From left: Nick Kelly, John Ryan and Bodger coped with lockdown through uplifting balladry. Olga on bodhran (out of picture).
How’s your voice?
With pubs now back in business*(*well, sort of), what better way to mark the occasion than ask: What’s your favourite drinking song?
Here’s mine.
Simply answer below for the chance to be in with a shout of winning a merry €25 Golden Discs voucher.
The winner will be chosen by my personal barman.
Please include video links if possible.
Lines MUST close at 10am (Saturday).
Nick says: Good luck.
Nick adds: Hic.
Earlier: Last week’s winner
Pic: Thurles, 1952
Sponsored Link
Where’s yours?????
Sorry Andy (and Nick), my fault. Should be there now.
Here you’re missing Chompsky from that photo though
My favourite drinking tune is The Blarney Stone by Ween
https://youtu.be/s5f_ZyLhnmg
Here’s mine. (Ooh’er)
One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer from George Thorogood And The Delaware Destroyers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDf0IwXoOmY
Great song!
This unbelievable song by the master,
https://youtu.be/BPPtrqvHGEg
Enjoy!!
got there before me, but it has to be this
brilliant song
oh very good
The Pogues – Sally Maclennane
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvV5mryQF1I
Obviously has to be this
https://youtu.be/cZXnJ4UYh40
Just for the last screaming lyric alone, get that going in a pub and the roof will come off!
“And the arms and legs of other men
were scattered all around. Some cursed, some prayed, some prayed then cursed…”
The Pogues – A Pair of Brown Eyes
https://youtu.be/zNtQ5AnRlz8
It should be the National Anthem.
The Pogues – Sally MacLennane
https://youtu.be/_tqdLPnGjoA
https://youtu.be/ZT-lk6LdeFA
to my shame, it’s always a good idea at the time
although the lyrics have been slightly changed by my lot over the years ( I blame the corrupting influence of older brothers ) , bit more inventive
“the hair on her dilly di dung hung down to her knees,
a black one, a white one and one with a fairy light on ,
to show you the waaaaaaaayyyyy”
‘Dicky-die-doh’ was the way we sang it Janet
‘Dilly di dung’ sounds more like a gicker than a clacker, and I’m pretty sure the song is about a clacker.
regional difference maybe :)
Mmm, yes and we know what region it is.
Oh dear J….what would the nuns say?
ah they gave up on me fairly quickly after a week or so of pressing wee prayers to saints into my hands and I’d polietly explain why I couldn’t pray to false idols ;)
Very good Janet. ROFL
Chumbawamba
Denis Leary’s Traditional Irish Folk Song.
Does anything sum up our historical experience better than the refrain “Our children are leaving and we have no heads”
https://youtu.be/wbeLu_3Wf_k
Obligatory Luke Kelly
https://youtu.be/gYJO5fJgNSQ
my fav new york dive bar is Milano’s on hoston downtown,it has a kick ass jukebox and ice cold bud,type place you find dirty cops and gangsters at 3 am.
..sad say i’ve played this more than once…
…i’ve never loved a girl like the way that i i love you….oh and my place is just around the corner..
Aerosmith – Never Loved a Girl (from You Gotta Move)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8EYzcVgdKc
Might I recommend the Ear Inn on Spring Street when it re-opens if you’re ever down that way
Not a dive bar but just a good neighbourhood place that does reasonable grub at a decent price.
Like most of Manhattan the area is much gentrified since the days I used to fall out of a filthy club around the corner just as the UPS guys were clocking on for the day shift.
Well done Charger, you posted without once mentioning Boris or the Tory party. I knew you had it in you.
Thats a gay bar Charger but thanks,no thanks:)
Clutch’s Blast Tyrant features a handful of songs appropriate for a range of drinking moods. But the one I most commonly identify with in tone is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ0Fcw-GWeo
Honorable Mention: ZZ Top – Beer Drinkers & Hellraisers
Ding Dong Denny O’Reilly
My Heart Gets So Full (you’d swear I had tits)
https://youtu.be/tKwR0j-Dwak
…has to be Bruce’s Philosopher Song from Monty Python – my party piece as a student
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=australian+philosophers+song
This has been rereleased in accordance with co-vid 19 restrictions so you get an extra 5 mins!!!!
https://youtu.be/L9sHfcCwTYA
Enjoy!
There can only be one…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wny_0pi4hR4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOIHV8iyzfU
Stanley Brinks and the Wave Pictures – Orange Juice
“It’s raining and the wind is ruthless
I’m old and cold and tired and useless and toothless
But I’ll get by with a little bit of you,
Alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, ephedrine, and orange juice”
The Dubliners: Seven Drunken Nights
The Wikipedia page has multiple versions of Nights 6 & 7 which are interesting.
https://youtu.be/5CWIIoSf4nw
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Drunken_Nights?wprov=sfti1
No more to be said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbqGWTxwZEA
Bowie – Alabama Song
https://youtu.be/kNCEURBYEGo
The Doors?
He does a better version IMHO
Amateurs.
Bertolt Brecht & Kurt Weill – Alabama Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7emkdc4Pjg
I first heard this song in O’Sullivans in Crookhaven back in the summer of ’92
sung by the lovely Anne, (one of the 5 Anne’s who used to comment on here regularly)
and to this day, it’s still my favourite pub song
Take it away Sharyn Ward –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7W9IB6hyhs
Can I also give a shameless plug to my godson in NY
lil morgie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzE-_PMwb2Q
Enjoy your weekend,
even you Spurs fans
;)
The entries so far make me realise that there’s a big difference between Drinking Songs…and Songs about Drinking.
Waxies Dargley by The Pogues, also the best song featuring a beer tray bashed against the forehead.
“What will ya have?!
I’ll have a pint!
I’ll have a pint with you, Sir!
And if one of ya’ doesn’t order soon
We’ll be chucked out of the boozer!”
https://youtu.be/YiOo2-gybrA
Dedicated to Brother Barnabas, who I know loves this song, and is doubtless an excellent drinking companion.
so bold
Couldn’t resist ;)
Congrats on your win missus x
thanks !
She’s a Jezebel.
Lankum – Drinking Song From the Tomb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u68c2YhyTJs
The lyrics taken form HP Lovecraft’s The Tomb set to the air of a traditional jig ‘The Coleraine’.
Combining them into a lament of sweet sorrow
Has to be Dino.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boWM7zvmvcM
Oh I forgot to congratulate you yesterday old boy, I was too busy watching the cricket. How is that match going by the way? Anyway,old boy, fair play to England, the only country in the whole wide world, all 200+ nations to have won all the soccer, rugby and cricket world cups. Watch out though, I think you will be joined soon, Germany have a very promising rugby team, and Brazil mad into cricket. Only a matter of time, Mr Inferior Complex, sorry I mean old boy.
Tenpole Tudor – Swords Of A Thousand Men.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AywIL5_eYM
Raucous, riotous, raw drinking tune.
“Tonight we’re going to drink a barrel or much, much more…….”
Splodgenessabounds: Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps Please
Been there, done that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBGfuDmvU8c
Jimmy Crowley – Boozing, Bloody Well Boozing
Definitely a few heavyweights observed in this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56R-1vbPOHc
The Boss – Glory Days
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vQpW9XRiyM
“Think I’m going down to the well tonight
And I’m going to drink till I get my fill”
I don’t think he’s talking about the local group water scheme.
more an anthem to the aftermath
Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings- I Just Dropped In To See What Condition My Condition Is In
https://youtu.be/kNeONERatkA
The Kinks “Alcohol”
over boozy New-Orleans brass…
“Oh! demon alcohol,
Sad memories I can’t recall,
Who though that I could fall,
A slave to demon alcohol”
Here they are in their hairy 1972 pomp performing it on Dutch TV, I strongly suggest you watch this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuLzmupBTMs
Chris Stapleton, Tennessee whiskey, a song that makes you ache for his troubles and also his struggle to love his lover because booze loves him. Also, a voice from heaven, or possibly hell.
https://youtu.be/4zAThXFOy2c
I really should read these threads before I post..
Savage tune
This is in Norwegian, but it’s a tale of a man who wakes up in someone else’s house and they have no beer in the fridge. Then his elation that he realises he has loads of beer at home. Utter punk happiness.
https://youtu.be/Gn9FN9yfBlU
Jokke og Valentinene.
This is my drinking to forget song
echo & the bunnymen – nothing lasts forever
https://youtu.be/Tc1J7y4xIdA
The Cumshots, I drink alone,
Raw, hurtful, alcoholic, pain filled and destructive.
https://youtu.be/O8Qugtp90NU
The video alone makes you feel.
I know, I’m bogarting this but, Snoop, gin and juice is a happy, proper, drinking song
https://youtu.be/DI3yXg-sX5c
Laid back.
Bogart away, good call
Hic!*
Tequila – The Champs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H6amDbAwlY
Or even better
Tequila – Terrorvision
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hLQCA2h8kA
“Tequila, It makes me happy”, “Then it makes me ring God on the big white phone” *Not original lyrics
And now for something completely different…
Brass Monkey. Beastie Boys
https://youtu.be/s0dxhSPoBjY
Oh, yes!
The 4 of Us – She Hits Me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KviXzc9YP6g
This is a poignant song that tells the other side of the story
“Bad situation, my lover’s a drink, She reels me in when I am on the brink.
And stuns my senses with her own special style. She steals my body and drugs it for a while”
Always drink responsibly folks!
Plenty of country songs to choose from but I’ll go with Hank…the original and the best..https://youtu.be/lCgicPdsxxg
New take on an old classic, Chris Stapleton, Tennessee Whiskey
https://youtu.be/4zAThXFOy2c
+1
An old Irish song, this version has never been bettered.
Thin Lizzy – Whiskey in the jar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyQ-tScuzwM
The Doctor is in the house, Dr. Feelgood, Milk & Alcohol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTbzyqr0TRo
When you want more but your tum-tums says, be careful!
https://youtu.be/bTbzyqr0TRo
Dr Feelgood, Milk & Alcohol
Thin Lizzy, Whiskey in the Jar
https://youtu.be/wyQ-tScuzwM
Sorry Scottser, it looks like moderation caused us both to duplicate our equally great taste in music. If I win for either of our joint choices then I’ll go halfsies with you.
Its a deal gordo!
Copperhead Road, Steve Earle
https://youtu.be/xvaEJzoaYZk
Son of a bitch…
https://youtu.be/1iAYhQsQhSY
Here’s another one I had to post. From back in me heyday.
The incredible Doctor Millar (he of the Cute Hoors fame) from one of the best Irish albums ever – The Bitter Lie…
Alcohol Problem
Now, not the easiest to source the track online but here he is playing it in Whelans a few years back at a gig. Gigs. ‘Member them?
https://youtu.be/njWIgasS6-Q
Christy Moore delerium tremens
https://youtu.be/Vl1NQi_Vit0
+14
ACDC, have a drink on me
https://youtu.be/dN61WU57zBw
https://youtu.be/MdW1YrHDur0
Sham69, Hurry Up Harry
Flow River Flow by Mr. D. D O Reilly, a poignant reminder of the quality of songwriting amongst us all..really, really hilarious while sung in a pub frequented by tourists…
https://youtu.be/0yyPiOTLLOY
Always the contrarian- Curtis Mayfield – Pusherman [The Reflex Revision]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74iTlGhqfgc
The Builders and the Butchers, Bringing home the rain.
Always partial to break into this after a rake of Guinness & a couple of Jameson’s
https://youtu.be/gzDqCcTeSmY
From the opening lyrics “I Drink too forget “ !
This is an amazing song from a band who should have been massive!!
https://youtu.be/-h9N5X5RUow
Great call.
Great band, agree they should have made it, Morrissey was championing them for a while
(although the video says “Sacks”)
The Scaffold – Lily The Pink
https://youtu.be/2x8D4T–0v4
Used to have the sheet music of that one Medicinal Compound or something ?
I’d apologise for double-dipping but I’m afraid I’m not sorry
I couldn’t let the occasion pass without marking the most succinct expression of booze & mankind’s bittersweet love affair
Gogol Bordello – Alcohol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfQDAWJaN34
Ronnie Drew – The Parting Glass
https://youtu.be/pcgiPxJHQrQ
Rocky Road to Dublin:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2yKLnfYqOIs
Usually when you hear a song that reminisces about bygone drinking days, it is often a song of regret and remorse, not this one!
Colin Hay – I wish I was still drinking.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGDzElNmQ-c
I’m very late getting to this so all of my suggestions have been taken, however, reading through the comments it did occur to me that we have a great soundtrack for a party here :-)
love these threads always end up with a few new tracks on my playlist or ones resurrected I’d forgotten
What else is there to do
On yet another diddly-idle day
But have a sup of the rare old stuff
That’s brewed near Galway Bay
The Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem – Mountain Dew
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVGUs9nQGaw
“4 skinny indie kids” from half man half biscuit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Dr8Oxo9QB8
Or “too drunk to fuck” from the dead kennedys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ7pgElCPXE
I like Like to be boozed, by Errol Dunkley.
https://youtu.be/-aR1so_A2m4
A song about getting old together, the singer and his love….
Sometimes I’d wake up in the morning
The ginger lady by my bed
(The ginger lady is in a bottle)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSyL-TrD_2g