I’ve been sober since you broke my heart in two
‘Cause drunk me can’t get over you
“Drunk Me,” by native Nashville songwriter Mitchell Tenpenny is an intense, emotive Country song that touts sobriety, bucking the genre’s long-standing tradition of endorsing drinking as a lifestyle. The lyrics tell the story of man who has stayed sober and is all the better for it.
Even though 1991’s “Straight Tequila Night” by John Anderson has the opposite point of view– it’s about a woman who goes to her local bar, and on her bad nights, drinks tequila straight, so she can dull the pain of her breakup, both songs are “modern” Country: some twang, some cowboy, smooth production balanced with a raggedy edge.
Tenpenny is a newbie; he co-wrote a 2016 hit, “If The Boot Fits,” for Granger Smith, but this is his first time inside the top 25 as a singer.