Over the last few months, Lainey Wilson has had the country listening world smiling to themselves and reminiscing on past loves with “Watermelon Moonshine.” Like its namesake, the song drums up a warm feeling inside the listener as they lean hard into nostalgia. It’s the song of this summer, but it sets the mind on summers past.
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What inspired Wilson and her co-writers, Josh Kear and Jordan Schmidt, to write this wistful track? Find out below.
Behind the Meaning of “Watermelon Moonshine”
It was right after senior year
Just before the summer disappeared
We went a-ridin’ them old farm ruts
Hangin’ out on the gate of his truck
We threw a blanket ‘neath the sunset
Bein’ brave as 18 gets
We gave each other more than our hearts
With the help of a mason jar
In the first verse, Wilson sets the scene. It’s late August, she’s 18, and the world is at her fingertips. On this particular night, it’s just Wilson and that one special someone. There’s more than the humidity in the air.
Heavy on the minds of both of them are their young, hormone-driven desires. To help cut the nerves (and the tension) they down a little liquid courage: Watermelon Moonshine.
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“It’s truly about that young, wild crazy love,” Wilson tells American Songwriter. “That time in your life when nothing else matters.”
Drinkin’ watermelon moonshine
We cut the burn with a little lime
Parkin’ back in them kudzu vines
I was his and every bit of that boy was mine
Too young to know what love was
But we were learnin’ on a sweet buzz
There’s never nothin’ like the first time
And mine’s always gonna taste like
Watermelon moonshine
They say smell is the sense that holds the most memories, but for Wilson, it’s the taste of 100-proof moonshine that instantly brings her back to this particular time and place.
Wilson continues to deliver deeply visual lyrics, singing about the oh-so-country kudzu vines and the naivety of 18. It’s the type of memory that Wilson feels brings her back down to earth amid her whirlwind success.
“During this busy season of life that I’m in, I want to write about things that make me feel grounded,” she says. “You can’t help but listen to ‘Watermelon Moonshine’ and think about that one person you were madly in love with.
“You had that bottle of something in the backseat, you drank it and hoped your mom and dad didn’t smell it on you when you walked through the house,” she continues. “It makes me shake my head and laugh. It was a naive love but, there’s something really beautiful about naive.”
Many people have compared “Watermelon Moonshine” to Deana Carter’s “Strawberry Wine” – what with them both being about alcohol and young love. Wilson, Kear, and Schmidt were inspired by Carter’s 1996 hit when they wrote this track.
“A lot of folks have compared it to ‘Strawberry Wine,'” Wilson says. “There will never be another ‘Strawberry Wine,’ but this could be the modern take on it. Maybe we need to do a little mash-up or something, I don’t know.”
Photo Credit: Broken Bow Records
