science

It's Five O'Clock Somewhere

It's Five O'Clock Somewhere is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand It's Five O'Clock Somewhere rather than just read about it. In short: "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" is a song performed by Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett, and written by Jim "Moose" Brown and Don Rollins. It was released in June 2003 as the lead single from Jackson's 2003 compilation album Greatest Hits Volume II.

Key takeaways

It's Five O'Clock Somewhere belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect It's Five O'Clock Somewhere to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of It's Five O'Clock Somewhere from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

"It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" is a song performed by Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett, and written by Jim "Moose" Brown and Don Rollins. It was released in June 2003 as the lead single from Jackson's 2003 compilation album Greatest Hits Volume II. It spent eight non-consecutive weeks at #1 on Billboard Hot Country Songs in the summer of 2003, and ranked #4 on the year-end chart. In addition, the song peaked at #17 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September, and ranked #65 on the year-end Hot 100, making it the biggest pop hit for Jackson and the first top forty hit for Buffett since the 1970s. On November 5, 2003, it won the Country Music Association (CMA) Award for Vocal Event of the Year. It was Buffett's first award in his 30-year career. It also won two Academy of Country Music awards for Single Record of the Year and Vocal Event of the Year. The song became the #3 song of the decade on Hot Country Songs.

Content The title refers to a popular expression used to justify drinking at any time of day, given that somewhere in the world, it is 5:00 p.m., the end of the workday for a traditional "nine-to-five" worker. The narrator states that he has not had a day off in over a year and that he wants to leave work and relieve his stress by drinking alcohol. The lyrics include the phrase, "It's only half-past twelve but I don't care. It's five o'clock somewhere": even though it is not 5:00 in the narrator's time zone, it is in another part of the world. For example, a time of 12:30 in Newnan, Georgia, Jackson's hometown, translates to a time of 5:30 in London, England. Even though it would not exactly be 5:00 in London, one can still assume that it is five o'clock in London. If Jackson is narrating in the Pacific Time Zone, a time of 12:30 pm there coincides with a time of 5:00 pm in Newfoundland. The lyrics request the bartender serve "something tall and strong," specifically a Hurricane, a potent cocktail made with a large amount of rum. Just before Buffett's chorus, Jackson sings "What would Jimmy Buffett do?" both a reference to the Christian What Would Jesus Do advertising campaign and a joke at Buffett's expense, due to his large amount of alcohol-related songs.

History Jim "Moose" Brown wrote "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" with Don Rollins (not the same Don Rollins who wrote "The Race Is On" for George Jones in 1963). Although Brown had several other cuts recorded by other artists, this song was the first to make the final cut of an album. The title lyric was inspired by a teacher who worked with Rollins. Brown recorded the demo and offered it to Kenny Chesney, who turned it down. It was then offered to Jackson, who said that he was looking for a song that he could record as a duet with Buffett. Australian Adam Brand and the Outlaws covered the song on the 2016 album Adam Brand and the Outlaws.

Music video The music video for the song was filmed at the Square Grouper Bar in Jupiter, Florida on June 21, 2003, and was directed by Trey Fanjoy. The video premiered on CMT on July 19, 2003 during CMT's "Most Wanted Live". It features Jackson performing on a yacht (which he actually owns) called Hullbilly, and later performing at the bar amidst several patrons. When Buffett's chorus comes in, Jackson joins Buffett on stage at a large concert, which was filmed at Ruoff Music Center in Noblesville, Indiana.

Chart performance "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" debuted at number 31 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs for the week of June 21, 2003. The song held the number 1 position for 7 consecutive weeks, falling to number 2 on the chart dated September 27, 2003, while Dierks Bentley's "What Was I Thinkin'" overtook it at number 1. On the following chart (October 4), Bentley's song fell, allowing "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" to return to number 1 for an eighth and final week. Twenty years after its release, "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" re-entered the Hot Country Songs chart at number 22 on the listing dated September 16, 2023, following Buffett's death on September 1 of the same year. With its eight-week run at number one, the song tied a record with Lonestar's "Amazed" for having the longest run at number one on Hot Country Songs since Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems was initiated in 1990. Nineteen years later, this record would be surpassed by Morgan Wallen's "You Proof", which spent ten non-consecutive weeks at number one on Country Airplay. The song has sold 1,332,000 digital copies in the US as of April 2014, and has been certified five-times platinum.

Year-end chart

Certifications

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with It's Five O'Clock Somewhere

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what It's Five O'Clock Somewhere claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to It's Five O'Clock Somewhere before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about It's Five O'Clock Somewhere ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of It's Five O'Clock Somewhere

In research: It's Five O'Clock Somewhere appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses It's Five O'Clock Somewhere in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: It's Five O'Clock Somewhere is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2003 singles, 2003 songs, Alan Jackson songs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for It's Five O'Clock Somewhere outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study It's Five O'Clock Somewhere in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what It's Five O'Clock Somewhere means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain It's Five O'Clock Somewhere out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is It's Five O'Clock Somewhere in simple terms?

Why does It's Five O'Clock Somewhere matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study It's Five O'Clock Somewhere?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on It's Five O'Clock Somewhere.