Drinking song

This article is about drinking songs in general. For the song from The Student Prince, see Drinking Song.

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A German song interpreted by an Italian Brass combo

A drinking song is a song sung while drinking alcohol. Most drinking songs are folk songs, and may be varied from person to person and region to region, in both the lyrics and in the music.

In Germany, drinking songs are called Trinklieder.

In Sweden, where they are called Dryckesvisor, there are drinking songs associated with Christmas, Midsummer, and other celebrations. An example of such a song is "Helan går".

In Spain, Asturias, patria querida (the anthem of Asturias) is usually depicted as a drinking song.

In France, historical types of drinking songs are Chanson pour boire and Air à boire.

History

The first record of a drinking song dates to the 11th century, and derives from the Carmina Burana, a 13th-century historical collection of poems, educational songs, love sonnets and "entertainment" or drinking songs.

Traditional drinking songs

• "99 Bottles of Beer"
• "Barnacle Bill the Sailor"
• "Barrett's Privateers"
• "Bevilo tutto" (Italian song)
• "Beer, Beer, Beer"
• "California Drinking Song"
• "Drobna drabnitsa" (Belarusian song)
• "Engineers' Drinking Song"
• "Eisgekühlter Bommerlunder"
• "Fathom the Bowl"
• "Friends in Low Places"
• "Good Ship Venus"
• "Home for a Rest" by Spirit of the West
• "I Used to Work in Chicago"
• "Lanigan's Ball"
• "Libiamo ne' lieti calici" from "La Traviata" by "Giuseppe Verdi"
• "Limericks"
• "Little Brown Jug"
• "Seven Drunken Nights"
• "The Goddamned Dutch"
• "The S&M Man"
• "Walking Down Canal Street"
• "Whiskey in the Jar"
• "The Wild Rover"

Lieder

Franz Schubert wrote several lieder (art songs) known as "Trinklied":

• D 75, Cantata "Trinklied" ['Freunde, sammelt euch im Kreise'] for bass, men’s choir and piano (1813)
• D 148 (Op. posth. 131, No. 2), Cantata "Trinklied" ['Brüder! unser Erdenwallen'] for tenor, men’s choir and piano (1815)
• D 169, Chorus "Trinklied vor der Schlacht" ['Schlacht, du brichst an!'] for double unison choir and piano (1815)
• D 183, Cantata "Trinklied" ['Ihr Freunde und du gold’ner Wein'] for voice, unison choir and piano (1815)
• D 242, Trio "Trinklied im Winter" ['Das Glas gefüllt!'] for two tenors and bass (1815, 1st setting; D deest is the 2nd setting, with a different title)
• D 267, Quartet "Trinklied" ['Auf! Jeder sei nun froh und sorgenfrei!'] for two tenors, two basses and piano (1815)
• D 356, Quartet "Trinklied" ['Funkelnd im Becher so helle, so hold'] for two tenors, two basses and piano (1816, fragment)
• D 426, Trio "Trinklied (Herr Bacchus ist ein braver Mann)" ['Herr Bacchus ist ein braver Mann'] for two tenors and bass (1816, lost)
• D 427, Trio "Trinklied im Mai" ['Bekränzet die Tonnen'] for two tenors and bass (1816)
• D 847, Quartet "Trinklied aus dem 16. Jahrhundert" ['Edit Nonna, edit Clerus'] for two tenors and two basses (1825)
• D 888, Song "Trinklied" ['Bacchus, feister Fürst des Weins'] for voice and piano (1826)

Pop songs

The German band Einstürzende Neubauten included a "Trinklied" in their 1985 album Halber Mensch

See also

• Brindisi

External links

• Drinking Songs Sheet Music
• Lyrics, Music and MP3s for each drinking song
• Hash House Harrier songbook
• Hash House Harrier songbook links
• A Tankard Of Ale An Anthology 120 Of Drinking Songs, complete online book by Theodore Maynard circa 1919

Notes

• Cray, Ed. The Erotic Muse: American Bawdy Songs (University of Illinois, 1992).
• Legman, Gershon. The Horn Book. (New York: University Press, 1964).
• Reuss, Richard A. An Annotated Field Collection of Songs From the American College Student Oral Tradition (Bloomington: Indiana Univ. Masters Thesis, 1965).