Holly Williams - Drinkin'

The Americana, roots, and country folk style of Holly William’s song, “Drinkin'” forces a listener to become overfilled with the dark emotions of the lyrical context of her piece. The mournful, and too easily relatable lyrics of the song are further enhanced by its simplistic, yet powerful chord structure. In “Drinkin’” Williams very effectively, and remarkably, depicts the problematic and circular nature of alcoholism. The repetition of lyrical lines within the song further depicts the circular and repetitive nature of substance abuse.

Often, in American society, substance abuse, such as alcoholism, is viewed incredibly simplistically. Society tends to blame the life decisions of the alcoholic or addict as the sole reason for the development of their substance abuse problem. In most cases, substance abuse and alcoholism are intergenerational, and often runs in families. This occurs for a variety of reasons, two of which are the environment in which an individual is reared and his or her own genetic make up, and, because of this, the cycle of abuse often continues.

William’s begins her song, “Why are you drinkin’ like the night is young?” A question asked by the character of the assumed wife, in the song, to her assumed husband. Throughout the song, in each lyrical stanza, the first, second, and fourth lines are always the same. These repeated lines are also always questions, a pattern that is not broken until the last verse, in which these repeated lines become statements. The repetition of these lines are interrupted by a third line, which depicts, the “narrator” of the song, his wife, telling her husband how his alcoholism is affecting other individuals, including herself and their children.

Eventually, the husband’s excessive drinking leads him to cheat on his wife, the narrator of the song, which ultimately results in his departure from his family. Following the husband’s abandonment of his wife, the heartbroken wife picks up the bottle. The last lyrical stanza of the piece is:

Now I’m here drinkin’ like the night is young

Hey I’m here drinkin’ like the night is young

Mama took the kids and the money’s all gone

And I’m here drinkin’ like the night is young

Don’t die drinkin' like the night is young

The last verse of this song is incredibly thought provoking, and disturbing, because at this moment the narrator ceases to ask the question “Why are you drinkin like the night is young?” and instead states, “Now I’m here drinkin’ like the night is young.” These last lines illustrate the hardships that can lead to substance abuse as well as its circular and repetitive motion. The most important line of the whole piece however, and perhaps the most powerful, is the final line, “Don’t die drinkin’ like the night is young.”