Role Model's song "Sally, When The Wine Runs Out" is having its viral moment on social media. The singer hit the pop music scene as a rapper before transitioning to singing in 2017. Kansas Anymore is his second studio album that was released on July 19th, 2024.

Before releasing "Sally," Role Model had another popular indie pop song on social media. "Deeply Still In Love" was seemingly about his ex-girlfriend, social media star Emma Chamberlain. However, none of his music has seen the viral success that "Sally, When The Wine Runs Out" is now receiving. What does the song mean, and who is "Sally?"

Who Is The Titular Sally In Role Model's Viral Single?

Who Did Role Model Write Sally About?

Emma Chamberlain is Role Model's most famous ex and inspired several songs on his album Kansas Anymore. However, "Sally, When The Wine Runs Out" off Kansas Anymore (The Longest Goodbye) is seemingly about a different girl. The indie pop singer has not confirmed who inspired the song, but based on the lyrics, Sally is a girl that Role Model met out at a bar and fell in love with for a night.

Whether Sally is a real person, a fictional character, or a combination of both is still a mystery. However, the singer itted he wrote the song after the initial album was finished. He also confessed that he has a hard time writing dance songs, so he really pushed himself to do that when he created "Sally," and it felt like the one time he got it right.

Sally, When The Wine Runs Out Lyrics Explained

What Do Role Model's Lyrics Mean?

"Sally, When The Wine Runs Out" borrows themes from all the one-night-stand songs that came before it. It's reminiscent of Tim McGraw's 2010 single "It Felt Good On My Lips," as both songs discuss meeting a woman who blows them away on a night out. Role Model begins the song in a storytelling style, explaining he met a wild girl named Sally at a dive bar. According to the lyrics, she doesn't dance, but she's a pretty heavy drinker, which only increases Role Model's attraction to her.

Well

I met Sally at a late night dive bar

She don't dance, but she downs her drinks

Heard through a friend, she's a born again wild card

She was telling me wild things

Well, she was telling me wild things

Lives down the street past the 7-Eleven

Just close enough that I spent the night

She grabbed my hand at the intersection

I spilled my guts at the red light

Sally has a magnetic energy that convinces the singer to stay the night at her place and confess his darkest secrets to her while stuck in traffic. However, in the chorus, Role Model confesses that he's starting to have strong feelings for Sally, and he's afraid of her leaving. "Don't go falling in love, then disappear when the wine runs out" is a metaphor; Role Model is asking Sally not to show him affection, only to leave when the night is done. The song is seemingly about a one-night affair that Role Model wishes could last longer.

Sally

That feeling's coming around

Please don't go falling in love

Then disappear when the wine runs out (hey)

Sally

I'll buy a couple of rounds

Don't let me think I'm enough

Then disappear when the wine runs out

In the second verse, Role Model seems to be trying everything to keep the night from ending and to keep Sally around. Then, by the bridge, he realizes how hard he's falling for Sally, and it's too late for him to get out. He talks about the rumors he's heard about Sally, like her being a diva, but it doesn't make him want her less; instead, it makes him more attracted to her.

Well

I open up while she's flipping through pages

Getting lonely as the days get dark

If you're bored, and your mind starts changing

Maybe just give me a head start

And I, I see the glass in your eyes

Just trying to keep it alive

For crying out loud (oh)

Sally

That feeling's coming around

Please don't go falling in love

Then disappear when the wine runs out

Sally

I'll buy a couple of rounds

Don't let me think I'm enough

Then disappear when the wine runs out

Aw, sh**, here we go again

I'm falling headfirst (yeah, yeah, yeah)

Ankles hit the two-step

Sally makes my head hurt (hey)

Heard through the grapevine

She can be a diva

Cold like Minnesota

Hotter than a fever (hey)

Aw, sh**, here we go again

I'm falling headfirst

Ankles hit the two-step

Sally makes my head hurt (hey)

Heard through the grapevine

She can be a diva

Cold like Minnesota

Hotter than a fever (hey)

Despite what the song's lyrics reveal, Role Model tried a different interpretation for the music video. The video features the pop singer dancing around a mall carrying a paper cup with "Sally's" written on it. There's also no female lead in the video playing Sally, making the song and its subject even more mysterious and keeping fans interested in the song.

Role Model's Sally Live Show Tradition Explained

The Singer Has Invited Some Famous Faces On Stage

Since kicking off his tour, No Place Like Tour, Role Model has started a tradition with his song "Sally, When The Wine Runs Out." In recent years, likely due to the rise of concert clips circling on social media and leaking most of the show, singers have gone the extra mile to bring the element of surprise into their shows. Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter have been leading the surprise aspect with the Eras Tour surprise songs and Carpenter's "Nonsense" outros and "Juno" poses.

Role Model decided to include a special surprise element in his own show, taking inspiration from Justin Bieber's 2010 tour. When Bieber took My World on the road, he brought a girl on stage every night to sing "One Less Lonely Girl" to her. Role Model decided to do the same, crowning a different girl as Sally during his performance. However, while Sally has often been a fan chosen from the crowd, Role Model has also crowned a few familiar faces as Sally.

During a Los Angeles show, the singer brought singer and actress Reneé Rapp on stage to be Sally, and in Boston, he brought out his mother to be the Sally of the night. TikTok star Jake Shane also made an appearance as Sally at one of Role Model's shows and during his recent The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon performance, Role Model brought out fellow NBC alum, Saturday Night Live's Bowen Yang, to play Sally. The tour tradition has certainly gotten fans excited, both at his shows and via TikTok, bringing more publicity to Role Model's viral song.