Drinking Song

A drinking song is a song sung while drinking alcohol. Most drinking songs are folk songs or commercium songs, and may be varied from person to person and region to region, in both the lyrics and in the music.

Penned by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill for the incendiary 1930 opera Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, this song was originally performed by a chorus of prostitutes. This more famous cover was recorded by the Doors in 1966 with a carnivalesque sound that perfectly illustrates what it's like to be smashed and along for the ride (which Jim Morrison very likely was).

Drinking Song

Download File 🔥 https://blltly.com/2yGaA6 🔥

We hate this song as much as you do. Of course we do. But the entire belly-shot community would beg to differ. And answer us this: Has any piece of music better simulated the jackhammering headache of a Russian-grade hangover?

Gee, this stein-swinging sing-along from 1975 makes drunks seem quaint and adorable. Like commercials with horses falling in love with puppies. Not like raging douchebags who get into fights about football and fall in the street.

The Big Lebowski may have cornered the market on White Russian references in pop culture, but this (rhythmically) chugging delight from bluesy Brits Dr. Feelgood gives dairy its sonic due. Written by Nick Lowe (after a night spent drinking Kahla and watching John Lee Hooker perform), its seedy stomp and heavy riffing positively ooze the illicit joys of a night on the town. Warning: may not be suitable for the lactose intolerant.

When Busta performed this song with Pharrell Williams at the 2014 NBA All Star game, they changed the liquor shoutout to Ciroc vodka. Diddy (who is also on the track) owns the lux spirit. But back in the day when this cut first dropped, they were all hoping a glass (or bottle for that matter) of the choice cognac would come their way. Listen here.

I admit it publicly now. While sitting down to write columns on local bars and nightclubs, I often break out into song. Specifically, Irish drinking songs. And, as my co-workers will tell you, I do this out loud.

One minute, I'm typing in the word "drink," and then next thing I know, I'm singing the verse in Big Strong Man that goes, "He's got a drink for you and me. He's got an arm like a leg and punch that would sink a battleship. Big ship!"

While I might be the only reporter here who does something so annoying, you have to remember I'm also the only bar reporter here. I think they should cut me some slack. Nobody knows how hard it is to control yourself with this stuff.

But I do know I'm not the only person who loves those old songs. Just check out Water Street Restaurant when they host any group with an Irish name. People who have never been there before come out of the woodwork for some witty lyrics and pints o' Guinness.

Or go to any Paddy Gibney gig. Everyone knows the choruses to the songs by the end of the night. Some are regulars and know all the words. You'll even see small groups of Marines singing along in solidarity. Makes me all teary-eyed.

Recently, I had to ask myself, What makes them so special? How, in an era when songs are old in just a few weeks, do Irish drinking songs stay alive? Why do they keep bringing smiles to people's faces?

He's not only a guitarist and singer, he's also a Dublin native. His friend, Bill Ayerbe, is a classically trained violinist from New York who plays a mean Irish fiddle. Together, this duo has made a career out of playing several times a week in North and South Carolina.

Of course, I had a few ideas of my own. Jokingly, I suggested the tune has to incorporate the words, "beer," "Guinness," "porter" or "whisky." It has to tell a story, particularly about a drunken brawl, war or some beautiful colleen named Mary, Kate or Kathleen. It has to have a refrain catchy enough to remember whilst toasted (sometimes involving a few well-timed claps). And, for goodness sake, if a drunk guy goes up a ladder, he has to fall off by the last verse.

With his lineup, this usually involves changing the words around to the point that they're "so nasty you don't forget it," like his take on Barnacle Bill The Sailor, he said. Or, like the Unicorn Song, based on the Shel Silverstein poem, it's something so innocent and simple it brings out the kid in you. You just plain enjoy singing it.

While people today may have an idea of what it means, how often do you hear that word in modern songs? And how often does anyone feel "beguiled" with another person any more? I mean, we don't even "court" each other any more.

The reasoning goes back to the deep, dark days in history when the Irish people had nothing - no food, no land, no freedom. They were depressed and mad. But they didn't really let it get them down, for the most part. Instead, they expressed their feelings of love, despair and revolt in an art form.

"The Irish, we're a weird bunch. We could turn Amazing Grace into a pub song," Mr. Gibney said. "If you take songs that are Irish drinking songs and you dissect them, a lot of times they're sad. There were no people more miserable in the world than the Irish. And they sang. I don't know if any other cultures have the music so ingrained in their culture and society."

Mr. Gibney said he and Mr. Ayerbe sing a lot of these old Irish drinking songs in more X-rated versions, but their essence would still appeal to anyone. It seems there's something for everyone in each tune whether it submits to the "raunchy" theory, the "kid" theory or the "literary" theory.

Of course, some of the responsibility to make these songs work lies with the audience. You're not supposed to take them too seriously, Mr. Gibney said. Pubs are fun places. He reiterated that you're supposed to forget your worries in a pub, not smolder in them.

Come out you Black and Tans, is a favorite with military crowds in Wilmington and Fayetteville. In it, the songwriter, Dominic Behan, is telling the story of a time when his father taunted British loyalist neighbors after a night of drinking during the Irish war of independence.

Then you have the crying-in-your-beer songs that can bring people down if they're not careful, depressing them with thoughts of loves lost. That would negate the pub atmosphere. Watch out for these, too.

"Even the rough and tumble characters could be brought to their knees at the sight of a pretty young maid," Mr. Gibney said of the characters in Irish drinking songs. "And invariably, her name was Kathleen."

Also in this song you probably notice an unfamiliar term. Not many people around here know what Van Diemen's Land is, but almost everyone who hears the song, loves it. (It's an archaic name for Tasmania, where Britain used to send convicts.)

What would you do with a drunken sailor? Well, each generation has its own ideas, but when the Exxon Valdez sank in Prince William Sound in 1989, spilling about 11 million gallons of oil in a pristine natural environment, that generation suggested you "Tie him to the hull of an Exxon tanker, early in the morning."

Not only is there an art in writing and performing Irish drinking songs, there is a definite art in deciding which ones to sing at which times of the night. There's actually a science to it. Pub psychology, if you will.

Green Fields, Waltzing Matilda and Danny Boy, Mr. Gibney reserves for later in the night when he wants that "hushed barroom, calm moment." If you do it too early, people get bored. But after everyone gets sauced, they're happy to get a little sad. That roller coaster of emotions makes the night memorable.

These songs are old and Mr. Gibney and Mr. Ayerbe sing the same ones almost every time they perform, with a few newer tunes thrown in just to keep their sanity. But, Mr. Gibney said, when the whole crowd gets into it and starts singing along, clapping in all the right places, shouting out the choruses, "It's new again."

We've seen the guys live about 10 times in the last 4 years and at EVERY

show Jian gets very emotional. Every time he sings the line "I never

drank again" he clutches the charm on the necklace he wears and looks very

anguished. Did he quit drinking and is the charm a reminder to him of a

fateful night with a friend?Any Fruvous experts out there want to comment?P.S. Sorry if you got this post twice, we were editing a similar post and

AO(HELL) kicked us out of the newsgroup, so we're not sure if it was

actually posted.Mike & Kelly

Buffalo, NY

: show Jian gets very emotional. Every time he sings the line "I never

: drank again" he clutches the charm on the necklace he wears and looks very

: anguished. Did he quit drinking and is the charm a reminder to him of a

: fateful night with a friend?

The movie "And the Band Played On" (Alan Alda, Mathew Modine) doesn't tell

a whole lot about Hudson, but the book goes into a lot more detail. For

those of you not familiar with Randy Schiltes book, it details the

American government's failure to recognize AIDS as a national epidemic.

The point of the book and I think "The Drinking Song," is that it wasn't

until a celebrity was diagnosed HIV-positive, that anyone took notice.The most moving passage comes near the end of the book and it details the

scene of helicopters and newsteams circling over Hudson's stretcher in

1985. Again, most people at that time thought of AIDS as a gay disease,

including the Reagan administration, and no money or effort was put forth

until Hudson made national news. In the meantime, thousands and thousands

more people became infected and died."And the band played on

As the helicopters whirred..."There's more to the interpretation, but I have to go....This should get

you started.Bill

: the band played on," discovered that the song discusses the absurdity the

: circumstances surrounding Rock Hudson's death and the AIDS epidemic. The

: phrase itself is used as a metaphor for ignorance and intolerance while

: others suffer.

: There's more to the interpretation, but I have to go....This should get

: you started.I have only one thing to say, Bill. "Jean (sic) relates how sometimes people impose all kinds of ideas about

what their songs are about, that aren't actually there. 'There's a song

called I Love My Boss, which is kind of poking fun at employers. But

that's pretty much it - it's not really a sophisticated song, and yet

there was areview that said "and the brilliant anti-bourgeoisie diatribe I

Love My Boss exposes the class divisions. .. " Well, I guess we're

smarter than we think! And B.J. Don't Cry was Baby Jesus - two pages of

the Nativity, Shakespeare underpinning the Nativity.'"Dave remembers that they chatted with the fellow who wrote that. 'We

said, "Wow, we read your B.J. Don't Cry interpretation. That's pretty

wild." And he said, "That's it, isn't it? I haven't missed something,

have I?" So sometimes you've just got to leave it with people. They can

do what they want with your songs.'"Or as Jean says, 'You feel kind of embarrassed saying, "No, it's just a