When Brad Paisley planned on releasing his current single, “No I in Beer,” he never imagined that it would come out when everyone was self-isolating due to COVID-19. While the pandemic forced him to change part of the lyric, Brad says the song is more important now than ever.
“There are a few things I changed,” Brad told Sony Music. “For instance, the original opening line was ‘There’s a bunch of people coming over,’ yet another example of things you would never imagine don’t apply in life, all of a sudden don’t right now. So I had to rewrite that opening.”
Brad changed the first verse to “Wherever you are tonight / Whatever you’re goin’ through / Grab a long neck bottle or a big ol’ pint / And let’s all have a few,” which he says is what the song, and the world, needs right now.
“I actually like better what’s there,” Brad admitted. “It’s interesting because when I wrote the song, it didn’t have this large scale, over-arching theme of unity. Well it did, but it didn’t have this feeling that it has. The same exact words, two months ago, ‘We’re all in this together, there’s no I in beer,’ two months ago that’s just a ‘Yay let’s party.’ Now it’s like defiant and a rallying cry almost. Like a fight song.
“It’s crazy that that can mean such a different thing in less than eight weeks,” he continued. “Of course that last verse as well, that last chorus. It would have been a slightly different list of the people I am toasting at the end that are keeping this country going. Nurses are the new soldiers. For many years we’ve slowly learned how much we need to appreciate our soldiers, and it’s no different with nurses now. I was thrilled to be able to throw that line in, because they deserve a beer and then some. They deserve a bar.”
Brad and his wife, actress Kimberly Williams-Paisley, recently opened The Store in Nashville, which offers free food to those in need. Due to COVID-19, it is currently only serving the Nashville community via drop-off and pick-up. Find more information at TheStore.org.
Download or stream “No I in Beer” at BradPaisley.com.