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Five Star Fridays: Songs About Drinking

Friday, June 8th, 2012

For the last couple summers, we’ve gone with theme-based Five Star Fridays. This year: songs about drinking. Feel free to leave your favorites in the comments.

I’ll kick it off with this obscure, Tom Waits-inspired gem, “Liar’s Bar,” by The Beautiful South.

 

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This entry was posted on Friday, June 8th, 2012 at 9:58 am by Radley Balko and is filed under Five-Star Fridays/Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

67 Responses to “Five Star Fridays: Songs About Drinking”

  1. #1 |  Furpo |  June 8th, 2012 at 10:12 am

    Dropkick Murphys, “Kiss Me I’m Shitfaced”
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCISi5cRZyc

    Dead Kennedys-Too Drunk to Fuck
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Jzdikbi9yE

    Black Flag – Six Pack
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_s53Hk1KBY

    :)

  2. #2 |  rob |  June 8th, 2012 at 10:28 am

    not a huge dropkick murphys fan, but i do love this song

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YOEO7jtIs4

  3. #3 |  Mike Williams |  June 8th, 2012 at 10:41 am

    Dwight Yoakam, “This Drinkin’ Will Kill Me”

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahFNsCdgznw&feature=related

  4. #4 |  Todd |  June 8th, 2012 at 10:48 am

    Fuck You Im Drunk

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvRXAEJM1wI

  5. #5 |  Ginna |  June 8th, 2012 at 11:12 am

    Ooh – Spirit of the West, “Home For A Rest”
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPJD3qcIL7s

  6. #6 |  Ben |  June 8th, 2012 at 11:28 am

    “Don’t Go for the One” Gaelic Storm

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuRjO8WbgT8

  7. #7 |  andyinsdca |  June 8th, 2012 at 11:35 am

    My Drinking Problem (Left Today) by Hank III (there are no good videos of this track)

  8. #8 |  mark |  June 8th, 2012 at 11:46 am

    Los Lobos “I Got Loaded” or “Whiskey Train”

  9. #9 |  Some Call Me Tim |  June 8th, 2012 at 11:47 am

    How about a George Thorogood classic – One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer? (Hmmm, I may have a plan for this evening now…)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgngyzNb52c

  10. #10 |  Tom |  June 8th, 2012 at 11:52 am

    Let’s not forget the great classic of this genre. Merle – Tonight the bottle let me down.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVq27glkY_A

  11. #11 |  Erik |  June 8th, 2012 at 12:20 pm

    How about a new-old-time song.
    Pokey Lafarge – Drinking Whiskey Tonight
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MveLErNJvJE

  12. #12 |  Solomon |  June 8th, 2012 at 12:44 pm

    I’ve always liked The Sickbed of Cuchulainn by The Pogues: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8ZAqxg__Rs

    And then there is Body of an American off the same album for all the fans of The Wire.

  13. #13 |  Zack |  June 8th, 2012 at 12:59 pm

    Gotta have a Drive-By Truckers tune. Several fit the bill, but I have to go with the Cooley classic, “Women Without Whiskey” [http://youtu.be/Vd906MTv92o]. Runner-up would be the decidely more light-hearted “Three Dimes Down” [http://youtu.be/1dgMbxIl1Hc].

  14. #14 |  PermaLurker |  June 8th, 2012 at 1:12 pm

    Couldn’t find a video, but Turlough O’Carolan’s “Ode to Whiskey” is one of my favorite tunes to play on my mandolin.

  15. #15 |  Ted S. |  June 8th, 2012 at 1:18 pm

    Pick your favorite version of Johnny Mercer’s “One For My Baby and One More For the Road”.

  16. #16 |  Chicagojon |  June 8th, 2012 at 1:20 pm

    I Drink Beer by Dan Reeder:
    http://danreeder.bandcamp.com/track/i-drink-beer

  17. #17 |  Anonymous |  June 8th, 2012 at 1:24 pm

    Cazual Drinking
    Classified ft. Tash
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_dIFPQ1bMY

  18. #18 |  Chris in AL |  June 8th, 2012 at 1:25 pm

    Buck-o-nine’s Drink and Fight is a fun one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ_aFHjQhx8

    I am a Murphy’s fan and The Dirty Glass (with Stephanie Dougherty) is a great song about drinking, and it kicking your ass.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIUzgUM8CZs

  19. #19 |  Anonymous |  June 8th, 2012 at 1:26 pm

    Drunken Nights
    Statik Selektah ft. REKS, Joe Scudda and JFK
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NFqNySRjvc

  20. #20 |  Anonymous |  June 8th, 2012 at 1:28 pm

    I’m On Everything
    Bad Meets Evil
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOweSBJg59g

  21. #21 |  Burque |  June 8th, 2012 at 1:38 pm

    “Martini Time” by Reverend Horton Heat. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7d2ox_reverend-horton-heat-it-s-martini-t_music

  22. #22 |  Ghost |  June 8th, 2012 at 1:39 pm

    I’ve always been a fan of Paul Revere by the Beastie Boys when I’m tipping one back.

  23. #23 |  Ghost |  June 8th, 2012 at 1:41 pm

    Let’s Get F**ked Up And Die, by Motion City Soundtrack

    Seriously, YouTube that one. It’s a happy little ditty.

  24. #24 |  Ammyth |  June 8th, 2012 at 1:56 pm

    Ween – Booze Me Up and Get Me High

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXNbUHTJBrM

  25. #25 |  Mairead |  June 8th, 2012 at 2:11 pm

    “Wild Rover”, author unkn, sung by the Dubliners and others

    “The Overlanders”, author unkn, sung by the Cobbers and others. A song about cattle drovers rather than drinking, but they tend to like beer (“and the whole damn cheque / rolls down the neck / of many an Overlander”).

    “The Potin (pron. poh-CHEEN) Maker” (aka Moonshiner), author unkn, sung by the Clancies, Dubs, and others. Very popular drinking song in pubs

    “Finnegan’s Wake”, author unkn. Irish music hall song about a rowdy, boozy wake for a hod-carrier who had “a tippling way”.

    “I’ll never get drunk any more”, by the late Frank Proffitt (I think).

    “The Parting Glass”, author unkn. Uses the metaphor of having to leave a boozy party early, but is actually about dying.

  26. #26 |  William Berry |  June 8th, 2012 at 2:15 pm

    “I Drink Alone” by George Thorogood.

    “Closing Time” by Leonard Cohen.

  27. #27 |  yonemoto |  June 8th, 2012 at 2:20 pm

    Give it to me nice and sloe (gin), by glenn crytzer and his syncopators. It’s about drinking, I swear.

  28. #28 |  jmcross |  June 8th, 2012 at 2:22 pm

    The Georgia Satellites – Six Years Gone
    http://youtu.be/zyam_IuMBKM

  29. #29 |  LawDragon |  June 8th, 2012 at 2:23 pm

    David Allen Coe “How Do You Spell Relief – D-R-U-N-K” Great outlaw country drinking song

  30. #30 |  marfdrat |  June 8th, 2012 at 2:26 pm

    Merle Haggard – “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink”

    Jimmy Buffet – “Why Don’t We Get Drunk and Screw”

    Hank Williams, Jr. – “Family Tradition”

  31. #31 |  Howlin' Hobbit |  June 8th, 2012 at 2:47 pm

    I mostly try not to blow my own horn in too excessive a manner, but this is just too tempting to resist.

    here is my original tune, “I Like Bourbon,” featuring a bottle of Evan Williams and a brief appearance by my own sweet Fallen Angel.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlwXHHIDxdU

    do please bear in mind that this is the 3rd or 4th take, and the shot I’m drinking in each is not tea, but actual bourbon. it still came out OK I think.

  32. #32 |  bbartlog |  June 8th, 2012 at 3:06 pm

    Vaguely on-topic: is there an organization or agency that tries to discourage radio stations from playing songs that promote drinking? I remember that ‘One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer’ (George Thorogood and the Destroyers) used to get a lot of airplay, but it’s been years since I heard it. ‘Margaritaville’ likewise.

  33. #33 |  Brian |  June 8th, 2012 at 3:08 pm

    George Thorogood, “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer”
    (also see Amos Milburn & John Lee Hooker)

    Guns N’ Roses, “Nightrain”

    Beastie Boys, “Brass Monkey”

  34. #34 |  Brian |  June 8th, 2012 at 3:14 pm

    Oh yeah, and this: “What’s This? A Beer?”

    “A parody of the Nightmare Before Christmas song “Whats this?” (Originally by Danny Elfman). A young adult discovers world of drinking on his 21st birthday.”

    http://vimeo.com/43625496

  35. #35 |  Andrew Roth |  June 8th, 2012 at 3:35 pm

    “Pretty Good at Drinkin’ Beer” by Billy Currington:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtMy5IBmX7E

    I don’t think I’ll ever be able to mentally dissociate this song from Sam Cooke’s “Wonderful World,” which can be summarized as, “Yeah, I totally bombed all these subjects, so infer from that what you like about my marriageability, but I still think it would be really cool if you’d be my girlfriend.” The musical styles are different, but the themes are surprisingly similar.

  36. #36 |  xenia onatopp |  June 8th, 2012 at 3:46 pm

    “Drinks Before Dinner” by Loudon Wainwright III (can’t shake my lifelong love for this one, in spite of the man’s much later ode to Paul Krugman)

    Merle Haggard’s “Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down”, his version or Gram Parsons’ version, either way.

    Snoop Dogg’s “Gin And Juice”

    “Another Drinkin’ Song” by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones

    Shit, I could do this all day, but there’s the first four I thought of.

  37. #37 |  CyniCAl |  June 8th, 2012 at 4:07 pm

    Brian beat me to Nightrain by GnR.

    Bbartlog, I have heard 1 Bourbon 1 Scotch 1 Beer many times in recent memory … 95.5 KLOS Los Angeles

  38. #38 |  CyniCAl |  June 8th, 2012 at 4:07 pm

    Brian beat me to Nightrain by GnR.

    Bbartlog, I have heard 1 Bourbon 1 Scotch 1 Beer many times in recent memory … 95.5 KLOS Los Angeles

  39. #39 |  CyniCAl |  June 8th, 2012 at 4:07 pm

    Brian beat me to Nightrain by GnR.

    Bbartlog, I have heard 1 Bourbon 1 Scotch 1 Beer many times in recent memory … 95.5 KLOS Los Angeles

  40. #40 |  Jerry |  June 8th, 2012 at 4:08 pm

    Dr. Duke Tumatoe – You’ve Got The Problem

  41. #41 |  Will |  June 8th, 2012 at 4:09 pm

    B- double E- double R- u – n. BEER RUN! by Todd Snider. You have to get the beer before you can drink the beer.

  42. #42 |  xenia onatopp |  June 8th, 2012 at 4:13 pm

    Also, forgot to add a huge THANK YOU to Radley for starting my weekend off with The Beautiful South, a long, long time favorite band of mine; so nice to know of another person who won’t simply give me a blank stare when I mention them.

  43. #43 |  Sean |  June 8th, 2012 at 4:17 pm

    Just post songs by The Pogues for the rest of the year.
    This “Liar’s Bar” is a bit too cutesy for me.

  44. #44 |  BBCC |  June 8th, 2012 at 4:20 pm

    Jimmy Buffet – Wastin’ Away again in Margaritaville

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQyFKsXWMz4

  45. #45 |  xenia onatopp |  June 8th, 2012 at 4:31 pm

    #26 Sean– I was coming back to say exactly what you did; face it, if Shane McGowan’s singing it, it involves booze.

  46. #46 |  Satori |  June 8th, 2012 at 4:41 pm

    “Sunday Morning Coming Down” by Johnny Cash

  47. #47 |  Poinsonboy |  June 8th, 2012 at 4:54 pm

    I created a “Whiskey and Beer” playlist on rdio earlier this year. My favorites…
    The Lord Knows I’m Drinking – Cal Smith
    Gimme a Pigfoot (And a Bottle of Beer) – Nina Simone
    Whiskey Drinkin’ Woman – Nazareth

  48. #48 |  Gordon |  June 8th, 2012 at 5:29 pm

    I can’t believe I’m the first to submit this classic drinking song:

    “The Philosophers Song”; Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6b7r5jIEe9s

    :-)

  49. #49 |  doomboy |  June 8th, 2012 at 6:34 pm

    Replacements — Here Comes a Regular

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdbXGi2WX0Q&feature=related

  50. #50 |  Gonzo |  June 8th, 2012 at 8:02 pm

    I’m with Sean. Loop “Rum Sodomy and the Lash” and call it a day.

    Or go with the original. “The Piano Has Been Drinking”:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUeKDtMV1gA

  51. #51 |  that guy |  June 8th, 2012 at 8:07 pm

    Spiritualized – Lay Back in the Sun (good dope, good fun)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ4-A2C4gFE

  52. #52 |  Cappy |  June 8th, 2012 at 9:12 pm

    Radley, you mention Tom Waits and leave out one of the best…The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me)

  53. #53 |  Robert Evans |  June 8th, 2012 at 9:22 pm

    Everyone’s mentioned One Bourbon One Scotch One Beer, which I associate more with John Lee Hooker than George Thorogood. Thorogood covers nearly the whole gamut of American liquors with his I Drink Alone:

    http://youtu.be/lpzqQst-Sg8

  54. #54 |  KathyK |  June 8th, 2012 at 9:34 pm

    Drink! by They Might be Giants: http://youtu.be/ZteVgYLiavk

  55. #55 |  Ted S. |  June 8th, 2012 at 9:40 pm

    @Xenia Onatopp

    So what you’re saying is you love Radley, but he’s boring? :-)

  56. #56 |  dave |  June 8th, 2012 at 10:00 pm

    Waiting for My Gin to Hit Me, Ronnie Self:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q14FpDOkNag

  57. #57 |  Gonzo |  June 8th, 2012 at 10:46 pm

    @Cappy

    Thief!

  58. #58 |  Pi Guy |  June 9th, 2012 at 8:32 am

    Wasabi Brothers: I’m NOT Drunk, I’m STILL Drinking

  59. #59 |  winston smith |  June 9th, 2012 at 9:51 am

    Jimmy Buffett-God’s Own Drunk
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDIrJkNE4Jk

  60. #60 |  Jon |  June 9th, 2012 at 10:35 am

    The 90s were the golden years of Canadian Drinking Songs.

    Spirit of the West – Home for a Rest
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPJD3qcIL7s

    Moxy Fruvous – The Drinking Song
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGWdlaLhjD4

    Great Big Sea – The Night Pat Murphy Died
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7Bsb-8pxG8

  61. #61 |  perlhaqr |  June 9th, 2012 at 11:18 am

    Ozzy Osbourne: Demon Alcohol.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVOtwHc3lk0

  62. #62 |  Darth Cuddly |  June 10th, 2012 at 1:57 am

    #5 nails it. My favorite song about drinking by far.

  63. #63 |  Putnam |  June 10th, 2012 at 6:19 am

    Webb Pierce’s There Stands the Glass

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKuTeDUPljQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player

  64. #64 |  Mark |  June 10th, 2012 at 10:32 am

    What One Bottle Can Do – Dolorean

  65. #65 |  Bulucanagria |  June 13th, 2012 at 9:34 am

    Late to the game but…

    Mary Gauthier – I Drink

    The best ever song about generational alcoholism. A perfect song.

  66. #66 |  CAshane |  June 14th, 2012 at 5:11 pm

    Even later to the game but had to mention these two. They may be silly drinking tunes but they sure are fun to sing along with while sitting around the campfire.

    Andy Prieboy – Hearty Drinking Men http://youtu.be/11TisOHZX9M
    Beat Farmers – Are You Drinking with Me Jesus http://youtu.be/O5_5FvN2-Wk

  67. #67 |  CAshane |  June 15th, 2012 at 5:49 pm

    Just a few more.

    Youth of Britan – Beer, Beer, Beer http://youtu.be/8y0MSyHaq4Y

    And another from The Beat Farmers – Gettin’ Drunk http://youtu.be/qrBZOclfMJs

    enjoy.

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