Sippin' On Fire

Album

Imagine

Label

Republic Nashville

Genre

Country

Composer(s)

Rodney Clawson;Matt Dragstrem;Cole Taylor

Entered Chart

Oct 25, 2014

Peak Date

May 23, 2015

Released

February 16, 2015[1

Recorded

2014

Catalog #

Republic Nashville Digital

This mid-tempo love song is about a guy who wants his ex to forget about her boyfriend for a night: So why should we spend Saturday night alone When I can call you on the phone, pick you up Make it up as we go along Pull an all-nighter chasing that desire Sparks flying in her eyes like lighters Get a little higher Sippin' on fire The song was released as the third single from Florida Georgia Line's Anything Goes album. This was written by Rodney Clawson, who also co-penned Anything Goes' lead single "Dirt" and country songwriting newcomers Matt Dragstrem and Cole Taylor. The song was originally penned by the latter pair then Clawson was brought in at a later stage. "It was my first introduction to Cole Taylor," Dragstrem told Taste of Country. "He was a new writer, and I was a new writer — actually, I got signed that day that we wrote that song, I got signed to Big Loud Shirt." "Basically, we came in with no expectations about what song we wanted to write, or what style," he continued. "I had a little bit of a loop, a little bit of an idea. It wasn't completely fleshed out, but we had a kind of idea. We started writing the chorus first, and basically we just kinda collabed and decided to make the chorus as long as possible." Dragstrem and Taylor weren't writing to fit the title. "'Sippin' on Fire' actually wasn't even the hook; it was just a line, a part of the chorus,"he said. "We struggled with the chorus for probably an hour or so, and I remember thinking 'Sippin' on Fire' would make a weird, cool title, so I said we should make it the title of the song. I'm not sure it makes sense, but I kinda like the implication of playing with fire; it's kinda dangerous, it's not good for you, but you can't let it go. So we just kinda messed around with that, and we looked at each other and said, 'Bingo!'" Big Loud Shirt's creative manager, Seth England, also manages Florida Georgia Line, and after listening to Dragstrem and Taylor's demo, he thought with some changes, it could be a hit for the duo. He called in Rodney Clawson to make a few changes to the lyrics. "He said, 'I think the chorus is a hit chorus, but the verses aren't really lining up with the chorus," Clawson revealed. "Basically I just took the song and looked at it, analyzed it, and I re-wrote the verses, and then we edited the chorus just a little bit." "The chorus is probably ninety percent of what they originally wrote," he added. "I just took the verses and scrapped what they had, and wrote what I thought would fit the chorus, storyline-wise." Clawson got the call from Seth England while on the road with Lady Antebellum, writing songs with them. "The day that we wrote 'Bartender,' that night when they went in to do their soundcheck and meet and greet and all that, I sat down and I re-wrote the first and second verse of 'Sippin' on Fire' on the Lady Antebellum bus," he revealed with a laugh. "That was a good songwriting trip for me!" The song's music video was directed by Marc Klasfeld, who has also shot clips for Katy Perry ("Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)") and Fun. ("We Are Young"). The clip finds Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley performing the track in the midst of a dust storm in the desert, while their band is shown in the background performing in a ring of fire "It's a hot spot," Brian Kelley commented to ET Online. "The song's hot, so the video needs to match that."

Girl you melt me like ice and whiskey
With those blue fling looks that you give me,
You can't hide what's inside
And it's killing me right now to see
You wanna slip off with me again

Why should we go round and round the truth,
Like we been doin'?
Every time we lie girl we're losing
So why should we spend Saturday night alone,
When I can call you on the phone, pick you up
Make it up as we go along
Pull and all nighter chasing that desire
Sparks flying in her eyes like lighters (like lighters)
Get a little higher (get a little higher)
Sippin' on fire

You act like you don't know what you're missing,
Every time you end up back with him
'Cause it's safe, and you're scared.
Of everything you're feeling when
We're burning the midnight down again

Why should we go round and round the truth, like we been doin?
Every time we lie girl we're losing
So why should we spend Saturday night alone,
When I can call you on the phone, pick you up
Make it up as we go along
Pull and all nighter chasing that desire
Sparks flying in her eyes like lighters (like lighters)
Get a little higher (get a little higher),
Sippin' on fire

Every goodbye is bitter sweet,
So why should we fight what we both need?

Why should we go round and round the truth, like we been doin?
Every time we lie girl we're losing
So why should we spend Saturday night alone,
When I can call you on the phone, pick you up
Make it up as we go along
Pull and all nighter chasing that desire
Sparks flying in her eyes like lighters (like lighters)
Get a little higher (get a little higher),
Sippin' on fire

Girl you melt me like ice and whiskey
With those blue fling looks that you give me,
You can't hide what's inside
And it's killing me right now to see
You wanna slip off with me