played by Rick Schroder's daughter.
The music video was filmed on June 6 and 7, 2004, in Nashville. It premiered on June 30, 2004.
Jon Randall
Jon Randall Stewart is an American country music artist. Signed to RCA Records in 1995, he debuted that year with the album What You Don't Know. A second album for RCA, 1996's Great Day to Be Alive, was recorded but never released...
. It was first recorded by Brad Paisley
Brad Paisley
Brad Douglas Paisley is an American singer-songwriter and musician. His style crosses between traditional country music and Southern rock, and his songs are frequently laced with humor and pop culture references....
as a duet with Alison Krauss
Alison Krauss
Alison Maria Krauss is an American bluegrass-country singer, songwriter and fiddler. She entered the music industry at an early age, winning local contests by the age of ten and recording for the first time at fourteen. She signed with Rounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album in...
on Paisley's 2003 album Mud on the Tires
Mud on the Tires
-Musicians:*Ron Block - banjo*Jim "Moose" Brown - B3 organ on "Famous People"*Randel Currie - steel guitar, pedabro on "Ain't Nothin Like"*Eric Darken - percussion*Jerry Douglas - Dobro*Kevin "Swine" Grantt - bass guitar, upright bass, fretless bass...
, and released on April 12, 2004, as that album's third single, and the eleventh chart single of Paisley's career. The song reached a peak of number three on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Best Hot Country Songs) charts, and 41 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. The song won the 2005 Country Music Association
Country Music Association
The Country Music Association was founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee. It originally consisted of only 233 members and was the first trade organization formed to promote a music genre...
Song of the Year award. It is one of Paisley's three songs certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
, the others being "She's Everything
She's Everything
"She's Everything" is a song co-written by American country music artist Brad Paisley and Wil Nance that reached the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs Chart. It was the fourth single from Brad Paisley's 2005 album Time Well Wasted. It was Paisley's seventh number one single...
" and "Then".
Content
"Whiskey Lullaby" is a largely acoustic balladBallad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
in the key of B minor
B minor
B minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. The harmonic minor raises the A to A. Its key signature has two sharps .Its relative major is D major, and its parallel major is B major....
, accompanied mostly by acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
and Dobro
Dobro
Dobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar...
. Its narrative centers on a couple who separate and eventually drink themselves to death: The man because of the woman's infidelity and the woman because of her guilt. Paisley sings the first verse and chorus, which focus on the male character, while Krauss sings the second verse and chorus, which focus on the female character.
Inspiration
Jon RandallJon Randall
Jon Randall Stewart is an American country music artist. Signed to RCA Records in 1995, he debuted that year with the album What You Don't Know. A second album for RCA, 1996's Great Day to Be Alive, was recorded but never released...
, one of the song's co-writers, had just divorced from country singer Lorrie Morgan
Lorrie Morgan
In 1996 Morgan married Jon Randall, a singer/songwriter now credited with writing the 2004 Brad Paisley/Alison Krauss hit "Whiskey Lullaby"; they divorced three years later in 1999....
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." 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
Walking Among the Living
Walking Among the Living is the fourth studio album released by American country music singer Jon Randall. It is his third major-label album, and his first album since Willin in 1999. This album includes the song "Whiskey Lullaby", which was also recorded by Brad Paisley as a duet with Alison...
.
Music video
The full length music video is set in the World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
era. It starts out with a man (played by Rick Schroder
Rick Schroder
Richard Bartlett "Rick" Schroder, Jr. is an American actor and film director.He debuted in the 1979 hit film The Champ, going on to become a child star on the sitcom Silver Spoons...
, who also directed the video) returning home from the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. As he walks into his house, he looks at the pictures of him and his wife (Marisa Petroro
Marisa Petroro
Marisa Petroro is an American actress and model.-Biography:Marisa was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey. When she was 4 years old, Marisa first started to perform in beauty pageants...
) 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 instead 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 becomes 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 that of her late husband. During her drunken state, she dances with several men, but finds herself seeing her dead 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. The little girl in the video is played by Rick Schroder's daughter.
The music video was filmed on June 6 and 7, 2004, in Nashville. It premiered on June 30, 2004.
Personnel
- Eric Darken - percussion
- Jerry DouglasJerry Douglas (musician)Jerry Douglas is an American record producer and resonator guitar player. Called "Dobro's matchless contemporary master," by The New York Times, and lauded as "my favorite musician" by John Fogerty, Douglas is one of the world’s most renowned Dobro players.-Career:In addition to his twelve solo...
- DobroDobroDobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar... - Kevin "Swine" Grantt - upright bass
- Alison KraussAlison KraussAlison Maria Krauss is an American bluegrass-country singer, songwriter and fiddler. She entered the music industry at an early age, winning local contests by the age of ten and recording for the first time at fourteen. She signed with Rounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album in...
- vocals, violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average... - Kenny Lewis - background vocals
- Brad PaisleyBrad PaisleyBrad Douglas Paisley is an American singer-songwriter and musician. His style crosses between traditional country music and Southern rock, and his songs are frequently laced with humor and pop culture references....
- vocals, acousticAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
and baritone guitarBaritone guitarThe baritone guitar is a variation on the standard guitar, with a longer scale length that allows it to be tuned to a lower range. It first appeared in the classical music realm... - Ben Sesar - drums
- Dan TyminskiDan TyminskiDaniel John "Dan" Tyminski is a bluegrass composer, vocalist, and instrumentalist. He is a member of the band Alison Krauss and Union Station and has released two solo albums, Carry Me Across the Mountain , on the Doobie Shea Records label, and Wheels , on the Rounder Records label.He is best...
- background vocals - Justin Williamson - fiddleFiddleThe term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
Chart performance
"Whiskey Lullaby" debuted at number 48 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of April 10, 2004.| Chart (2004) | Peak Position |
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