Country music has a healthy (unhealthy?) relationship with alcohol. References abound, and moderation is optional. To get the most out of the listening experience, here is the country music vocabulary you have to know. I’ve provided examples to complement the learning.
Tennessee Whiskey
Tennessee whiskey is quite similar to bourbon—an American whiskey with at least 51% corn in the mash bill—but it generally must be distilled in Tennessee and undergo the Lincoln County Process, i.e. pass through a charcoal filter prior to barreling. The last part is supposed to result in a smoother product.
Jack Daniels is perhaps the most famous Tennessee whiskey, and as you’ll see below, shout outs to Jack are common in country music.
In “Tennessee Whiskey”, covered here by Chris Stapleton, the smoothness mentioned above is front and center (0:57, among others).
And in “Church Bells” by Carrie Underwood, Tennessee whiskey serves as a vehicle to help a woman poison her abusive husband (2:53).
Proof
Proof is one way of expressing the alcohol content of a beverage. In the US, proof is simply twice the alcohol content by volume. As such, if something has 50% alcohol by volume (ABV), that makes it 100 proof.
In “You Proof”, Morgan Wallen has been drinking 90 to 100 proof whiskey and laments the fact that it’s not strong enough to wipe away memories of his lost love, something that would require the whiskey to be you proof. Get it? (The first mention is at 0:32.)
Fifth
Whiskey, regardless of proof, can be purchased in various volumes. Back in the day, a fifth referred to a fifth of a gallon, which is about 757 milliliters (ml). Later, when metric bottle sizes became popular, people still referred to the standard 750 ml bottle as a fifth, as it was close enough. The volume of 750 ml is about the same as 25.4 fluid ounces or almost 17 shots.
If you drink a fifth in one sitting, you have a problem. If you drink a fifth regularly, you’ll die young.
In “Up Down” by Morgan Wallen (featuring Florida Georgia Line), Wallen hints at downing a fifth of Jack (1:19).
Half a Fifth
This one is self-explanatory. Doing the math, we’re talking around 375 ml, 12.7 fluid ounces, or 8.5 shots. Again, drinking this volume in one sitting is not recommended.
That said, in “Last Night”, Wallen splits a fifth of Jack with his (ex?)-girlfriend (0:33).
Shot
If you’re a numbers person, you might have realized by now that a shot is 1.5 fluid ounces, also known as about 44 ml.
In “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” by Shaboozey, the request is for a double shot—3 fluid ounces or 88 ml—of Jack (0:48, among others).
Neat
Drinking whiskey neat simply simply refers to drinking it as is—no water, ice, mixers, etc.
“Too Sweet” isn’t exactly a country song, but given that Hozier hails from Ireland, without which there would be no country music, the tune is more than worthy of providing a lesson about drinking whiskey neat (1:02, among others).
Burn
And finally, if you drink that whiskey neat, it could very well burn on the way down (perhaps explaining alcohol’s association with gastrointestinal cancers?).
In “Chasin’ You”, our familiar friend discusses the burning sensation that can occur with a shot of whiskey (0:37, among others).
A special message: I don’t know you, Mr. Wallen, but given your myriad contributions to country music vocabulary education, is everything okay?
