Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!

Subject: Lyr Add: LE VIN (Georges Brassens)
From: Wolfgang
Date: 12 Jul 02 - 10:26 AM

LE VIN
(Georges Brassens)

Avant de chanter
Ma vie, de fair' des
Harangues
Dans ma gueul' de bois
J'ai tourné sept fois
Ma langue
J'suis issu de gens
Qui étaient pas du gen-
re sobre
On conte que j'eus
La tétée au jus
D'octobre...

Mes parents on dû
M'trouver au pied d'u-
ne souche
Et non dans un chou
Comm' ces gens plus ou
Moins louches
En guise de sang
( O noblesse sans
Pareille! )
Il coule en mon cœur
La chaude liqueur
D'la treille...

Quand on est un sa-
ge, et qu'on a du sa-
voir-boire
On se garde à vue
En cas de soif, u-
ne poire
Une poire ou deux
Mais en forme de
Bonbonne
Au ventre replet
Rempli du bon lait
D'l'automne...

Jadis, aux Enfers
Cert's, il a souffert
Tantale
Quand l'eau refusa
D'arroser ses a-
mygdales
Etre assoiffé d'eau
C'est triste, mais faut
Bien dire
Que, l'être de vin
C'est encore vingt
Fois pire...

Hélas! il ne pleut
Jamais du gros bleu
Qui tache
Qu'ell's donnent du vin
J'irai traire enfin
Les vaches
Que vienne le temps
Du vin coulant dans
La Seine!
Les gens, par milliers
Courront y noyer
Leur peine...

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Wolfgang
Date: 12 Jul 02 - 10:19 AM

'Le vin' by Georges Brassens

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Mike
Date: 12 Jul 02 - 10:00 AM

Did anyone mention "THE TWO-HUNDRED-YEAR-OLD ALCOHOLIC"?

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Allan Dennehy
Date: 12 Jul 02 - 09:33 AM

Shane Mc Gowans "That womans got me drinkin"

Dean Martin sang "LITTLE OLE WINE DRINKER ME"

Steve Earles "Copperhead Road"

Subject: Lyr Add: A Song of Water
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 12 Jul 02 - 07:38 AM

Mentioned earlier in the thread, but not quoted (or found in DT):

A SONG OF WATER
(adapted from the Platt-Deutsch) by Lord Neaves

(Intro.)
I'm very fond of water
And I drink it noon and night;
Not Rechab's son or daughter
Had therein more delight.

(Verse 1)
I breakfast on it daily,
And nectar it doth seem,
When once I've mix'd it gaily
With sugar and with cream
But I forgot to mention,-
That in it first I see,
Infused or in suspension,
Good Mocha or Bohea,
Infused or in suspension,
Good Mocha or Bohea,
(the last two lines of each verse should be repeated in this fashion)

(Chorus which follows each verse, including the last.)
I'm very fond of water
And I drink it noon and night.

(Verse 2)
At luncheon, too, I drink it,
And strength it seems to bring;
When really good, I think it
A liquor for a King.
But I forgot to mention,-
'Tis best to be sincere,-
I use an old invention
That makes it into Beer.

(Verse 3)
I drink it, too, at dinner,
I quaff it full and free,
And find, as I'm a sinner,
It does not disagree.
But I forgot to mention,
As thus I drink and dine,
To obviate distentsion
I join some Sherry Wine

(Verse 4)
And then, when dinner's over,
And business far away,
I find myself in clover,
And drink my eau sucrée.
But I forgot to mention,
To give the glass a smack,
I add, with due attention,
Glenlivet or Cognac.

(Verse 5)
At last, when evening closes,
With something nice to eat,
The best of sleeping doses
In water still I meet.
But I forgot to mention,
I think it not a sin, To cheer the day's declension
By pouring in some gin.


Notes: found in The Scottish Students Song Book (6th edition) 1897. Where the words were re-printed "by kind permission of Messrs William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh"
Music is given as by "Dr. T W Drinkwater" (There again, as the same source gives the music for Abdul the Bulbul Amir as by "Ali Baba" I feel we may be seeing some student humour slipping in here!)

NP

Nigel

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Catherine Jayne
Date: 04 Apr 02 - 06:05 PM

I'd rather have cigarettes,whiskey and wild wild MEN Garreth!!!!

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Genie
Date: 04 Apr 02 - 03:02 PM

Gareth,

Isn't it
"Cigareets, and Whuskey, and Wild Wild Women ? " [That's the way the main guy who recorded it pronounced it, anyway.]

Also, I forgot
"Jose Cuervo [You Are A Friend Of Mine]

Genie

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Bobert
Date: 04 Apr 02 - 02:18 PM

Danged, howz about ol Tom T. Hall's "I LIKE BEER" which started out something like...ahhh..."In some of my songs I have casually mentioned, the fact that I like to drink beer."

Or the old blues song that Badboy George Thorogood rerecorded entitled "One Bourbon, One Scotch, and One Beer" or the one he probably penned himself "I Drink Alone"...

Then there was one that Conway Twitty wrote. I can't remember the name but the chorus was: "I've been too busy drinking, She's been too busy thinking, About the man dadadada... And the man she never sees... Lord's she's allready stood for...More than I was ever good for... And this time I've hurt her more than she loves me."

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Gareth
Date: 04 Apr 02 - 01:22 PM

Sureley "One tequila, Two tequila, Three tequila, FLOOR !"

Gareth

PS Is it me being ignorant but we seem to have missed,
"CIGARETTES, WHISKEY AND WILD WILD WOMEN"

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: The Walrus at work
Date: 04 Apr 02 - 12:39 PM

This is definitely songs for drunks (not for alcoholics)
Someone beat me to "Champagne Charlie", so I'll add the music Hall song "Another Little Drink (Won't do us any harm)" or one snippet I picked up from my late Father "More Beer and Bugger the Band of Hope!" or from the Great War "BOOZING, Boozing, Boozing (always bloody-well boozing)" or "DRUNK LAST NIGHT".

Walrus

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Catherine Jayne
Date: 04 Apr 02 - 10:20 AM

One tequila, Two tequila, Three tequila......give me some more!!!!!........well perhaps JD or Vodka!!!!

cat

Subject: Lyr Add: SHE MOVED THROUGH THE FAIR (parody)
From:
Date: 04 Apr 02 - 08:57 AM

Yup the Kippers did some fine alcoholic songs.

Drink, boys, drink, and see that you do not spill,
For if you do, you shall drink two,
For that is our master's will.

My favourite is the parody of SHE MOVED THROUGH THE FAIR which goes in this sort of vein. Apologies to Sid and Henry if I have mistranslated from the trunch original.

My young love said to me, "My father won't mind,
And my ma won't mind either, for with drink she is blind."
As she fell down atop me this was her refrain:
"O-o-o it will not be long, love, till they're open again."

And she moved away from me and fell down the stair,
And slowly I heard her trip here and crash there,
And she went away from me one over the eight,
And like a swan in the evening, she fell into the lake.

Last night she came to me. Dead drunk she came in,
And so softly she burped, I could scarce smell the gin,
And she fell down on top me. This was her refrain:
"O-o-o it will not be long love till they're open again."

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Genie
Date: 03 Apr 02 - 07:27 PM

Well, I was looking thru these old "drinking song" threads because that's the theme of an upcoming song circle in San Diego, so I thought I would add a couple of mentions that are relevant to this thread:

Nancy Whiskey
Friends In Low Places
The Midnight Choir
LITTLE BROWN JUG

Genie

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: E.T.
Date: 10 Feb 02 - 10:03 PM

old camp song - 99 bottles of beer on the wall... old vaudeville - "CHAMPAGNE CHARLIE is my name"

Don't remember the formal title:

"Landlord fill the flowing bowl, until it doth run over (2x) For tonight we'll merry be (3x) Tomorrow we'll be sober!"

FYI - Francils Willard House in Evanston, IL 60201 may have WCTU songs. They started it, after all.

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: GUEST,Arkie
Date: 10 Feb 02 - 08:19 PM

Christmas In the Drunk Tank, or Fairytale in New York has already been mentioned. Little Hawk's poem, has been set to music and is called The PIG AND THE INEBRIATE and also The Pig Got Up and Slowly Walked Away. One of my favorites is D.W. Washburn, an old Coaster song, but my favorite version was recorded by Mike Dowling. Also THE NIGHT I STOLE OLD SAMMY MORGAN'S GIN, by Hank Snow.

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: GUEST,Tracey Dragonsfriend
Date: 10 Feb 02 - 10:54 AM

And from the rockier end of the blues line:
One Bourbon, one Scotch, and one Beer...
(You got me on ) Milk & Alcohol

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: GUEST,SharonA at the library
Date: 09 Feb 02 - 02:04 PM

What about "OLD BLEVINS" by the Austin Lounge Lizards?

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Catherine Jayne
Date: 08 Feb 02 - 11:46 PM

The only songs Jez and I know about alcoholics are rather rude and are best heard down the local pub after quite a few beers.........if you want to hear them u will have to feed us copious amounts of alcohol first!!!!

with love from two alcoholic catters!!!

Jez and Cat xxx

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 08 Feb 02 - 11:41 PM

Didn't read the entire thread, so it may have been mentioned: LIVERPOOL LULLABY

O you are a mucky kid, dirty as a dustbin lid
When he finds out the things you did
You'll get a belt from your da'

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Haruo
Date: 08 Feb 02 - 10:28 PM

It's still not clear if this thread is really about songs for alcoholics, or about songs for drunks, or both. 'Tain't the same people and 'tain't the same songs, not 'tirely.

Of course for sober alcoholics both my Fremont Hymn and what Guest Hutzul, above and a year and a half ago, called Judy Henski's Salvation Army Song (I've always called it my Salvation Army Song, since I've never known whose it really was) come to mind, but the song I'm really surprised to see neither here nor in the DT is Let [Her] Sleep Under the Bar ("Her" is sometimes "Nellie"):

'Twas a cold winter's evening,
The guests were all leaving,
O'Leary was closing the bar,
When he turned 'round and said
To that lady in red,
"Go home! You can't stay where you are!"

She shed a sad tear
In her bucket of beer
As she dreamt of the cold night ahead,
When a gentleman dapper
Stepped out of the phone booth
And these are the words that he said:

Her mother never told her all the things a young girl should know,
About the ways of fancy men, and how they come and go ^{(mostly go)}...
Age has taken her beauty,
And sin has left its sad scar,
So remember your mothers and sisters, boys,
And let [her] sleep under the bar.

I'm pretty sure I learned it as a kid from the 1954 IOCA Dick/Beth Best Song Fest. And yes, there was an Esperanto version sung round the campfire at NOREK back probably about 1982, and I think printed in an ephemeral form. Some of the words are variable in my memory (not merely her/Nellie): "a sad/him a", "dreamt/thought", "told/taught", "fancy/college", at least.

Liland

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Desdemona
Date: 08 Feb 02 - 08:30 PM

"Trudge away quickly and fill the black bowl..." by Thomas Ravenscroft, circa early 17th c. The refrain is, "for still methinks one tooth is dry!"

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: JeZeBeL
Date: 08 Feb 02 - 07:22 PM

Just the one, by the levellers. I'll get you the words and post them on the thread. this involves the long task of listening to the song and writing it down!! Back in a couple of weeks!!

Jez xxx

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Wyrd Sister
Date: 08 Feb 02 - 02:22 PM

Cockersdale's "DOIN' THE MANCH"

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: GUEST,Dale
Date: 08 Feb 02 - 02:12 PM

Then again, I guess I could put my name to that one. I always forget.

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: GUEST
Date: 08 Feb 02 - 02:08 PM

I prefer The Bottle Is Almost Empty by Simani.

Excerpts:

But now I'm finally sober
My life's better than before

The bottle's finally empty
I think I've won the battle, Lord.
What did you do for this poor fool
Cause my cup keeps running o'er.

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: SharonA
Date: 08 Feb 02 - 10:39 AM

Unbelievable! 94 posts and nobody mentioned the Allan Sherman song, "The Drinking Man's Diet"!!!

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: GUEST,Hilary - not logged in
Date: 08 Feb 02 - 07:31 AM

I only know the chorus to this one :

Fancy them calling it Poison,
Nasty name like POISON BEER,
Well I've drunk barrels & barrels of beer,
And it never did poison me.

Or

PREAB SAN ÓL, which tranlates to something like Drinking With Spirit or Jump into Drinking

Hilary

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: GUEST,madwaff
Date: 08 Feb 02 - 04:30 AM

How 'bout Maddy Prior's Happy Hour Highball? (I'm never going to touch another dirnk..) think it's on the 'Changing Winds' album
madwaff

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Mark Clark
Date: 08 Feb 02 - 12:18 AM

Thanks, Amos. There are more verses there than I remember hearing. I'll have to get busy.

Now if I could just get a line on that one about the WCTU. It's possible it was written by an old friend of mine and never published anywhere. I'll have to look him up and see if he remembers it.

      - Mark

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: GUEST,oulmole
Date: 07 Feb 02 - 09:33 PM

1. Thanks to member/Guest (who said she's had enough of posting under own name)for posting a link to a serious Alcoholism thread. She's right, y'know. (Yeah. We know. We KNOW!)

2. "That said", as They say (whoever the hell THEY are)(now THERE's a thread!) : those who already nominated "All For Me Grog" and "Carrickfergus" beat me to the punch. So to speak. (Hey! "Jug of Punch". There ye go.) Terrific down-and-out-alkie songs, those 2. But on the more-popular irresponsible lighter note (*higher* plane?), may I add "Roisin the Bow" [Would that be ROSIN THE BEAU? --JoeClone, 30-Jan-05.], "DRINK UP THE CIDER", and "CRUISCÍN LÁN"./ (Why do we make light of this? No, nevermind. Don't answer that. We know...) -- Joe in Connecticut

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Amos
Date: 07 Feb 02 - 07:01 PM

Ah, yes ... here it is, Mark!.

Regards,

A.

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Amos
Date: 07 Feb 02 - 06:59 PM

BLUES IN THE BOTTLE
Blues in the bottle
Where do you think you're at?
You went and kicked my dog,
And now you drowned my cat!!

Mark, the song you mention is called "THE SONG OF THE TEMPERANCE UNION", and it should be in the DT. It starts out,

"We're coming, we're coming, our brave little band!
On the right side of temperance we now take out stand!!"

A

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Joe_F
Date: 07 Feb 02 - 06:51 PM

Mama don't want no rice, no peas, no kerosene oil,
All she wants is whisky, whisky all the time.

"PLEASE SELL NO MORE DRINK TO MY FATHER"
"Landlord, Fill the Flowing Bowl"

and, of course, the enormous repertoire of German beer & wine songs.

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From:
Date: 07 Feb 02 - 03:36 PM

Words wanted to "please don't sell my daddy no more wine,no more wine,momma dont want him drinkin' all the time,all the time".

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: GUEST,Rich(stupidbodhran.......)
Date: 16 Aug 00 - 11:55 AM

PLEASE, DADDY (DON'T GET DRUNK THIS CHRISTMAS).
by John Denver

Rich

Subject: Lyr Add: GOD OF WINE (Third Eye Blind)^^
From: hesperis
Date: 16 Aug 00 - 02:28 AM

My absolute favorite Christmas carol, I've loved it since before ever I tasted ale --- Yech! Blft!

Wassail, Wassail ~ Traditional

"Wassail, wassail all over the town
Our bread it is white and our ale it is brown..."

Wish I could remember the rest... Sang it in choir a few (too many) years back for a reading of A Christmas Carol.
My favorite arrangement is by Chip Davis of Mannheim Steamroller, very 80's but it's been the traditional Christmas album in my house for a long time now.

Aha! GLOUCESTERSHIRE WASSAIL
I know slightly different lyrics, I'll have to find them now. And we sang it much faster than that midi is at. This is close enough though.
Mudcat RULEZ!

Here's anither, I much prefer wine:

God of Wine ~ Third Eye Blind
(I really don't know why I like this song. It's not good. IMHO.)

Every thought that I repent
There's another chip you haven't spent
And you're cashing them all in
Where do we begin
To get clean again
Can we get clean again

I walk home alone with you
And the mood you're born into
Sometimes you let me in
And I take it on the chin
I can't get clean again
I want to know
Can we get clean again

The God of Wine comes crashing through
The headlights of a car that
Took you farther than you thought you'd ever want to go
We can't get back again
We can't get back again

She takes a drink and then she waits
The alcohol it permeates
And soon the cells give way
And cancels out the day

I can't keep it all together
I know...
I can't keep it all together

And the siren's song that is your madness
Holds a truth I can't erase
All alone on your face

Every glamorous sunrise
Throws the planets out of time
A star sign out of whack
A fraudulent zodiac

And the God of Wine is crouched down in my room
You let me down
I said it
Now I'm going down
And you're not even around
And I said no...

I can't keep it all together
I know...
I can't keep it all together

And there's a memory of a window
Looking through I see you
Searching for something
I could never give you

And there's someone who understands you
More than I do
A sadness I can't erase
All alone on your face


It's a good song for just chillin' to, though.

*How* did it get to be 2:31 AM?!
Ye Gads!
Goodnight!

~*sirepseh*~

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Brendy
Date: 15 Aug 00 - 07:02 PM

THE FOXY DEVIL. Written by Joe Dolan (the Galway one), and recorded by Christy Moore on 'The Iron Behind The Velvet' album (Tara 1978). The title of the album is symbolic of the morning after the night before.

Another great one is Andy Fairweather-Lowe's 'Wide Eyed and Legless.

B.

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: GUEST,billmcgow
Date: 15 Aug 00 - 06:06 PM

Alcohol- by the kinks

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: MAG (inactive)
Date: 15 Aug 00 - 05:42 PM

No no no no, I don't ( ) no more
I'm tired of waking up on the floor
No no no no ...
Then it makes it hard to find the door. -- Ringo

That's THE NO-NO SONG by Hoyt Axton. Ringo Starr covered it. --JoeClone, 30-Jan-05.

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: GUEST,SusanGoo
Date: 15 Aug 00 - 01:33 PM

Dear Friends, While not exactly singable, don't forget to find the "commercial" for "Irish Drinking Songs" from Saturday Night Live from sometime during the 90's. Should be on one of those "best of..." videos. I taped it a couple years ago and play it every St. Patrick's day for all my ne'er do well friends. My favorite is "The Incoherent Song," which is just what you might expect.

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: P05139
Date: 15 Aug 00 - 01:06 PM

Grab, had you forgotten The Beautiful South's "Liars Bar" from their "Blue Is The Colour" album?!

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Art Thieme
Date: 15 Aug 00 - 11:28 AM

Roger,

I'll be sending you a personal message.

Art

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Roger in Baltimore
Date: 15 Aug 00 - 09:42 AM

Art,

Any chance of getting a tune to the Bob Gibson song?

Roger in Baltimore

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Naemanson
Date: 15 Aug 00 - 09:27 AM

How about Tanglefoot's "Drunken Dummer Survey"

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Grab
Date: 15 Aug 00 - 09:24 AM

No-one mentioned "WASN'T THAT A PARTY" by Tom Paxton, or "Out behind the Gypsy's" (although that's more a pot-head song)? Highly recommended. There's something from one of my gran's songbooks called "A SONG OF WATER" which is pretty good too (although I've got to update the lyrics slightly since they're showing their Victorian origins a bit).

More depressing - you've always got "FAIRYTALE OF NEW YORK", or Beautiful South's "Woman in the wall".

Grab.

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: Art Thieme
Date: 14 Aug 00 - 10:21 PM

Hey, Judy, Your new CD is wonderful! I hope you're selling a bunch of 'em.

Folks, for those of you who don't realize it, Judy and Dennis Cook are mainstays of the Folk Society Of Greater Washington (D.C.). She does more with an al capone voice---er, I mean a-capella voice, (unaccompanied) than most any ballad singer I've ever heard. Grand variations/versions of the big ballads. If you enjoy traditional balladry, you'll find surprising gems throughout the CD.

Art Thieme
(P.S.----I forgot to mention that the name of Judy Cook's new CD is FAR FROM THE LOWLANDS. The web site is http://www.ceimd.com/folksing.htm )

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: GUEST,Judy Cook
Date: 14 Aug 00 - 10:06 PM

One of my favorites is "SHINGLING THE RUM SELLERS ROOF" that Joe Hickerson recorded for Folk Legacy.

--Judy Cook

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: P05139
Date: 14 Aug 00 - 08:50 PM

I know I'm too young to drink but when I was 9 or 10 I used to sing The Gulls Of Invergordon and MOUNTAIN DEW!

I can't see WHISKEY IN THE JAR either!

Subject: Lyr Add: PILGRIM (Bob Gibson)
From: Art Thieme
Date: 14 Aug 00 - 03:28 PM

BOB GIBSON wrote this in the 1980s--when he was recovering from various substances. It's a fine song for alcoholics:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Deep in the darkness I have known,
I stumble aimless and alone,
At last too weary of the pain,
I choose to find my way again.

......I journey step by step along,
......This healing path that makes me whole,
......I am a pilgrim of my mind,
......I am a seeker of my soul.

BRIDGE: Yesterday is history--tomorrow is a mystery,
I know the past is dead--the future's blind,
By looking to this moment for the light I need to find my way,
I will make it one day at a time.

And though this journey is my own,
I need not travel it alone,
By sharing faith with broken friends,
A broken pilgrim slowly mends.

......We journey step by step along,
......This healing path that makes us whole,
......We are the pilgrims of our mind,
......We are the seekers of our soul.

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs for alcoholics!
From: PoohBear
Date: 12 Aug 00 - 02:15 AM

I like beer... It makes me a jolly good fellow.

There's Sober Men in Plenty [RAMBLIN' ROVER]

Drive Us to Drink

Nancy Whiskey

All for Me Grog

MARTIN SAID TO HIS MAN