Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Top 5: Alcohol Songs



These Top 5 lists were supposed to be the center piece of this blog, but I’ve strayed completely away from.  I’ve gotten way to lazy… or busy with things that actually pay bills… all depends on how you look at it I guess.  Anyway, I’m going to try to get more focused and try to make these lists more regular, but in all honesty don’t hold your breath.  In the mean time, I’m bringing back my top 5 lists with Top 5 Songs About Alcohol.  I’ve paired things down quite a bit by outlawing crappy country and anything written by Jimmy Buffet.  Between the two there must be hundreds of songs about booze, but all of them suck.  So, here’s my top 5…

5) One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer – George Thorogood
Best lyric: “Now by this time I’m plenty high, you know when your mouth a-getting dry you’re plenty high”

Ok, I know this one is slightly blasphemy.  I know it’s a John Lee Hooker song, but this is the version I grew up listening to, so it’s the one I’m putting on the list.  It’s a great example of a song telling a great story.  And also deals with one of our favorite reasons to drink… wash away our sorrows.

4) Brass Monkey – Beastie Boys
            Best lyric: “We’re offered Moet- we don’t mind Chivas- wherever we go we bring the monkey with us”
           
This is a great party song as well as a great alcohol song.  Nothing gets the ladies on the dance floor quicker then old school Beasties and this is one of the best.  Brass Monkey is a drink that is one part dark rum, one part vodka, one part orange juice.  It’s also a great song about alcohol.

3) Drinkin – Reel Big Fish
            Best lyric: “I’ve got a friend.  He’s in my hand.  He understands.  He said everything won’t be so bad”

            There is many a teenager that will argue with me that this isn’t Reel Big Fish’s best song about alcohol, but they are wrong.  Yes, I’ve been to the shows.  I’ve heard all you underage kids call out endlessly for “Beer” but the thing is that song isn’t about alcohol as much as it is an ex-girlfriend.  “Drinkin” on the other hand is a quality song about drinking your sorrows away.  Reel Big Fish has a bunch of alcohol songs but in my opinion this is the best.

2) Plastic Cup Politics – Less Than Jake
            Best lyric: “Hello Mr. six pack of confidence, glad to see you’ve already met Ms. twelve ounces of loneliness”

            Ska music is filled with beer songs, is seems to go with the up-beat party atmosphere the music brings with it.  This one tries to tackle the subject with a little more sobriety.  As with many third wave tunes, the happy music belies a much darker message about the effect alcohol has on how we interact with one another.  Some may find it heavy handed, but I think it’s clever.

1) Alcohol – Barenaked Ladies
            Best lyric “But know I know that there’s a time and there’s a place where I can choose to walk the fine line between self-control and self-abuse”

            This is by far the greatest song about alcohol ever written.  Is it a homage to booze?  Is it a tongue-in-cheek attack on people who lose control drinking?  Does it really matter because it’s a great song no matter how you interpret it?  The Barenaked Ladies are one of the cleverest lyricists out there and this is just another example of how great they are.  And, no matter what else the song may be saying, it’s a song that makes you want to get up and sing at the top of your lungs.  And any song that does that every time you hear it is a fantastic song.

Honorable mentions: Red, Red Wine – UB40, Tequila – The Champs, Girls Against Drunk Bitches – Big D and The Kids Table

What are your top 5?

1 comment:

  1. Interesting blog you have. I did a post about this same topic about a month ago. It looks like good minds think alike.

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