Song Review - Whiskey Lullaby ~Brad Paisley

Here are the lyrics and the review of the song:

She put him out like the burnin' end of a midnight cigarette
She broke his heart he spent his whole life tryin' to forget
We watched him drink his pain away a little at a time
But he never could get drunk enough to get her off his mind
Until the night

1st Chorus
He put that bottle to his head and pulled the trigger
And finally drank away her memory
Life is short but this time it was bigger
Than the strength he had to get up off his knees
We found him with his face down in the pillow
With a note that said I'll love her till I die
And when we buried him beneath the willow
The angels sang a whiskey lullaby

La la la la la la la...La la la la la la laaaa...
La la la la la la la...La la la la la la laaaa...

The rumors flew but nobody knew how much she blamed herself
For years and years she tried to hide the whiskey on her breath
She finally drank her pain away a little at a time
But she never could get drunk enough to get him off her mind
Until the night

2nd Chorus
She put that bottle to her head and pulled the trigger
And finally drank away his memory
Life is short but this time it was bigger
Than the strength she had to get up off her knees
We found her with her face down in the pillow
Clinging to his picture for dear life
We laid her next to him beneath the willow
While the angels sang a whiskey lullaby

La la la la la la la...La la la la la la laaaa...
La la la la la la la...La la la la la la laaaa...
La la la la la la la...La la la la la la laaaa...
La la la la la la la...La la la la la la laaaa...

Review.

I picked to review the song Whiskey Lullaby by the contemporary country star, Brad Paisley. A lot of his songs try to convey pure emotion and deep seated love. I picked this because this is not a normal, happy country song that describes the rockies and the rivers and the vast blue skies. This is a love song. One of my favorite's because it shares a special place in my heart. This was the song that slowly made me realize that life's too short to take chances and let go off someone we love. Made me understand that if I don't go ahead and tell the person I love that I love her, it sure is going to be too late. The central theme of the song is about a couple who, have separated in the face of deceit and unable to take the pain, eventually drink themselves to death. This song takes us on a bitter sweet journey showing us how painful and aggravating, emotions can be.

The time period of the song is set in the World War II era. Returning from the war and thinking of home and his girl, his flashback shows us the close and tender love that they shared. Which is interrupted by a series of gunfires and heavy artillery sounds that he can't get out of his head despite the war being over. But he still clings hard to the memories with her, every sweet little moment they had under the huge Willow tree outside their farm house. As the bus stops, it takes a moment for him to completely return to his true senses, and recall the fact that he truly is home.

As he walks into the house seeing the willow tree, he sees the pictures of him and his wife. Then he hears her happy voice, laughing upstairs. As he rushes upstairs, unable to wait seeing her, he finds her in the bed with another man. Heartbroken, he leaves immediately and the song starts.

The whole first verse of the song shows us how, the man turns to alcohol and how it slowly consumes him. It describes the deception that he had to experience, even after having such true love towards his wife. He tries getting really drunk and attempts to get her off his mind but it doesn't work well for the poor guy. The whiskey, takes its toll and rapidly starts to become a chronic alcoholism and kills him due to the pain and the excessive consumption. Then they show his wife crying and burying him beneath the willow.

In the second verse of the song, the wife; who after his death, realizes how big a mistake it was to have done something so terrible to her husband, who loved her more than his own dear life. He was at war, already in pain, seeing terrible things but still clinging on and praying for the war to end and return home to his true love. Waiting to return home, where things would be beautiful. But this is what he had to face. Thinking of this terrible thing that she had done which killed him, she then realizes how much she actually loved him. This verse describes how much she falls into the hands of drinking, trying to forget the fact that her husband is no more. Being drunk, she tries dancing and sleeping with several men, but she always sees him in every one of them. No matter how hard she tries, she doesn't seem to forget him. She holds herself fault for his death and the pain slowly takes on, killing her, after which she gets buried beneath the willow beside him.

Finally, they show a little girl, who sees the ghosts of both of them dancing beneath the willow tree. Hugging, kissing, and falling in love, all over again.