Nate Smith is finding room on country radio, 15 years after he first gave Nashville a try. "Whiskey on You" is nearing the Top 20 on Billboard's Country Airplay chart, and talking to Taste of Country, the singer and songwriter says timing is everything.

"Whiskey on You" is "about getting to the other side of a breakup," Smith tells Taste of Country Nights' Evan Paul. "That's why it feels kind of anthemic to me."

"You didn't waste any time finding somebody new / So, I ain't gonna waste another drop of whiskey on you / No, I ain’t," Smith sings, powering through each chorus. Find the full lyrics to "Whiskey on You" below. 

Lindsay Rimes and Russell Sutton helped Smith write the lyrics to his debut single. It all came together very quickly during a songwriting retreat in the "middle of nowhere." Someone suggested the title, and together, they wrote the song and recorded a demo that very day.

"I think I started teasing it on TikTok a couple weeks after that, and it's on radio now," Smith adds, bewildered.

TikTok is essential to Smith's success, but it's hard to say it's the reason for his success. Before songs like "I Don't Wanna Go to Heaven" and "Wildfire" went viral on the social media in platform in 2020 and 2021, he'd put in a decade or more toward his craft. In fact, the California native first came to Nashville in 2007, but retreated some time after.

"I was 23. I was — everything's different," Smith says about this time around. "I was young and just probably made everything about myself. That kind of thing."

attachment-whiskey on you cover art
Sony Music Nashville
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To this day he tests new songs out on social media before leaning in to a release. For Smith and a growing number of artists and labels, it's free market testing.

"It's an amazing tool," he says of TikTok. "If you're an artist and you're not using it, you know, good luck."

Nate Smith, "Whiskey On You" Lyrics:

Now, I've wasted a paycheck on whiskey and long necks / Ever since you left trying to figure this out / This Jack I've been drinking's been wasted on thinking / Now, I got a new reason for throwing 'em down / Line 'em up, line 'em up / P our 'em tall, pour 'em tall / Here's to us, happily never after all.

Chorus:
Ain't gonna waste one more night missing, wanting you back / No, I ain't gonna cry another tear in this glass / You didn't waste any time finding somebody new / So, I ain't gonna waste another drop of whiskey on you / No, I ain’t.

To hell with the lonely, and the-why-don't-you-want-me / Yeah, bartender pour me a farewell round / Line 'em up, line 'em up / Make 'em strong, make 'em strong / Tell the band that I need me a drinking song.

Repeat Chorus

I ain't gonna waste another drop of whiskey on you, no / I ain't gonna waste another drop of whiskey on you.

Line 'em up, line 'em up / P our 'em tall, pour 'em tall / Here's to us happily never after all.

Repeat Chorus

Top 10 Country Songs of 2022 So Far, Ranked

There are plenty of feel-good country jams on this list of the top country songs of 2022, but the No. 1 song is a gut punch. These 10 songs are ranked by critical acclaim, radio and sales success, and importance to the genre.

Five of the 10 artists made our Top Country Songs list from 2021 as well, but there are no repeats. If a song made a previous list or didn't spend most of its time on the charts in 2022, it's not eligible. So, before you ask where your favorite song is, be sure the miss isn't just a technicality.

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