Garvey said of the song in 2009:
Not great advice if you want to get drunk. This was about the fact that you don’t take advice if you’re going to follow a career in music. It goes against everything your parents want for you, as it’s such a shaky business.
Don't mix your drinks
Don't mix with him
It will kill you one day
Good advice, sound advice
Why can't you be like him, like me?
Look what you could achieve
I'm coming cap-in-hand, begging you to listen
Something draws me in
And I just can't christen it, just can't christen it
Don't mix your drinks
Don't mix with him
It will kill you one day
Good advice, sound advice
You need to be like this, like me
I'm coming cap-in-hand, begging you to listen
Something draws me in
And I just can't christen it, just can't christen it
Don’t Mix Your Drinks was written by Mark Potter & Craig Potter & Pete Turner & Richard Jupp & Guy Garvey.
Don’t Mix Your Drinks was produced by Elbow.
Elbow released Don’t Mix Your Drinks on Mon May 07 2001.