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

Rock Stars of Horror

Rock Stars of HorrorMusic Quiz

Rock Stars - especially those in the metal realm - are often enlisted for horror movies. See if you know can match the rocker to the role.

Stan Ridgway

Stan RidgwaySongwriter Interviews

Go beyond the Wall of Voodoo with this cinematic songwriter.

Jonathan Edwards - "Sunshine"

Jonathan Edwards - "Sunshine"They're Playing My Song

"How much does it cost? I'll buy it?" Another songwriter told Jonathan to change these lyrics. Good thing he ignored this advice.

Penny Ford of Snap!

Penny Ford of Snap!Songwriter Interviews

The original voice of Snap! this story is filled with angry drag queens, video impersonators and Chaka Khan.

Mick Jones of Foreigner

Mick Jones of ForeignerSongwriter Interviews

Foreigner's songwriter/guitarist tells the stories behind the songs "Juke Box Hero," "I Want To Know What Love Is," and many more.

Al Jourgensen of Ministry

Al Jourgensen of MinistrySongwriter Interviews

In the name of song explanation, Al talks about scoring heroin for William Burroughs, and that's not even the most shocking story in this one.