Want Some Whiskey In Your Water? | Mama Told Me

If you’ve had the line ‘Want some whiskey in your water? Sugar in your tea?’ playing on a loop in your head but couldn’t quite place the artist, you aren’t alone. That’s exactly why we’re here at the Lyric Detective desk. While those famous opening words launched a #1 hit for Three Dog Night in 1970, the song’s true origin traces back to a very different (and much more cynical) version by the legendary Randy Newman.

The song you’re likely thinking of is ‘Mama Told Me (Not to Come),’ famously turned into a high-energy anthem by Three Dog Night. Their version became a definitive sound of the era, spending two weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1970 and earning a gold certification. However, the song’s origin is with a songwriter with a much different, and quite legendary, catalogue. Written by a young Randy Newman, the song was actually first recorded four years earlier by Eric Burdon & The Animals, long before it became the ‘party’ staple we know today.

Randy Newman, a multi-award-winning songwriter and film composer, well-known for his movie scores. The most well-known song recorded by Newman himself is the classic sardonic song Short People, which went to number two in 1978.

Three Dog Night wasn’t the first to record a Randy Newman song. The Fleetwoods are credited by Newman for giving him his “first big break” by recording They Tell Me It’s Summer, and many other artists had covered his songs. Newman wrote Mama Told Me for Eric Burdon and subsequently recorded it on his own album. Eric Burdon, who also recorded two other Newman songs.

🕵️ Lyric Detective: Case File #1025 Love it when a “misheard” lyric turns out to be exactly what they sang? While Three Dog Night sang about whiskey, Freddie Mercury ended a Queen anthem by shouting about dinner. Find out why Freddie Mercury says “Fried Chicken” at the end of ‘One Vision.’

Cory Wells, one of the three lead vocalists in Three Dog Night, along with Danny Hutton and Chuck Negron, and famous for singing Joy to the World, had heard both the Burdon version and Newman’s original version of Mama Told Me before Three Dog Night was formed. Wells played the song with his own band in Arizona and had wanted Three Dog Night to record it right from the start, but the other band members didn’t think it had a lot of commercial potential.

The band didn’t give in until the third album, It Ain’t Easy, and it went to number 1 in July 1970, spending 15 weeks on the Billboard charts. It was Randy Newman’s only number one hit, and one of three for Three Dog Night, along with Black & White (Greyhound) Joy to the World (just as well known as Jeremiah the Bullfrog song, written by Hoyt Axton).

Want Some Whiskey In Your Water
Sugar in your tea?
What’s all these crazy questions they’re askin me?

The Connections

The success of Mama Told Me (Not to Come) cemented a fruitful relationship between Three Dog Night and the era’s greatest songwriters. This wasn’t the only time the band struck gold with a cover; their hit One was written by Harry Nilsson, and Eli’s Coming came from the pen of Laura Nyro. As for Randy Newman, while Three Dog Night gave him his only #1 hit as a writer, he would go on to become one of Hollywood’s most decorated film composers, proving that the man who wrote about a ‘crazy’ party had a much larger story to tell.

🕵️ Lyric Detective: Case File #407 Three Dog Night had a knack for taking mysterious lyrics to the top of the charts. If you’ve ever wondered what a “Shambala” actually is—or why they were washing away their troubles in its hall—we’ve already cracked the case. Discover the meaning behind “Shambala” right here.

Quick Facts: Mama Told Me (Not to Come)

• Primary Artist: Three Dog Night
• Songwriter: Randy Newman
• Original Version: Recorded by Eric Burdon & The Animals (1966)
• Release Date: May 1970 (Three Dog Night version)
• Record Label: Dunhill Records
• Chart Peak: #1 on the Billboard Hot 100
• Genre: Roots Rock / R&B

🕵️ Lyric Detective: Case File #449 Some songs are so famous they overshadow the artist who sang them. If you’ve ever wondered about the voice behind the 1974 disco smash “Kung Fu Fighting,” we’ve already closed that case. Who Sings Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting? Find out here.

Is the song “Mama Told Me (Not to Come)” about drugs?

While it’s often interpreted as a “drug song,” songwriter Randy Newman actually wrote it as a social satire. It describes the perspective of a “straight-laced” young man who finds himself at a wild, drug-fueled Los Angeles party and feels completely out of place and overwhelmed by the scene.

What is the “whiskey in your water” mondegreen?

A mondegreen is a misheard lyric. In this song, people often mistakenly hear “whiskey in your bottle” or “whiskey in your vessel,” when the actual line, and the source of the song’s famous opening, is “whiskey in your water.”

Fans of the TV show Supernatural may remember Shambala from the 2nd episode of the second season, ‘Everybody Loves a Clown.’ The song plays as Dean fixes the Impala (my first car was an Impala, too, but not a 67, alas), which had been smashed by the yellow-eyed demon driving the truck.

Three Dog Night “Mama Told Me (Not To Come)” Video

• Road to Shambala — Solving the mystery of what the heck a “Shambala” actually is and why Three Dog Night sang about it.
• The Carl Douglas Story: Who Sang ‘Kung Fu Fighting’? — Solving the mystery of the 1974 disco classic everyone knows but can’t name.
• The “Fried Chicken” Mystery: Queen’s Studio Prank — Why Freddie Mercury shouted about dinner at the end of a Queen anthem.