Instead, TA-DA!, here are my (totally subjective) top 5 songs about drinking...
5. All I Wanna Do is Have Some Fun – Sheryl Crow
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Yes, yes, you I can hear you groan, so what? Are you serious? But when you really listen, who hasn’t been there in their early twenties, drinking beers while travelling? Listening to it now, it seems like an absolute luxury sitting in a bar talking to local characters. I first heard this when I was 19 and walking around Rome and it seemed like everyone was listening to it. It’s almost Dionysion; under the happy upbeat guitar there’s something dark and maudlin going on when you really listen:
“All I wanna do is have a little fun before I die, says the man next to me, from I don’t know where. Apropos of nothing, he says his name is William but I'm sure it's Bill or Billy or Mac or Buddy… I wonder if he’s had a day of fun in his whole life… We are drinking beer on noon on Tuesday.”
The unexpected philosophical musings of Sheryl Crow leads to number 4 on my list:
4. The Power of Positive Drinking – Lou Reed
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“I don’t like mixers... or sob sisters.”
I hear you, Lou.
This song is really a catalogue of all the different characters and reasons why people drink. You’ll hear every line you have heard from every old man and publican at a bar, like the classic:
“Some people ruin their drink with ice, then they ask you for advice. I've never told this to anyone else before...”
Lou Reed, he's just a got face you can trust.
3. Two More Bottles of Wine – Emmylou Harris
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Ahhh, a sad little country tune from the country musician’s musician. Things are pretty bad for Emmy Lou working in a warehouse in outer LA, her boyfriend’s left her but “everything’s alright because it’s midnight and I got two more bottles of wine”. Emmy Lou is seeing in the sunrise. Hopefully.
2. Barfly – Ray LaMontagne
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Did Ray LaMontagne watch the original Barfly movie before he wrote this mellow work? It’s as if he has channelled Charles Bukowski's spirit and put it in a song; the jack daniels guitar, the soft drums, the thin wire of grief in his voice. The bar stools are packed up on the tables for the night and he’s still there sitting over the last drops of whiskey in his ice.
1. Too drunk to f**k – Dead Kennedys/Nouvelle Vague
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This Nouvelle Vague version of this song reminds me of a great party and having crazy conversations with the funniest girl who didn’t give a shit what people thought because she’s from out of town. And I danced all night. Both versions have all the rollercoaster emotions razorsharp. And let’s face it, at least it’s honest - "Sorry nup just can’t I’ve had 16 beers fallin down stairs - you're out of luck."
Honourable mention: Tom Waits, because I couldn’t choose one song; nearly every song could have made the top five. Even Waltzing Matilda could have been on this list, the way he sings it. Here’s my favourite Tom Waits song…The Piano has been drinking. (Not me.)
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I know there are so many songs I’ve missed, so let me know your favourites.
1 comment:
What, no room for a Pogues song!?! Sherrly Crowe (sic) is throwing up in Shane MacGowan's lap before he's even broken the froth on his fourth Guinness. Please...
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