Music Review: Luke Bryan "Drink A Beer"

Luke Bryan

Drink A Beer

Album: Crash My Party

Year: 2013

         Luke Bryan is shocked by the sudden loss of a family member in the somber              “Drink A Beer.”

            A wistful guitar opens the single, setting a forlorn tone. His wife shakes her head as she gives some of the laundry to him to fold. She says it isn’t right. The phone rings. The basket is in her hand and she asks him if he could get the phone. He answers the phone and it’s his brother. He says their uncle got into a car accident and died instantly. He could only “oh my” and muster out a “when?’ He said it was about an hour ago. He let his wife know and told her has to get out of the house for a while. He just saw him a week ago. How could it have happened?  From the store, he turns right towards the pier. (“When I got the news today/I didn't know what to say/So I just hung up the phone/I took a walk to clear my head/This is where the walking lead/Can't believe you're really gone/Don't feel like going home.”)

            In the chorus, he finds a place to sit on the sand. He cracks open his beer and remembers all the times he went fishing with his uncle. He tries to recall their conversations they had. (“So I'm gonna sit right here/On the edge of this pier/Watch the sunset disappear/And drink a beer.”)

           His uncle would help a person out with anything that they needed. He could talk to him about his problems and he would listen. They just celebrated his 50th birthday last August. He was planning to retire soon. Why did God have to take him now? What is God’s purpose in all this? (“Funny how the good ones go/Too soon, but the good Lord knows/The reasons why, I guess/Sometimes the greater plan/Is kinda hard to understand/Right now it don't make sense/I can't make it all make sense.”)

              The chorus is sung again.

                As the sun lets out its final burst of color for the day, he tips his beer, clinking an imaginary glass. He says he won’t ever forgot him. (“So long my friend

'till we meet again/I'll remember you/And all the times that we used to.”)

            A variation on the chorus ends the single. (“Sit right here on the edge of this pier/And watch the sunset disappear/And drink a beer/Drink a beer/Drink a beer.”)

              Bryan’s melancholy vocals mourn in his own quiet way. He needs time to himself to deal with it. Once the news hits him, he will break down. But right now, it hasn’t sunk in yet. Bryan really grows up on the single, displaying a newfound maturity he hasn’t shown.

             The emotional “Drink A Beer” articulates the punched in the gut reaction well.