Drinking Class

Album: I Don't Dance (2014)
Charted: 53
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song finds Brice paying tribute to the hard-working man who gets up early and works hard every day. "We had a bunch of production going on that wasn't right," he told Billboard magazine. "It was too new and hip, and had too much electronic stuff going on."

    "It hit me one day that the song isn't about drinking, but it's about working class folks," Brice continued. "Working class, to me, seems like it needs to be organic - hands clapping, boots stomping, and it needs to sound like people humming along or whistling while they're working. And, literally, a sledge hammer hitting a railroad tie. So that's what we did. We went back in and took all that stuff out, and created those organic sounds to make it feel like the steel mills or the shipyards. When we got done, we felt we had gotten it right."
  • "Drinking Class" was penned by regular collaborators Josh Kear, David Frasier and Ed Hill. The working-class anthem came about when the trio were discussing current events and Kear threw out the title to his co-writers. "We know each other so well, any time we get together, we talk about life," Hill told Taste of Country.

    "There's hardly any middle class anymore," he lamented. "You have super-rich people, the half-percent, that when they make a billion dollars they just can't seem to think that that's enough. They go and make another billion dollars, and then you have this big Grand Canyon, and you have everybody on the other side. And that's all of us, trying to scrap out a living."

    "It's not really a drinking song," Hill added. "It's about people. It just happens to have drinking in the title."

Comments: 1

  • Efrain from California EVERYTIME I hear this song I think the lyrics were changed. When he says "...Monday through Friday we bust our BACKS..." I keep hearing "bust our ASS" because it rhymes with "working class" and "glass" . Does anyone else feel that too? Don't mean to upset anyone using the A-word.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Muhammad Ali: His Musical Legacy and the Songs he Inspired

Muhammad Ali: His Musical Legacy and the Songs he InspiredSong Writing

Before he was the champ, Ali released an album called I Am The Greatest!, but his musical influence is best heard in the songs he inspired.

Pete Anderson

Pete AndersonSongwriter Interviews

Pete produced Dwight Yoakam, Michelle Shocked, Meat Puppets, and a very memorable track for Roy Orbison.

Jay, Peaches, Spinderella and other Darrining Victims

Jay, Peaches, Spinderella and other Darrining VictimsSong Writing

Just like Darrin was replaced on Bewitched, groups have swapped out original members, hoping we wouldn't notice.

Paul Williams

Paul WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

He's a singer and an actor, but as a songwriter Paul helped make Kermit a cultured frog, turned a bank commercial into a huge hit and made love both "exciting and new" and "soft as an easy chair."

Ian Astbury of The Cult

Ian Astbury of The CultSongwriter Interviews

The Cult frontman tells who the "Fire Woman" is, and talks about performing with the new version of The Doors.

Steve Morse of Deep Purple

Steve Morse of Deep PurpleSongwriter Interviews

Deep Purple's guitarist since 1994, Steve talks about writing songs with the band and how he puts his own spin on "Smoke On The Water."