From tear-in-your-beer classics to modern Red Solo cup party anthems, the drinking song is a staple in country music. But Nashville-based singer-songwriter Emma White tackles the duality of "taking the edge off" with a rare honesty.
"Sometimes it's the dishes in the sink/ And sometimes it's about the news I read," White sings. "But most times it's all the things I can't change...It's always different/ But always the same."
White says the song is about how a few drinks to numb the pain can quickly turn into something else entirely.
"That's Why I Drink' is a song that has two sides. Like most things in life, there's duality and another side to every story," White tells Wide Open Country. "I made an accompanying visual (concept video) to portray the clash I sing about...how alcohol can be both fun and lighthearted, something to 'take the edge off for a little while,' but also quickly turn into something else. It's a theme sung about and celebrated so much in our culture, and I decided if I was going to write my own drinking song, I'd put some truth in it. People use alcohol to have fun and let go, but they can also use it to numb. That relationship and fine-line is what I hope to portray with this song. This is one side of 'That's Why I Drink'..."
What the video for "That's Why I Drink" below.
Read More: Song Premiere: Emma White Gives Some Tough Love on 'Married Man'
"That's Why I Drink" is featured on the Baltimore-born artist's 2019 Actress EP, featuring "Married Man," "Ten Year Town" and more.
Now Watch: Remembering John Prine Songs Through The Years
