"Givin' Water to a Drowning Man" is a song co-written and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer

Lee Roy Parnell Lee Roy Parnell (born December 21, 1956) is an American country music and blues artist, singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Active since 1990, he has recorded eight studio albums, and has charted more than twenty singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot C ...

. It was released in May 1996 as the fourth single from his album ''

We All Get Lucky Sometimes ''We All Get Lucky Sometimes'' is the fourth studio album by American country music singer Lee Roy Parnell. It was released in 1995 as his first album for Career Records, a sister label of Arista Nashville. This album produced five singles for hi ...

''. The song spent 20 weeks on the

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

charts, peaking at number twelve in 1996. It was written Parnell and Gary Nicholson.

Content

The song finds a man taking a stance for fidelity and offering a unique rebuff to a woman trying to lead him astray by saying, "you want to give me lovin' and I'm sure that you can but it'd be like givin' water to a drowning man..."

Critical reception

Deborah Evans Price, of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' magazine reviewed the song favorably, saying that Parnell's "bluesy vocals percolate on this raucous Texas roadhouse number." She goes on to say that his "distinctive voice and slide guitar always make Parnell a welcome addition to country airwaves, and this tune is pure summertime fun."''

'', May 11, 1996

Chart performance

"Givin' Water to a Drowning Man" debuted at number 56 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of May 18, 1996.

Year-end charts

References

1996 singles 1995 songs Lee Roy Parnell songs Song recordings produced by Scott Hendricks Arista Nashville singles Songs written by Gary Nicholson Songs written by Lee Roy Parnell {{1996-country-song-stub