Alcohol use is a central part of American, English, and Irish culture. It is only natural that songs about drinking would arise. Within certain parts of the American culture, drugs are a central part.

As an Addiction Counselor, I suppose I am somewhat sensitive to the topic. I have altered at least one lyric so I can comfortably sing a good song that just happens to have one line extolling marijuana use.

I think there is a lot of ambivalence about drinking and less about drugging. Many drinking related songs are very upbeat and recall past good times. I find myself, a teetotaller attracted to these songs, they are fun to sing.

A rough statistic says that one-third of adult Americans do not drink at all. Another third drink less than once a month. The other third drinks once a month or more. So must people have positive feelings about alcohol despite knowing lives that were destroyed by alcohol. Most people who drink, do so without problems. Why should we ignore these people? Yet we should also be concerned about the 10% whom alcohol lays low.

Roger in Baltimore