These catchy old songs aren’t as think as you drunk they are

People are drinking less these days — trending toward moderation or non-alcoholic alternatives on a night out, according to recent industry reports. But songs about drinking never seem to go out of style.

Take the roughly 250-year-old “Three Nights Drunk,” a song about the tricks an adulterous wife plays on her inebriated husband. According to the Library of Congress, it likely originated in the British Isles and is also known as “Our Goodman,” “Four Nights Drunk,” “Drunkard’s Special,” and “Seven Drunken Nights.”

The song appears twice on Drinking in Here, a new compilation of boozy tunes culled from the archive of the pioneering American musicologists Alan and John Lomax. There’s one version by J.E. Mainer’s Mountaineers from 1959 recorded in North Carolina, and another by Jim Henry, recorded in Mississippi in 1937.

That song has also been recorded many times since, by such artists as Steeleye Span and The Dubliners.

“ It’s a total tradition that these drinking songs are not only passed around in an evening, but they’re passed around over years,” said record producer David Katznelson, who curated Drinking in Here. “Drinking songs are about camaraderie, which is something we really need right now.”

Many songs to choose from

John Lomax, famed collector of American folk songs.
John Lomax, famed collector of American folk songs. (Dallas Morning News | AP)

Around 100 recordings of the 8,000 in the Lomax Archive are drinking songs. More than two decades ago, the archive released another record focused on this type of music, Scottish Drinking and Pipe Songs. The majority of the songs on the new album are recordings made in the United States, with a smattering of others from Great Britain, Ireland, and the Caribbean.

Anna Lomax Wood, who helps to run the archive, said that both her father, Alan, and grandfather, John, enjoyed a tipple.

“My grandfather used to take a little flask of what he called ‘the water of life’ hidden in his jacket,” Lomax Wood said. “He’d go off and excuse himself and have a little swig.”

But she said her forebears didn’t drink while working, even when the singers themselves were soused. Lomax Wood witnessed this herself in 1962, when her father recorded a group of workers performing the song “Roll Roll Roll and Go” on the Caribbean island of Grenada.

Alan Lomax and his wife pictured in New York on June 3, 1939. At the time, Lomax was head archivist for American Folk songs at the Library of Congress.
Alan Lomax and his wife pictured in New York on June 3, 1939. At the time, Lomax was head archivist for American Folk songs at the Library of Congress. (AP | AP)

“I don’t think he had time to be in the culture of drinking songs,” Lomax Wood said. “I think he loved to see it.”

A genre that never gets old

Drinking songs continue to endure, with artists like Post Malone, Shaboozey and Beyoncé all contributing.

“There is some sort of cultural universal about getting a little tipsy and wanting to sing about it,” said Sayre Piotrkowski. The advanced cicerone — a cicerone is like a sommelier, but for beer rather than wine — also writes a Substack about drinking and music, Beer & Soul.

Piotrkowski said there’s a direct line between the artists featured on the Lomax album and those singing songs about drinking today.

“ I think the best drinking songs are self-deprecating, self-aware,” said Piotrkowski. “They’re talking about drinking and it’s like, ‘Yeah, I might drink a little too much. But I’m still pretty freaking great.'”

Jennifer Vanasco edited this story for broadcast and digital. Chloee Weiner mixed the audio.

 

Medical groups are concerned that RFK Jr. may dismiss a panel of primary care experts

The American Medical Association is urging HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. not to oust members of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent group of experts focused on primary care.

Tom Lehrer, influential musical satirist, dies at 97

The songwriter and math professor found a following with his satirical political songs.

USA swim team members recovering from stomach bug at world championships

Some USA swim team members have missed events during the competition.

Trump sets EU tariff at 15%, lower than his original threat, after meeting in Scotland

Trump had most recently threatened tariffs of 30% on imports from the European Union. But on Sunday, he met with the president of the European Commission, and they agreed to a lower level.

His name is Mohammad Al-Motawaq. He is 18 months old. And he is starving in Gaza

Hidaya Al-Motawaq's son Mohammad is a year and a half old and weighs less than 10 pounds. Doctors and aid workers warn of permanent damage to the health of children in Gaza due to chronic malnutrition.

Thai and Cambodian leaders to meet in Malaysia for talks to end deadly border dispute

Thai and Cambodian leaders will meet in Malaysia for talks to end hostilities, a spokesperson for the Thai prime minister's office said on Sunday.

More Front Page Coverage