Alcohol You Later

Album: Telling All My Secrets (2018)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Mitchell Tenpenny sings on this rhythmic, pop-country track about choosing to dial up an ex as a result of too much booze - a phenomenon known as "drunk dialing." Naturally, the inspiration for the drunken love song came from a bar.

    The singer recalled to Taste of Country that he was sitting with his drink when he overheard "a real Southern fella" saying goodbye to his pal. "Aw, buddy, I'll call you later."

    Tenpenny misheard it as "'alcohol you later" and a light bulb went off in his head for a song idea. A look on the internet revealed that nobody previously had realized "Alcohol" could be used as a play on words for "I'll call" as a song title.
  • Tenpenny had a hard time finding someone to write the song with him. He pitched it three or four times in different writing rooms, but each time he was told the "alcohol you later" idea was too corny. Eventually, his buddies Sam Sumser and Michael Lotten helped him finish it.
  • The TK McKamy-directed video tells the story of how the drunken nights that Tenpenny spends with a dark-haired woman in a bar always seem to wrap up in his apartment loft. The clip was filmed in Nashville's Printers Alley, which the singer told Taste of Country is, "a place I've grown up going to. I used to do karaoke there and drink at the bars!"
  • The Booze-soaked song wasn't originally written for Telling All My Secrets. "It was a live song that just kept doing its thing," Tenpenny told ABC Radio.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Grateful Dead Characters

Grateful Dead CharactersMusic Quiz

Many unusual folks appear in Grateful Dead songs. Can you identify them?

Loreena McKennitt

Loreena McKennittSongwriter Interviews

The Celtic music maker Loreena McKennitt on finding musical inspiration, the "New Age" label, and working on the movie Tinker Bell.

Emmylou Harris

Emmylou HarrisSongwriter Interviews

She thinks of herself as a "song interpreter," but back in the '80s another country star convinced Emmylou to take a crack at songwriting.

Richie Wise (Kiss producer, Dust)

Richie Wise (Kiss producer, Dust)Songwriter Interviews

Richie talks about producing the first two Kiss albums, recording "Brother Louie," and the newfound appreciation of his rock band, Dust.

Michael Schenker

Michael SchenkerSongwriter Interviews

The Scorpions and UFO guitarist is also a very prolific songwriter - he explains how he writes with his various groups, and why he was so keen to get out of Germany and into England.

Eric Burdon

Eric BurdonSongwriter Interviews

The renown rock singer talks about "The House of the Rising Sun" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood."