Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!

Subject: Lyr Add: COPPER KETTLE
From: Little Hawk
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 04:18 PM

I think that one of the great classics in this genre is "COPPER KETTLE" (known to some as "Lay There By the Juniper").

Get you a copper kettle, get you a copper coil,
Cover with new made corn mash, and never more you will toil,
You?ll just lay there by the juniper, while the moon is bright,
Watch them jugs a-fillin', in the pale moonlight.

Build you a fire with hickory, hickory and ash and oak,
Don?t use no green or rotten wood, they'll get you by the smoke,
While you lay there by....

My daddy he made whiskey, my granddaddy did too,
We ain't paid no whiskey tax since 1792,
We just lay there by....

Does anyone know any more verses for it?

Or...suggest a classic alcoholic?s song of your own. Let's see what we can come up with here...

[Many song titles in this thread have been converted to links by a Mudelf.]

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Pinetop Slim
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 04:20 PM

You bring that Gillian Welch line to mind: That old copper kettle made a fool out of me.

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: SeanM
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 04:22 PM

Hmmm... I first saw this and thought songs for alcoholics such as THE DRUNKARD'S CHILD, which may well win an award for the most over the top soppy and untintentionally funny temperance song ever...

M

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 04:28 PM

Oh man, I have GOT to hear that one...

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Sorcha
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 04:29 PM

RYE WHISKEY

IN HEAVEN THERE IS NO BEER

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: SINSULL
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 04:31 PM

Tear jerker: "COME HOME FATHER" and "PLEASE DON'T SELL MY DADDY NO MORE WINE".

Jack of Diamonds, Jack of Diamonds
I know you from old
You rob my poor pockets of silver and gold
If the ocean was whiskey and I was a duck
I would dive to the bottom and never come up
But the ocean ain't whiskey and I ain't no duck
So I'll play Jack of Diamonds and count on my luck.
Rye whiskey, rye whiskey, rye whiskey I cry
If you don't give me rye whiskey, I know I will die
I eat when I'm hungry and drink when I'm dry
And if moonshine don't kill meI will live 'til I die.


My brother Bill has a still on the hill
He stands 'bout 4'9"
But he thinks he's a giant if you give him half a pint
Of that good old mountain dew
They call it that good old mountain dew dew dew
Them that refuse it are few
But I'll rustle up my mug if you'll fill up my jug
With that good old mountain dew.

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: oggie
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 04:34 PM

Richard Thompson 'God Loves a Drunk'

All the best

Steve

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: MMario
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 04:34 PM

THE PUB WITH NO BEER

CHARLIE MOPPS

Jug o punch

THE GRAND PUBS OF YORKSHIRE

SUSSEX TOAST

OLD DUN COW

[actually, when I am drunk, any song that comes to mind]

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Wesley S
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 04:43 PM

My favorite is "Tonight the bottle let me down". The Gillian Welch song mentioned earlier is called "TEAR MY STILLHOUSE DOWN".

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Amergin
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 04:44 PM

Don't forget NANCY WHISKEY.....and here's another one.....The Drunkard King

Subject: Lyr Add: FATHER, DEAR FATHER, COME HOME^^^
From: SINSULL
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 04:44 PM

Leave me alone. I'm having fun.

FATHER, DEAR FATHER, COME HOME

Father, dear Father, come home with me now.
The clock in the steeple strikes one.
You said you were coming right home from the shop
As soon as your day's work was done.
The fire has gone out, the house is all dark,
And Mother's been waiting since tea
With poor little Benny so sick in her arms
And no one to help her but me.

CHORUS: "Come home, come home, come home.
Please Father, dear Father, come home."
These are the words of a child
Which the night winds repeat as they roam.
Oh, who could resist this most plaintive of prayers?
"Please Father, dear Father, come home."

Father, dear Father, come home with me now.
The clock in the steeple strikes two.
The night has grown colder and Benny is worse
And he has been calling for you.
Indeed he is worse. Ma says he will die
Perhaps before morning has dawned,
And this is the message she sent me to bring:
"Come quickly or he will be gone." CHORUS

Father dear Father come home with me now
The clock in the steeple strikes three
The house is so lonely. The night is so long
For poor weeping Mother and me.
Yes, we are alone. Poor Benny is dead,
And gone with the angels of light.
And these are the very last words that he said:
"I want to kiss papa goodnight." CHORUS

Obviously this was written as a plea for a Temperance Movement. A treasure that my Nana used to sing.

Mary

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 04:50 PM

BOOZING

Jon

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: SINSULL
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 04:51 PM

The Champagne Chorus from Fledermaus. Am I missing an "i"?

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: MMario
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 04:54 PM

Blue bleedin' blind drunk!

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Mark Clark
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 04:55 PM

THERE STANDS THE GLASS
ONE FOR MY BABY (AND ONE MORE FOR THE ROAD)
A Six Pack To Go
Wasting Away In Margaritaville
DON'T COME HOME A-DRINKIN' (With Lovin' On Your Mind)
WHITE LIGHTNIN'

      - Mark

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: SINSULL
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 04:59 PM

Cracklin' Rose?

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Amergin
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 05:01 PM

Why Don't We Get Drunk And Screw?

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Midchuck
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 05:03 PM

Someone mentioned The Old Dun Cow already, but it approaches being my favorite.

When I have more energy, I'll type in the words to Only Drinking Beer by Dick McCormack (who is featured today in the New England section of the Wall Street Journal, tho' I doubt anyone on here gets it).

Peter.

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: SINSULL
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 05:09 PM

DRUNKEN SAILOR

IN THE EARLY MORNING RAIN

Mrs. Robinson

FESTIVAL LOVE

SCOTCH AND SODA

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: SINSULL
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 05:14 PM

THREE JOVIAL HUNTSMEN

Subject: Lyr Add: ANOTHER DRINKIN' SONG^^
From: Mbo
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 05:26 PM

ANOTHER DRINKIN' SONG by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

Gonna dive into a dive I've dove into before
Gonna haunt a haunt I've haunted like a million times before
A familiar joint where getting drunks' the only point
To frequent this place with any frquency at all

Counting on a remedy I've counted on before
Goin' with the cure that's never failed me
What you call the disease, I call the remedy
What you're calling the cause, I call the cure

Gonna sing a song, a song to you, a song I've sung before
Belt out a ballad that I've belted out a million times or more
The words I'm gonna scream, and getting drunks' the central theme
To the lyrics, if you can make the lyrics out at all

Just a devotion to a potion
Now please, no applause
A dedication to a medication
A crutch, a cure, a cause
What I've counted on to pick me up
Has knocked me to my knees
Before I hit the floor once more
I'll call it the disease

Counting on a remedy I've counted on before
Goin' with the cure that's never failed me
What you call the disease, I call the remedy
What you're calling the cause, I call the cure

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Sorcha
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 05:49 PM

BOTTLE OF WINE (friend of mine...),

Keg O' Brandy. and do just tunes count? There is Farewell to Whiskey, Whiskey Before Breakfast, Whiskey You're the Devil.......

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: GUEST,Rich(stupidbodhranplayerwhodoesn'tknowbetter
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 05:54 PM

"I Saw a Man at the Close of the Day" traditional associated with Doc Watson
"Wharf Rat" The Grateful Dead
"Nil se na La" Irish traditional song about the "fhear gan ciall, ce d'fhag me chios i mo scornach" literally the man without sense who left his rent($) in his throat
Rich

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: SINSULL
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 06:00 PM

LANDLORD FILL THE FLOWING BOWL

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Nynia
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 06:09 PM

What about

Doh - the stuff that buys me beer
Ray - the guy who sells me beer
Me - the guy who drinks the beer
Fah - The distance to my beer
Soh - I think I'll have beer
La - La, la, la, la, la, la, beer
Tea - No thanks I'm drinking beer
That will bring us back to...........


Nynia.

Subject: Lyr Add: Layin' in the Gutter(?)^^
From: Downeast Bob
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 06:14 PM

Dunno if I can make the lines break properly, but here goes:

Layin' in the gutter, pretzels in my beard;
Shirt all stained with whisky;
I thought the end was near;
'Til the Salvation Army comes;
And Saves me from the hearse;
Let's all bust a gut now and sing another verse:

Chorus:

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Throw a nickel on the drum, save another drunken bum.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Throw a nickel on the drum, and you'll be saved.

Way up in heaven where there is no snow;
And all year round, the watermelons grow;
Where the rich man, the poor man, the gentile and the Jew;
All sit together in the same damn pew.
Oh there'll be no distinctions there.
There'll be no distinctions there.
The Lord is good the Lord is just;
The Lord is head of the railroad trust.
There'll be no distinctions there.

Chorus

---

HTML line breaks added. -JoeClone 17-Jan-2001.

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Diva
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 06:17 PM

FATHOM THE BOWL,

JOHN BARLEYCORN

and forgive me for being pedantic but BLUE BLEEZING BLIND DRUNK which I sing as Mickey's Warning, is really about wife beating.

Subject: Lyr Add: O Come, Come Away^^
From: Burke
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 06:19 PM

O Come, Come Away
This is in the Sacred Harp. I've been told there is a drinking song that known to the same tune in England.

Oh come, come away,
From labor now reposing,
Our jubilee has set us free --
Oh come, come away!
Come, hail the day that celebrates
The ransom of th'inebriates
From all that does intoxicate,
Oh come, come away!

We welcome you here!
With heart and hand wide open,
Ye gallant sons of temperance --
We welcome you here!
Heav'n's blessings on your plans, we pray!
Ye come our sinking friends to save,
And rescue from a drunkard's grave;
We welcome you here!

We welcome you here!
Ye who with taste perverted
Have seized the cup, and drank it up --
We welcome you here!
Come, join us in our holy aim,
The poor besotted to reclaim,
The broken heart to cheer again,
Oh come, sign the pledge!

Lyrics: Bradbury's Orila, 1859

Music with same title but different words are in Southern Harmony. The melody is on the 2nd line. The midi is half the speed it should be done at.

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Micca
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 06:23 PM

And of course theres this one that Liz the Squeak sings: ALCOHOLIC'S ANTHEM

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: SINSULL
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 06:25 PM

THE FACE ON THE BARROOM FLOOR.

Perfect Nynia. Says it all. And Little Hawk, thanks for the thread. Finally found a place to make a sizeable contribution.

Subject: Lyr Add: ALCOHOLIC'S ANTHEM^^^
From: Morticia
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 06:27 PM

ALCOHOLICS ANTHEM

Wahts the use of drinking tea, indulging in sobriety
Or tea-total perversity,it's healthier to booze
Whats the use of milk and water
These are drinks that never oughter
Be allowed in any quarter, come lose your blues

Mix yourself a shandy,drown yourself a brandy
Sherry sweet or whisky neat
Or any other liquor that is handy
Theres no blinkin' sense in drinking
Anything that doesn't leave you stinking
There is nothing quite like sinking blotto to the floor

Aberattions metabolic, ceilings that are hyperbolic
These are for the alcoholic lying on the floor
Put an end to all frustration
Drinking may be your salvation
End it all in dissapation, rotten to the core
Vodka for the arty, gin to make you hearty
Lemonade was only made
For drinking when your mother's at the party
Steer well clear of homemade beer
And anything that isn't labelled clear
There is nothing else to fear
Bottoms up me boys!

this is, I think, to the tune of Men of Harlech....no idea who wrote it.

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Morticia
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 06:30 PM

bugger.....Micca and I must have submitted at the same time...could have done without the typing :)

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: SINSULL
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 06:39 PM

SHOW ME THE WAY TO GO HOME that great ditty from "Jaws"
"Get Me To The Church On Time"

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Amergin
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 06:44 PM

Christy Moore's DELERIUM TREMENS

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Diva
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 06:47 PM

I've remembered another one...The Drunkard...used to sing it can't remember the words (could be the drink), anyway its on Steeleye Span's Rocket Cottage album.

Subject: Lyr Add: IN PRAISE OF ALCOHOL (Robert W. Service^^
From: Jeri
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 06:51 PM

Bottle o' the Best for single malt fanatics.

Here's one I didn't see in the DT and could do the tune up (next week - I'm going away for the weekend) if anyone's interested.

In Praise of Alcohol
Words: Robert W. Service
Set to music by David Parry

Of vintage wine I am a lover
To drink deep would be my delight
If 'twere not for the bleak hangover
I'd get loaded every night
I'd whoop it up with songs and laughter,
Whoop it up with songs and laughter
Whoop it up with songs and laughter
If 'twere not for the morning after.

Although to soberness I'm given
It is a thought I've often thunk
The nearest that is earth to heaven
Is to get sublimely drunk
Is to achieve divine elation
To achieve divine elation
To achieve divine elation
By means of generous libation

Alas, the winecups claim their payment
And as the price is often pain
If we could know what morning grey meant
We never would get soused again
Rather than buy a hobnailed liver
Rather than buy a hobnailed liver
Rather than buy a hobnailed liver
I'm sure that we'd abstain forever.

But how I love that glow of liquor
As joyfully I drink it up
Hoping that unto life's last flicker
With praise I'll raise the ruby cup
So let me like a jolly monk
So let me like a jolly monk
So let me like a jolly monk
Proceed to get sublimely drunk.

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Micca
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 07:00 PM

Morty, that blue clicky tells the author too.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE WRECK ON THE HIGHWAY^^^
From: thosp
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 07:02 PM

THE WRECK ON THE HIGHWAY
(Dorsey Dixon)

Who did you say it was brother?
Who was it fell by the way?
When whiskey and blood run together
Did you hear anyone pray?

cho: I didn't hear nobody pray, dear brother
I didn't hear nobody pray
I heard the crash on the highway
But I didn't hear nobody pray.

When I heard the crash on the highway
I knew what it was from the start
I went to the scene of destruction
And a picture was stamped on my heart.

There was whiskey and blood all together
Mixed with glass where they lay
Death played her hand in destruction
But I didn't hear nobody pray.

I wish I could change this sad story
That I am now telling you
But there is no way I can change it
For somebody's life is now through.

Their soul has been called by the Master
They died in a crash on the way
And I heard the groans of the dying
But I didn't hear nobody pray.

peace (Y) thosp

---

HTML line breaks added. -JoeClone 17-Jan-2001.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE PIG GOT UP AND SLOWLY WALKED AWAY
From: Little Hawk
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 07:02 PM

Wonderful...how about this...it's not a song, it's a poem:

'Twas in early last December
(as clear as I remember...?)
I was stumblin' doon the street in sodden pride,
When I fell into the gutter,
thinkin' thochts I dared not utter,
and a pig come up and lay doon by my side.
Two old ladies passin' by
cast on me a jaundiced eye,
and I thocht I overheard one o' them say:
"Ye can tell a man who boozes
by the comp'ny that he chooses."
And wi' that, the pig got up and walked away!

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: thosp
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 07:21 PM

Little Hawk -----lolpeace (Y) thosp

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: reggie miles
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 07:43 PM

Demon Alchohol, can't remember the author
I Want To Be In A Barroom, by Robert Oneman Johnson

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Quincy
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 09:00 PM

What about the Dubliner's "SEVEN DRUNKEN NIGHTS?" (If you've got the money Ive got the time!!)
Also "The Pub Crawl" "GIVE THE WOMAN IN THE BED MORE PORTER" and of course "THE MOONSHINER"

-Yvonne

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: MMario
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 09:38 PM

I din't say blue bleezzin blind drunk, I said blue bleedin' blind drunk, which is about husband beating if anything....

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Mark Clark
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 10:54 PM

Used to sing one years ago and now this is all I can remember:

Away, away with rum by gum,
With rum by gum, with rum by gum,
Away, away with rum by gum,
It's the song of the Salvation Army.

Maybe someone else knows this or where it came from. A tongue in cheek temperance song that I only have a chorus for is sung to the tune of Wabash Cannonball:

We're against all forms of gamblin',
All sex and liquor too,
And by our name we'll all be known,
As the W C T U.

      - Mark

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 11:02 PM

Most of the lyrics submitted here are in DigiTrad. Try a search for @drink, if you want some more.

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 11:11 PM

Those who are against sex had better be prepared for extinction. To the devil with the WCTU.

Och, I'll drink tae that!

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Mark Clark
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 11:12 PM

Thanks Dick... I needed that! Of course there are several versions of "Rum by Gum" in the DT. I was not able to find any hint of the second snippet though. Maybe it will seem familiar to someone.

      - Mark

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Margaret V
Date: 09 Aug 00 - 11:43 PM

"Drinkin' in My Sunday Dress" is a grand, silly song by Maria McKee; starts off something like:

I can barely feel the sheets
For all these crumbs down in my bed
How can I get to sleep
With all this buzzing in my head?
And who'd have ever thought
I'd not complain about a mess?
Serves me right, I guess;
This is what I get for eating crackers with my gin
And drinkin' in my Sunday dress.
Cheers, Margaret

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: JamesJim
Date: 10 Aug 00 - 12:20 AM

Not sure of the name (Travelled this wide world over?), but first verse: I came home the other night, as drunk as I could be and I saw a horse in the stable, where my horse ought to be. I said to my wife, my pretty little wife, explain this thing to me, what's this horse doing here in the stable where my horse ought to be. She said, "you old fool, you blind fool, can't you plainly see, it's nothing but a milkcow, my mother sent to me. Well I've travelled this wide world over, a million miles or more, but a bridle and saddle on a milkcow, I never did see before.

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Elise
Date: 10 Aug 00 - 01:15 AM

THREE DRUNKEN MAIDENS and Get that child some porter