Don't Blame It On Whiskey
by Jon Pardi (featuring Lauren Alaina)

Album: Heartache Medication (2019)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "Don't Blame It On Whiskey" was written by Eric Church, Miranda Lambert, Luke Laird and Michael Heeney for Church's 2011 Chief album. It didn't make the record, but another tune written by Church, Heeney and Laird the same week did: "Drink In My Hand," which became Church's first Top 40 pop hit.

    Pardi first heard "Whiskey" in 2010 and thought it was a great song. While recording Heartache Medication, the track returned to his radar after an A&R executive dug it out of hiding. He played it for the singer, who agreed to cut it after getting the blessings of Lambert and Church.
  • The original demo featured the voices of Lambert and Church. "It was very simple," Pardi recalled to Billboard. "It was just a drum track and a guitar lead and a guitar and vocal from Eric and Miranda. You could just hear the bus humming so it was just a work tape, but it sounded really good."
  • After Lauren Alaina and Jon Pardi co-hosted the 2018 ACM Honors ceremony, they sang a couple of songs together. Everybody said they sounded great, so Alaina was a natural choice for Pardi's duet partner on this cut.
  • Lyrically, the song is about a couple whose relationship is nearing a breaking point. They acknowledge that in order to fix it, they need to be honest about where they're going wrong and not to "blame it on the whiskey."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Amanda Palmer

Amanda PalmerSongwriter Interviews

Call us crazy, but we like it when an artist comes around who doesn't mesh with the status quo.

Harold Brown of War

Harold Brown of WarSongwriter Interviews

A founding member of the band War, Harold gives a first-person account of one of the most important periods in music history.

Metallica

MetallicaFact or Fiction

Beef with Bon Jovi? An unfortunate Spandex period? See if you can spot the true stories in this Metallica version of Fact or Fiction.

Shawn Mullins

Shawn MullinsSongwriter Interviews

"Lullaby" singer Shawn Mullins on "Beautiful Wreck," beating the Devil, and his writing credit on the Zac Brown Band song "Toes."

The End Of The Rock Era

The End Of The Rock EraSong Writing

There are no more rock stars - the last one died in 1994.

David Sancious

David SanciousSongwriter Interviews

Keyboard great David Sancious talks about his work with Sting, Seal, Springsteen, Clapton and Aretha, and explains what quantum physics has to do with making music.