A tongue-in-cheek excuse, a fact of geography, and a #1 country song — the little phrase carries all three. Here's the whole story.
"It's five o'clock somewhere" is a playful, tongue-in-cheek way to justify having a drink — no matter what time it actually is where you are. The reasoning goes like this: 5 PM is the classic end of the workday and the start of happy hour. And since the world is split into 24 time zones, there's always a place where it's just turned five. So if it's only 11 in the morning where you're standing? Doesn't matter — it's five o'clock somewhere.
It's the verbal shrug of someone reaching for a cocktail a little early, and everyone in on the joke understands exactly what it means.
"Pour me something tall and strong… it's five o'clock somewhere."Delightfully, yes — this one holds up to scrutiny. Because there are 24 time zones spanning the globe, at any given instant there is always at least one spot on Earth where the local clock reads 5:00 PM. As the planet rotates, that moment doesn't stay put — it sweeps westward, city by city, all day and all night long.
Curious where it's five o'clock right now? That's exactly what this site tracks. Check the live city on the wallpaper page — it always shows a place where happy hour is starting this very minute — or read our tour of happy hour around the world to see how different cultures greet the hour.
Most people know the phrase from the 2003 hit "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere," performed by country superstar Alan Jackson alongside Jimmy Buffett — the laid-back, margarita-loving voice of "Margaritaville." The song was written by Jim "Moose" Brown and Don Rollins, spent weeks at number one on the U.S. country chart, and won the Country Music Association's award for Musical Event of the Year.
Its breezy, beach-bar philosophy — the workweek can wait, let's pour one now — turned an old bit of bar wisdom into a cultural catchphrase and a permanent fixture of poolside playlists everywhere.
Here's the twist: the saying is much older than the 2003 hit. Long before it topped the charts, "it's five o'clock somewhere" was already a well-worn bit of folk wisdom — the kind of line traded across bars and porches for generations as a wink-and-a-nod excuse for an early drink. The song didn't invent the phrase; it just gave it a melody and introduced it to millions.
We find a city where it's happy hour this very minute and turn it into a live wallpaper for your phone — free, updating on its own all day.
See where it's 5 PM → Take the world tour