The song is a humorous reminiscence of youthful encounters with homemade alcoholic beverages. The expression "chug-a-lug" refers to quickly downing a drink, and the lyrics describe the singer's reaction to the extra-strong liquor. Example: "I swallered it with a smile / (sound of swallowing) / I run ten mile! Chug-a-lug, chug-a-lug / Makes you want to holler, 'Hi-dee-ho!' / Burns your tummy, don't ya know / Chug-a-lug, chug-a-lug."[3]
History
By July 1964, Roger Miller's monster hit "Dang Me" had run its course in radio, and "Chug-a-Lug" was hitting hard and fast. Concerned about offending their core country audience, Miller and his producer Jerry Kennedy had initially resisted releasing "Chug-a-Lug" as a single, and an alternate version of the song was produced with the word "wine" edited out. But head of Smash Records Charles Fach knew that Miller's ode to forbidden liquid pleasures would be a hit. Of the song’s success, Kennedy said: "Charles was the one who wanted 'Chug-a-Lug’, we didn't know he was testing this thing in places. He said, “The college crowd is eating up this ‘Chug-a-Lug’”. And I said, “Well, we've got our country fans to consider here.” And fortunately they loved it too."[4]
Miller said that the song was based on a true story of a friend of his who "could drink a beer in 3 seconds".[3]
In 1992, Mojo Nixon, backed up by Jeremy Tepper's band World Famous Blue Jays, released a version as the B-side of Mojo's original song "UFOs, Big Rigs & BBQ" on a purple vinyl 7" single released by Tepper's label Diesel Only Records.