About The Song
“Drinkin’ and Dreamin’” (often stylized on releases as “Drinkin’ and Dreamin’”) is a song written by Troy Seals and Max D. Barnes and recorded by Waylon Jennings for RCA. It was released as a single in June 1985 and issued as the first single from his album Turn the Page.
The single came out on RCA with “Drinkin’ and Dreamin’” on the A-side and “Prophets Show Up in Strange Places” on the B-side. Running time on most listed releases is around three minutes. Production on the track, as on the rest of the album, is credited to Jerry Bridges and Gary Scruggs.
“Drinkin’ and Dreamin’” is included on the studio album Turn the Page, released by RCA in 1985. On the LP configuration, the track appears in the latter part of the sequence, and it was one of the key songs used to promote the album to country radio.
Contemporary biographical material on Jennings places the Turn the Page sessions after he had undergone treatment to end long-term cocaine abuse. In his memoir and related interviews he noted that this period marked a shift toward recording in a cleaner physical state, which is the context in which this and other mid-1980s tracks are often discussed.
On the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in the United States, “Drinkin’ and Dreamin’” reached the No. 2 position in 1985. In Canada, the song peaked in the mid-20s on RPM’s Country Tracks survey, giving it moderate but documented airplay there as well.
Discography and singles indexes list the U.S. 7-inch under an RCA catalog number in the 14000 series, crediting Seals and Barnes as writers and identifying the track as originating from the album Turn the Page. Later compilations of Jennings’s work regularly include “Drinkin’ and Dreamin’” among his notable 1980s hits.
Video
Lyric
Everybody’s looking for some way in
I’m looking for some way out
I’ve been wasting my time, standing in line
If this is what it’s all about
All I got is a job that I don’t like
And a woman that don’t understand
So, tonight at the bar, I’ll get in my car
Take off for the promised land
Drinkin’ and dreamin’
Knowing damn well I can’t go
I’ll never see Texas, L.A. or Old Mexico
But here at this table, I’m able to leave it behind
Drink ’til I’m dreamin’, a thousand miles out of my mind
This suit and this tie, is just a disguise
This ain’t really me
Some people are born to be tied down
Some people are born to be free
When I look down the road, she don’t know
How it gets under my skin
She’s got my body but my heart and soul
Are out there riding the wind
Drinkin’ and dreamin’
Knowing damn well I can’t go
I’ll never see Texas, L.A. or Old Mexico
But here at this table, I’m able to leave it behind
Drink ’til I’m dreamin’, a thousand miles out of my mind
Drinkin’ and dreamin’
Knowing damn well I can’t go
I’ll never see Texas, L.A. or Old Mexico
But here at this table, I’m able to leave it behind