How Matthew McConaughey Became ‘Alright, Alright, Alright’

Brendan Vaughan
GEN
Published in
1 min readDec 18, 2020

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Of all the stereotypically Gen X things about my taste and overall worldview, probably the most stereotypical of all is my goofy love for Dazed and Confused. That’s why I couldn’t be more delighted to point you to this excerpt from Matthew McConaughey’s new memoir, Greenlights. And not just any excerpt! It’s the origin story of “alright, alright, alright.”

Here’s a taste: “Matching him drink for drink, I had no interest in Don calming down either, so we were unpeacefully escorted out of the Hyatt. Now past two in the morning, as he rode with me in a cab to drop me off at my apartment, I pulled out a joint and we smoked it.”

(BTW, this is not GEN’s only detour onto the McConaughey beat. Back when he was announced as a University of Texas film professor, we made up this syllabus.)

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GEN
GEN

Published in GEN

A former publication from Medium about politics, power, and culture. Currently inactive and not taking submissions.

Brendan Vaughan
Brendan Vaughan

Written by Brendan Vaughan

Editor in Chief, GEN by Medium. Previously: Random House Publishing Group, GQ, Condé Nast Portfolio, Esquire