Country music has changed drastically over the generations, but no matter how much it changes, one thing still remains true: the genre is about celebrating real life. Country music is, and always will be, relatable, and part of being relatable means singing about everyday experiences. Plenty of country songs exist about broken hearts and deeper subjects of lost loved ones and tragedies, but once those sad songs are done, the genre isn't afraid to let loose and sing about the good times.
Videos by Wide Open Country
Many of these good-time tunes involve singing about alcohol. It's no secret -- country singers do sing a lot of drinking songs. While country critics may see this trend as a negative stereotype that causes some to steer clear of the genre, country fans accept and love this about the genre. Country singers have been singing drinking songs since long ago, and while some may see this as lacking substance, it's part of what makes country music so relatable. And many of country's drinking songs use alcohol as a vehicle to sing about deeper subjects.
Country music boasts drinking songs about any alcohol one could name, but one thing that many country artists have in common is that they like to drink beer.
In honor of National Beer Day (April 7), here are 12 of the best country songs about beer.
12. "Billy's Got His Beer Goggles On," Neal McCoy
Neal McCoy released a classic beer-drinking, heartbreak tune in 2005 with "Billy's Got His Beer Goggles On." In this song, Neal McCoy narrates the evening of a man named Billy who is drowning his breakup sorrows with some beer. His heartache doesn't last long, as the beer, and the "beer goggles" that come along with it, makes life look good again. "He's on the dance floor yellin' free bird / Singin' off pitch but he knows every word / Grabs him a girl and he holds on tight / He's chasin' everything in sight / He'll fall apart when he gets home / But right now his worries are gone / Life looks good, good, good / Billy's got his beer goggles on," sings McCoy.
11. "I Like Beer," Tom T. Hall
Perhaps no country song extols the wonder of beer better than Tom T. Hall's "I Like Beer."
10. "Beer Thirty," Brooks & Dunn
Country duo Brooks & Dunn celebrate having a cold one at quittin' time (or any time) on "Beer Thirty."
9. "Beer Can't Fix," Thomas Rhett and Jon Pardi
In one of the more recent beer songs released to radio, Thomas Rhett and Jon Pardi sing about all the benefits of beer in 2019's "Beer Can't Fix." The tune, from Rhett's Center Point Road album, is an upbeat track in which the two singers conclude that there's no problem that can't be fixed by a little beer. "Oh you could be lonely, or heartbroken, or hungover from the night before / Turn that frown into a smile real quick / There ain't nothin' that a beer can't fix," they sing.
8. "Beer For My Horses," Toby Keith and Willie Nelson
In 2003, Toby Keith and Willie Nelson teamed up for one of the most memorable beer songs in country music: "Beer For My Horses." Released from Keith's Unleashed album, "Beer For My Horses," isn't so much about beer, but rather it's a throwback to the crime-fighting gunslingers of the Wild West. Keith and Nelson assume these gunslinger characters in the song, and after a day of crime fighting, they take to the bar, raise a couple of shots, and sing, "Whiskey for my men and beer for my horses."
7. "Drink a Beer," Luke Bryan
Country songs about beer can be about celebrating good times, but as Hank Williams' "There's A Tear In My Beer" proved, artists also sing about beer in sad times. Luke Bryan, who has a history of feel-good tunes, showed his emotional side in his 2013 single, "Drink a Beer." The song, which was written by Jim Beavers and Chris Stapleton, finds Bryan singing about experiencing the sudden loss of a loved one. The response he has to this sudden loss is to sit on the pier, watch the sunset, and drink a beer. "I'm gonna sit right here on the edge of this pier and watch the sunset disappear, and drink a beer," he sings in the chorus.
6. "Beer Never Broke My Heart," Luke Combs
In Luke Combs' 2019 single, "Beer Never Broke My Heart," he sings about how beer really is the one thing a person can count on in life. Throughout the song, Combs lists various things that have disappointed him in his life, including girls saying goodbye, trucks breaking down, dogs running away and more, but the one thing that's never let him down is ice-cold beer. "Longneck, ice-cold beer never broke my heart / Like diamond rings and football teams have torn this boy apart," Combs sings in the chorus.
5. "Beer In Mexico," Kenny Chesney
Similar to how Luke Bryan ruminated on the loss of a loved one over a beer in "Drink a Beer," Kenny Chesney thinks over the direction of his life in his 2007 single, "Beer In Mexico." The song features a driving beat, as Chesney, stuck between living "wild and free" and "growing up," tries to decide who he should be. In the end, Chesney decides to put off the decision for a little while longer and just "sit right here and have another beer in Mexico."
4. "Beer With Jesus," Thomas Rhett
Thomas Rhett imagined what it would be like to have a beer with Jesus in his 2012 single, "Beer With Jesus." In the sentimental, acoustic tune, Rhett lists off all the questions he would ask Jesus, including, "How'd you turn the other cheek to save a sorry soul like me? Do you hear the prayers I send? What happens when life ends? And when you think you're comin' back again?" This tune is another example of beer being the vehicle for a deeper message in a song.
3. "Pretty Good at Drinkin' Beer," Billy Currington
This list has covered songs about beer that are actually interpretations of deeper emotions, but some beer songs are really just tunes about drinking and don't have a deeper message. One of those tunes is Billy Currington's 2010 single, "Pretty Good at Drinkin' Beer." In this humorous and casual song, Currington sings to a love interest, warning her that he's not great at physical labor or really any kind of hard work, but he is pretty good at drinking beer. "I do my best work when the weather's hot / I'm pretty good at drinkin' beer," he sings.
2. "Beer Money," Kip Moore
In his early career, Kip Moore followed up the success of his hit single, "Something' 'Bout a Truck" with 2012's "Beer Money." In this tune, Moore relates to the American worker as he sings about the 40-hour work week grind that pays just enough to buy a little beer on a Friday night. The song, which was co-written by Moore along with Troy Verges and Blair Daly, serves as a country good-time tune ready for a summer night.
1. "There's A Tear In My Beer," Hank Williams
As stated above, drinking songs go way back in the history of country music, and even country legend Hank Williams recorded his share. In the early 1950s, Williams recorded "Theres A Tear In My Beer," a classic country heartbreak tune that finds Williams crying over lost love while drinking a beer. The song was recorded in 1950 or 1951, but Williams decided against releasing it at the time. The song wasn't released until 1989 -- 36 years after Williams' untimely death. In 1988, Hank Williams' son, Hank Williams Jr., recorded his own version of the song and included the voice of his late father on the track, turning the tune into a duet between the pair.
Honorable mentions: Eric Church's "Cold One," Frankie Ballard's "It All Started With A Beer," Phil Vassar's "Six-Pack Summer," Little Big Town's "Wine, Beer, Whiskey," HARDY's "One Beer," and Toby Keith's "Beers Ago."
