Hear Pat Green’s Contemplative New Song ‘Drinkin’ Days’
Pat Green finally has time to reflect these days – sort of. Since leaving Nashville and the major label treadmill in 2009, the Texas country stalwart, now 45, can afford to look back on his younger days of chasing fame and fortune. It’s the partying that went with it, however, that Green focuses on in his wistful new single, “Drinkin’ Days.”
“They hurt like a mother, but we sure did love ’em,” sings Green in the chorus of “Drinkin’ Days,” written by Jaron Boyer, Ben Burges, and Phil Barton and produced by his longtime drummer, Justin Pollard. An acoustic number with fiddle and a sing-along chorus, the song – the “Wave on Wave” singer’s first release since 2015’s Home LP – has a boozy, back porch feel, even though Green says he’s long since sober.
“I don’t think anybody has reached a midpoint in their lives and not gone mad. Hangovers, they’re sure tougher now,” Green says of middle age, with a chuckle. “It’s like they’ve got a new model, hangover 9.0, that gets updated every day.” While Green may be focused on the life of a family man, he remembers those days fondly: “My party days were fantastic, I had a blast. They were absolute wonderful times,” he says. “But, you know, you keep that up and you’re going to look like shit and be dead somewhere.” Listen to “Drinkin’ Days” below.
While Green hasn’t released new music in two years, he hasn’t exactly slowed down, having taken up painting and sculpting and is also a partner in a Texas-based restaurant group. But the San Antonio native, who some once accused of selling out to the Nashville establishment, enjoys picking and choosing what he records these days.
“I haven’t recorded any music that I don’t really love,” Green says of the past eight years, acknowledging that that hadn’t always been the case. He doesn’t have any regrets, though: “I understand I’m recording on someone else’s time and if they say, ‘Here’s a couple million bucks, you record the record and we’ll go put them out’ – you know, they’re trying to make money off you, too,” he says. “I never thought that was bad a thing that I was facilitating to a record label, because they put so much money behind me to make it work.”
“Drinkin’ Days” is out today on digital media and is the single for a new EP due to be released later this year. Green is currently on tour, playing the Country 500 Music Fest in Daytona Beach, Florida tonight.