Posted by The way Noah Kahan became viral in June 2023, after releasing the extra tracks of his album Stick Season, has surprised many. The album was released in October 2022 and had already his deserved dose of success, but two of the extra tracks shared some months later became a global phenomenon: one was Call Your Mom, and we saw it here. The other one is Dial Drunk, a track that got viral on TikTok: let’s explore the lyrics and their meaning. You’ll also find the complete lyrics at the end.
You can listen to Noah Kahan’s Dial Drunk below.
Dial Drunk: the song lyrics & meaning
Dial Drunk is a symbolic song about a man still thinking about his ex at a particular moment of his life. In the lyrics, Noah Kahan impersonates a man who’s driving drunk: the police stop him, he knows he’s going to spend some time in jail, and when they ask him for his emergency contact, he provides his ex’s number.
We know his ex won’t answer. We understand it already from the song’s beginning:
I’m rememberin’ I promised to forget you now
But it’s rainin’ and I’m callin’ drunk
The protagonist wasn’t supposed to focus on this person any longer. Their story is over, and he is committed to trying to forget. Nevertheless, in the first moment of need, his memory returns to that person. An image that communicates loneliness and sadness: the singing voice is not in his best moment, he’s not lucid, he’s in trouble, and the only help he’s thinking about is a person from his past, who will probably never answer. The following lines are painful:
Thank you, sir, just let me call
I’ll give you my blood alcohol
I’ll rot with all the burnouts in the cell
I’ll change my faith, I’ll praise the flag
Just wait, I swear she’ll call me back
He’s betting everything on this single call. At the moment when he truly needs help, he’s hoping that the person he loved will be there for him. But nobody answers the call, and even the cops wonder what to do. It’s the ultimate self-destruction act: after getting drunk and being arrested, he uses his only chance to get help, his single phone call, to contact someone who refuses to be part of his life.
I gave your name as my emergency phone call
Honey, it rang and rang, even the cops thought you were wrong for hanging up
I dial drunk, I’ll die a drunk, I’ll die for you
The protagonist shows regret for the parts of himself that caused the breakup in the past. He admits he’s not proud of it. He knows he’s changing, but he’s also aware that this wouldn’t change his destiny.
I ain’t proud of all the punches that I’ve thrown
In the name of someone I no longer know
For the shame of being young, drunk, and alone
I’m untethering from the parts of me you’d recognize
From charming to alarming in seconds
I’ll be bedridden, I’ll let the pain metastasize
He’s supposed to move on, and he knows that. His rational mind knows that. And he will think again about it tomorrow. But this night is different. Tonight he’s drunk and needy, relying only on the dial tone of this phone call. A call that will never be answered.
But, that’s morning, I’ll forget it
And the dial tone is all I have
Dial Drunk is a beautiful song, and the lyrics have a deep meaning: I know I’m supposed to forget you and move on, but here I am, I’m in trouble, and I need you. I’m still hoping you’ll answer my call and save me from my personal hell. A song about unrequited love, emotions that don’t intend to disappear, and a past that doesn’t want to fade away.
Read other popular song lyrics and their meaning on Auralcrave
The complete lyrics
Below you can find the complete lyrics of Noah Kahan’s Dial Drunk.
I’m rememberin’ I promised to forget you now
But it’s rainin’ and I’m callin’ drunk
And my medicine is drowning your perspective out
So I ain’t taking any fault
Am I honest still? Am I half the man I used to be?
I doubt it, forget about it, whatever
It’s all the same anyways
I ain’t proud of all the punches that I’ve thrown
In the name of someone I no longer know
For the shame of being young, drunk, and alone
Traffic lights and a transmitter radio
I don’t like that, when they threw me in the car
I gave your name as my emergency phone call
Honey, it rang and rang, even the cops thought you were wrong for hanging up
I dial drunk, I’ll die a drunk, I’ll die for you
I’m untethering from the parts of me you’d recognize
From charming to alarming in seconds
I’ll be bedridden, I’ll let the pain metastasize
But, that’s morning, I’ll forget it
And the dial tone is all I have
I ain’t proud of all the punches that I’ve thrown
In the name of someone I no longer know
For the shame of being young, drunk, and alone
Traffic lights and a transmitter radio
I don’t like that, when they threw me in the car
I gave your name as my emergency phone call
Honey, it rang and rang, even the cops thought you were wrong for hanging up
I dial drunk, I’ll die a drunk, I’d die for you
Well, I’d die for you
Thank you, sir, just let me call
I’ll give you my blood alcohol
I’ll rot with all the burnouts in the cell
I’ll change my faith, I’ll praise the flag
Just wait, I swear she’ll call me back
Oh, son, are you a danger to yourself?
Well, f–k that sir, just let me call
I’ll give you my blood alcohol
I’ll rot with all the burnouts in the cell
I’ll change my faith, I’ll kiss the badge
Just wait, I swear she’ll call me back
Son, why do you do this to yourself?
And I said
I ain’t proud of all the punches that I’ve thrown
In the name of someone I no longer know (I no longer know)
For the shame of being young, drunk, and alone
Traffic lights and a transmitter radio
I don’t like that, when they threw me in the car
I gave your name as my emergency phone call
Honey, it rang and rang, even the cops thought you were wrong for hanging up
I dial drunk, I’ll die a drunk, I’d die for you
