Song of the Day 5/27: Brad Paisley, “Alcohol”

The News Journal’s Ryan Cormier has a paywalled story about the latest trend in college drinking in Newark, where the University of Delaware apparently remains among the nation’s top party schools. It seems bars have improved their ability to screen out underage drinkers, so students have hopped on a TikTok-fueled trend — they fill gallon water jugs with booze and flavored energy drink mix in what they call a BORG, an acronym for “black out rage gallon.” Old heads might think of it as a cheap, transportable way to consume what we called Purple Jesus Punch.

This tune was the lead single from Paisley’s 2005 album “Time Well Wasted.” It features some of Paisley’s trademark humor — who else would credit alcohol with helping white people dance? — but I’m guessing the message hit a little too close to home for some of his fans. “Alcohol” was the rare Paisley effort from that period that failed to reach No. 1. It stalled out at No. 4 on the Billboard country chart, but crossed over to the Hot 100 where it reached No. 28.