'Whiskey Colored Crayon' by Lainey Wilson – Lyrics & Meaning

Where her blockbuster sophomore record, Bell Bottom Country, cemented Lainey Wilson's place as one of the leading ladies of country music, her 2024 follow-up, Whirlwind, finds her in the midst of just that as she navigates the rapid rise she's experienced in her life and career over the last few years.

Featuring 14 songs that capture some of the highs, lows and in betweens that she's had along the way, the Louisiana native tries on a few new personas across the record, talking in depth about love, life and deeper struggles that people face every day.

At the very end of the record, lies one of the heaviest and most revealing songs. Titled 'Whiskey Colored Crayon,' it sheds light on what it's like to grow up in a household plagued by alcoholism and addiction, yet manages to find the light at the end of the bottle before the song's end.

'Whiskey Colored Crayon' was penned by Wilson, alongside Josh Kear & Wyatt McCubbin – the same trio behind the album's opener, 'Keep Up With Jones.'

Produced, as ever, by the masterful Jay Joyce, who helms the soundboard across the entire project, the song starts off with a rather bright sonic landscape that effectively hides the weighty prose that's coming across the three and a half minutes.

With acoustic guitars, a calming drum beat and clean reverb guitars picking and tapping away, it's a mostly peaceful ballad. Not reinventing the wheel on the production from, Joyce and the crew let the heavy lyrics take front and center, sending the record off with a thought-provoking end.

"Kindergarten class teacher said pass
Out that box of Crayolas
We’re all gonna draw a picture of home
Help us get to know ya
He drew a big orange sun
Shining down on"

Not written from her own perspective, but rather a young Kindergartener on the first day of class, the story goes that the teacher asked the students to draw a picture of their homes and families as a way to shake the first-day-of-school nerves.

With his pack of Crayolas at the ready, the boy that the song follows starts with a big sun in the top corner... but before we know it, things get a little dark.

"A little red house with a little green tree
A little blue car parked out on the street
Brother with a football sister with a puppy dog
Mama with a smile and a church dress on
Then he raised his hand
Said teacher I can’t draw deddy
Do you have a whiskey colored crayon"

Filling in the rest of his paper, the boy adds a red house with green trees and a blue car. From there, he adds in his brother and sister, as well as the family dog. After that, there's his sweet mom, donning a smile, but from there, it gets tricky.

Needing some help from his teacher, he explains that he can't properly draw his dad because he doesn't have the right color crayon. You see, in order to draw his dad in true form, he needs to be able to add a glass of whiskey in his father's hand.

It's foreboding and heart-breaking, and soon becomes a reason for worry from his teacher.

"Teacher walked down the hall
Made one call mama left work early
That picture on the desk made mama a mess
Hearing the rest of the story
She didn’t know what to say
But her mascara rained"

Immediately taking action, the teacher goes to call the student's mom to tell her about what the child said. Leaving work early, the mom arrives at the school and is visibly distraught over what her child said and how he views their family.

Listening to the rest of what her son had to say and his reasoning behind the picture, she's left speechless but nevertheless in tears as she begins to understand the impact her husband's drinking is having on their family.

"He stood up in that circle
Said I’m sober seven years
And all because our little boy drew this picture here"

Switching to the father's perspective, we have a little jump in time. Now, seven years on from that first day of Kindergarten when his problem was first realized in vivid color, the dad has now been sober for seven years.

Sitting at an Alcoholic's Anonymous meeting, he's quick to share that the reason he got sober was because of that innocent picture that his son drew, which we can only speculate he carries with him everywhere he goes.

"It’s a little red house with a little green tree
A little blue car parked out on the street
Brother with a football sister with a puppy dog
Mama with a smile and a church dress on
Then he raised his hand
Said teacher I can’t draw deddy
Do you have a whiskey colored crayon"

While nothing has been shared specifically about 'Whiskey Colored Crayon,' Wilson has been open about the fact that this new project has been a major source of solace and self-discovery over the last few years as she's seen her life completely change while her career has skyrocketed.

Weaving together the highs, lows and in-betweens that she's experienced along the way, her signature storytelling is front and center across the project, which she explains has been in the works essentially since the release of Bell Bottom Country in October of 2022.

“This album has been a long time coming, and I can’t wait for the world to have this body of work in their hands soon,” Wilson noted when announcing the highly-anticipated project. “This new chapter of music is the most cathartic and personal piece of art I’ve ever made. I hope this record brings some peace to your whirlwind and wraps its arms around you like it did for me.”

Expanding on these sentiments, the decorated entertainer also added: "Writing & recording these 14 songs over the past couple of years has helped me stay grounded in ways you’d never believe. This album brought me back to my roots and made me feel at home during times when I couldn’t have been further away and my biggest hope is that it gives you that same sense of comfort that it has for me."

Kindergarten class teacher said pass
Out that box of Crayolas
We’re all gonna draw a picture of home
Help us get to know ya
He drew a big orange sun
Shining down on

A little red house with a little green tree
A little blue car parked out on the street
Brother with a football sister with a puppy dog
Mama with a smile and a church dress on
Then he raised his hand
Said teacher I can’t draw deddy
Do you have a whiskey colored crayon

Teacher walked down the hall
Made one call mama left work early
That picture on the desk made mama a mess
Hearing the rest of the story
She didn’t know what to say
But her mascara rained

On a little red house with a little green tree
A little blue car parked out on the street
Brother with a football sister with a puppy dog
Mama with a smile and a church dress on
Then he raised his hand
Said teacher I can’t draw deddy
Do you have a whiskey colored crayon

He stood up in that circle
Said I’m sober seven years
And all because our little boy drew this picture here

It’s a little red house with a little green tree
A little blue car parked out on the street
Brother with a football sister with a puppy dog
Mama with a smile and a church dress on
Then he raised his hand
Said teacher I can’t draw deddy
Do you have a whiskey colored crayon

A whiskey colored crayon
A whiskey colored crayon

--

For more on Lainey Wilson, see below: