As Kelsea Ballerini explained to Billboard, "Hole in the Bottle" was written "almost jokingly" after a fun night out with "some of my favorite songwriters." The result of a "fun, collaborative jam session" during which the group was free to be creative and experimental without any limits, "Hole in the Bottle" only made the album by the skin of its teeth, after a decent amount of studio tinkering. As the country star explained, "My favorite thing about music is it can be escapism if you need it to be. And this song is two minutes and 30-something seconds of escapism." Ballerini admitted the song captures how she behaves when relaxed and truly comfortable with her friends. 

As The Boot notes, it's ideal for sound-tracking a night of drinking wine and getting silly with your BFFs. Plaintive and introspective but ultimately hopeful, Ballerini quips, "I won't cry about love gone wrong / 'Cause tears would water down this ruby red I'm sippin' on," before lamenting the hole in the bottle that's caused it to run empty before dinner is even on. Although it's ultimately about drinking your pain away, the singer-songwriter closes "Hole in the Bottle" with a PSA about imbibing alcohol responsibly. The proud role model doesn't mean to encourage dangerous drinking, of course, but sometimes you've just got to chalk it up to a hole in the bottle of wine. Or two.