Nashville, Tenn. – Chris Janson, along with the award-winning co-writers of “Drunk Girl,” Tom Douglas and Scooter Carusoe, recently recorded a video clip sharing the story behind the song. The video was shot on Janson’s back porch and gives fans a glimpse into their writing session for MUSICROW’s Song of the Year and “widely considered to be one of the most important songs in country music today.” – The Tennessean. Check it out HERE.
“Drunk girl is a true story for a lot of people,” said Janson. “We didn’t really know the depth or perception the song would take on in the world, but it has really changed a lot of lives, starting with ours.”
Tom Douglas came to the writing session with the idea. Back in 2013, Douglas gave the commencement speech at MBA, a local all-boys school. One of the lines in his speech was, “Boys, you’re going to be in a position in college where a young lady is going to be overserved, and when that happens, be a gentleman and take the drunk girl home.”
In 2017, Douglas, accompanied by his son, was teaching a songwriting class at the Davidson County jail. Amazingly, the sheriff was in attendance the night of Douglas’ speech at MBA four years prior, and he very vividly remembered Tom’s words. He told Douglas’ son, “There are a lot of young men in this jail that wouldn’t be spending the next 35 years of their life in this institution, if they would’ve listened to the admonition in your dad’s speech and taken a drunk girl home.” The writing session for “Drunk Girl” happened later that afternoon.
Janson says, “Powerful words with a powerful message stand the test of time. That’s evident from Tom’s commencement speech. I think we ultimately want conversations to happen about this tough topic. I had a guy tell me at a meet & greet that he played the song and video for a fraternity. If we could figure out a way for that to happen all over the country, maybe it would bring about change.”