A drinking song is a song that is sung before or during
alcohol
Alcohol may refer to:
Common uses
* Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds
* Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life
** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages
** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...
consumption. Most drinking songs are
folk songs
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has be ...
or
commercium songs, and may be varied from person to person and region to region, in both the lyrics and in the music.
In Germany, drinking songs are called ''Trinklieder''.
In Sweden, where they are called ''dryckesvisor'', there are drinking songs associated with
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...
,
Midsummer
Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer, taking place on or near the date of the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere; the longest Daytime, day of the year. The name "midsummer" mainly refers to summer solstice festivals of Eu ...
, and other celebrations. An example of such a song is "
Helan går".
In Spain,
Asturias, patria querida (the anthem of
Asturias
Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain.
It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...
) is usually depicted as a drinking song.
In France, historical types of drinking songs are
Chanson pour boire and
Air à boire.
Traditional drinking songs
English
* "
99 Bottles of Beer"
* "
Barnacle Bill the Sailor"
* "
Barrett's Privateers"
* "
The Barley Mow"
* "
Beer, Beer, Beer"
* "
California Drinking Song
"California Drinking Song" is a spirit song from the University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant rese ...
"
* "
Drunken Sailor"
* "
Engineers' Drinking Song"
* "
Fathom the Bowl"
* "
Friends in Low Places
"Friends in Low Places" is a song recorded by American country music artist Garth Brooks. It was released on August 6, 1990, as the lead single from his album '' No Fences''. The song spent four weeks at number one on the Hot Country Songs, and ...
"
* "
Good Ship Venus
"Good Ship Venus", also known as "Friggin' in the Riggin", is a bawdy drinking song devised to shock with ever increasingly lewd and debauched sexual descriptions of the eponymous ship's loose-moralled crew. The tune usually used (especially for ...
"
* "
I Used to Work in Chicago
"I Used to Work in Chicago" ( Roud 4837) is a drinking song. It was written by songwriter and entertainer Larry Vincent. The earliest printed date for the song is March 1945 in the underground mimeographed songbook '' Songs of the Century'', how ...
"
* "
If You're Happy and You Know It
"If You're Happy and You Know It" is a popular traditional repetitive children's song, folksong, and drinking song. The song has been noted for its similarities to "Molodejnaya", a song appearing in the 1938 Soviet musical film '' Volga-Volga'' ...
"
* "
(I've Been Floating Down) The Old Green River"
* "
Lanigan's Ball
"Lanigan's Ball" (sometimes "Lannigan's Ball") is a popular Irish folk song which has been played throughout the world since at least the 1860s and possibly much longer. Typically performed in a minor key, it generally is played in an upbeat s ...
"
* "
Limericks"
* "
Little Brown Jug"
* "
Seven Drunken Nights
"Seven Drunken Nights" is a humorous Irish folk song most famously performed by The Dubliners. It is a variation of the English/Scottish folk song " Our Goodman" ( Child 274, Roud 114). It tells the story of a gullible drunkard returning nigh ...
"
* "
The Goddamned Dutch
"One More Drink for the Four of Us" (aka "Glorious" or "Drunk Last Night") is a traditional drinking and marching song. It became popular during the First World War, and has been widely repurposed for other marches, college bands, and social clu ...
"
* "
The S&M Man"
* "
Walking Down Canal Street"
* "
Whiskey in the Jar"
* "
The Wild Rover"
Other
* "
Bevilo tutto" (Italian song)
* "" (Belarusian song)
* "
Ein Heller und ein Batzen"
* "
Eisgekühlter Bommerlunder"
*"
Helan Går" (Swedish)
* "
Libiamo ne' lieti calici" from "
La Traviata" by "
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for List of compositions by Giuseppe Verdi, his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma ...
"
Lieder
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...
wrote several
lieder (art songs) known as "Trinklied":
* 75, Cantata "Trinklied"
Freunde, sammelt euch im Kreise'for bass, men's choir and piano (1813)
* D 148 (Op. posth. 131, No. 2), Cantata "Trinklied"
Brüder! unser Erdenwallen'for tenor, men's choir and piano (1815)
* D 169, Chorus "Trinklied vor der Schlacht"
Schlacht, du brichst an!'for double unison choir and piano (1815)
* D 183, Cantata "Trinklied"
Ihr Freunde und du gold’ner Wein'for voice, unison choir and piano (1815)
* D 242, Trio "Trinklied im Winter"
Das Glas gefüllt!'for two tenors and bass (1815, 1st setting; D deest is the 2nd setting, with a different title)
* D 267, Quartet "Trinklied"
Auf! Jeder sei nun froh und sorgenfrei!'for two tenors, two basses and piano (1815)
* D 356, Quartet "Trinklied"
Funkelnd im Becher so helle, so hold'for two tenors, two basses and piano (1816, fragment)
* D 426, Trio "Trinklied (Herr Bacchus ist ein braver Mann)"
Herr Bacchus ist ein braver Mann'for two tenors and bass (1816, lost)
* D 427, Trio "Trinklied im Mai"
Bekränzet die Tonnen'for two tenors and bass (1816)
* D 847, Quartet "Trinklied aus dem 16. Jahrhundert"
Edit Nonna, edit Clerus'for two tenors and two basses (1825)
* D 888, Song "Trinklied"
Bacchus, feister Fürst des Weins'for voice and piano (1826)
See also
*
Brindisi
Brindisi ( ; ) is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Historically, the city has played an essential role in trade and culture due to its strategic position ...
*
Snapsvisa
References
External links
Drinking Songs Sheet Music
Hash House Harrier songbookAn Anthology 120 Of Drinking Songs, complete online book by
Theodore Maynard circa 1919
Notes
* Cray, Ed. ''The Erotic Muse: American Bawdy Songs'' (University of Illinois, 1992).
* Legman, Gershon. ''The Horn Book''. (New York: University Press, 1964).
* Reuss, Richard A. ''An Annotated Field Collection of Songs From the American College Student Oral Tradition'' (Bloomington: Indiana Univ. Masters Thesis, 1965).
{{Authority control
Drinking culture
*
Articles containing video clips
Song forms
Sing-along