"Ain't Worth the Whiskey" is a song co-written and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist

Cole Swindell Colden Rainey Swindell (born June 30, 1983) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He has written singles for Craig Campbell (singer), Craig Campbell, Thomas Rhett, Scotty McCreery, and Luke Bryan, and has released four albums for W ...

. It was released to country radio in November 2014 as the third single from his self-titled debut album. The song was written by Swindell, Josh Martin, and

Adam Sanders Adam Sanders (born May 25, 1988) is an American singer and songwriter. Sanders has released several singles, an EP, and two full-length albums as an independent artist. He has over 100 million total streams and charted at No. 33 on Billboard's ...

. It garnered mixed reviews from critics. "Ain't Worth the Whiskey" peaked at number one on the ''Billboard''

Country Airplay Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since October 20, 2012, although the magazine also retrospectively recognizes the Hot Country Songs charts from January 20, 1990, through October 13, 2012, ...

chart, giving Swindell his third number-one country hit overall, making him the first male country artist since

Darius Rucker Darius Carlos Rucker (born May 13, 1966) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter. He first gained fame as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of rock band Hootie & the Blowfish, which he founded in 1986 at the University of South Carol ...

in 2009 to send their first three singles to number one. It also charted at numbers three and 43 on the

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

and

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

charts respectively. The song was certified

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA), and has sold 688,000 copies in that country as of June 2015. The song also charted in Canada at number ten on the

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

chart and number 62 on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007 as the standard record chart in Canada; a new chart ...

. It was also certified Gold by

Music Canada Music Canada is a non-profit Industry trade group, trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 in Toronto to represent the interests of companies that record, manufacture, produce, and distribute music in Canada. It also offers benefits to s ...

, denoting sales of over 40,000 units in that country. The accompanying music video was directed by Michael Monaco and features Swindell at a bar giving tribute to a returning

U.S. Special Forces The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, is a branch of the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC). The core missionset of Special Forces ...

soldier from Afghanistan.

Critical reception

Vickye Fisher of ''For The Country Record'' gave the song a negative review, criticizing the production and lyrics as well as Swindell's vocals, saying that "Unfortunately, the genuineness that they're going for with this one falls pretty flat. Along with having a very conventional, generic country/pop sound (like 'Lonely') that I find it very difficult to get remotely excited about, it sits in a cheery major key complete with perfect cadences and a feel-good vibe, meaning that any sadness or heartache that might have been conveyed through the lyrics gets completely overthrown." ''

Taste of Country Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wit ...

'' reviewed it positively which stated that "Ultimately, 'Ain't Worth the Whiskey' is a strong choice for Swindell's third single off his self-titled debut album. It's fun to listen to and everything we love about country music. And who doesn't love a classic tune about moving on … with a good shot of whiskey, of course." In 2017, ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' contributor

Chuck Dauphin Charles Frederick Dauphin III (February 17, 1974 – September 18, 2019) was an American sports and country music journalist. He was a radio broadcaster for WDKN in Dickson, Tennessee for 18 years, a radio show host and sports director at WNKX i ...

put "Ain't Worth the Whiskey" at number two on his top 10 list of Swindell's best songs.

Music video

The music video was directed by Michael Monaco and premiered in March 2015. Taking place in Nashville at the Silver Dollar Saloon, the video starts out with Swindell entering said bar with a blonde woman, presumed to be his ex, spotting him. Midway through the video, Swindell goes on stage to announce that Kyle Davis, a U.S. Special Forces soldier, has returned from Afghanistan and gives a salute to him by toasting a glass of alcohol.

Commercial performance

''Ain't Worth the Whiskey'' first entered the Hot Country Songs chart at number 27 on the album release in February 2014, as well as Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart at number 2, and number 6 on the Country Digital Songs, selling 34,000 copies for the week. In anticipation of the song release as a single, the song entered the Country Airplay chart at number 59 for chart dated October 25, 2014. With increasing airplay, the song eventually debuted on the ''Billboard''

for chart dated January 17, 2015. It peaked at number one on the Country Airplay chart and on the Hot 100 at number 43 on the chart date of April 4, 2015. As of June 2015, the single has sold 688,000 copies in the United States. Sales figure give
here
/ref> On August 31, 2015, the single was certified

by the

(RIAA) for sales of over a million digital copies in the United States.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2014 songs 2014 singles Cole Swindell songs Warner Records Nashville singles Songs written by Cole Swindell