"Drink a Beer" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Luke Bryan | ||||
from the album Crash My Party | ||||
Released | November 11, 2013 | |||
Format | Digital download | |||
Recorded | 2013 | |||
Genre | Country | |||
Length | 3:23 | |||
Label | Capitol Nashville | |||
Writer(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Jeff Stevens | |||
Luke Bryan singles chronology | ||||
|
"Drink a Beer" is a song written by Jim Beavers and Chris Stapleton and recorded by American country music artist Luke Bryan. It was released in November 2013 as the third single from his fourth studio album, Crash My Party (2013), and became his seventh number one on the Billboard Country Airplay chart in February 2014. Bryan has described "Drink a Beer" as "the coolest sad song ever" and notes he connects with the story after having lost both of his siblings.
The song is a country ballad about the unexpected loss of someone close. It tells the story of a character who honors the recent passing of a loved one by watching the sunset on the edge of a pier and drinking a beer, which they normally would have done together.
"Drink a Beer" takes a relatively unique approach to the theme of loss by addressing the "very raw, real emotion" that immediately follows the loss of a loved one rather than focusing on how a person copes in the long term or plans to move on and rebuild. Like Lee Brice's "I Drive Your Truck," critics and fans have noted that the subject matter of "Drink a Beer" is striking in its contrast to the party connotations of its title.
The song was well received by music critics, who praised the unprecedented vulnerability in Bryan's delivery. Billy Dukes of Taste of Country described the track as "poignant" and demonstrative of Bryan's ability to connect with an audience, while Christina Vinson of Taste of Country deemed "Drink a Beer" musically "fantastic" and lyrically "extremely touching".Roughstock editor Matt Bjorke indicated Bryan's impassioned vocals giving "an air of authenticity to the lyrics" as the reason for the song's effectiveness, and gave the song a four-and-a-half star ranking. Bjorke also compared it favorably to Miranda Lambert's hit "Over You" in suggesting the song has "the kind of powerful impact" to warrant nods for "Single of the Year" or "Song of the Year".
In HitFix′s review of Crash My Party, Melinda Newman labelled "Drink a Beer" the strongest track on the album (grading it an A–) while praising the "spare" production and noting that the song "doesn't try to be a tearjerker" and is more effective as a result.