The Wine Awesomeness crew put their heads together and came up with 20 of the best drinking songs on this green earth. Find and listen to them below, listed in no particular order. Rock on and drink responsibly:
George Thorogood- One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer
Blues guitar and booze probably wouldn’t exist without one another. While there’s no shortage of drunken blues to sip to, it doesn’t get much better than this one.
UB40- Red Red Wine
Any place where the 80’s, reggae and red wine meet is a place you want to be. You could also listen to the original version by Neil Diamond… but then again you could stick with this one.
Nina Simone- Lilac Wine
When you’re up in the wee hours of the morning after a big night, you don’t need any club bangers. Sometimes, you need something slow, sensitive, sad and sensual. This song delivers all of the above, and it’s about magical wine. Get your catharsis on.
Don McLean- American Pie
No brainer… it’s page one in the great American songbook. Make sure you have some whiskey and rye on hand.
The Felice Brothers- Whiskey in my Whiskey
Sloppy fiddle, revolvers and county lines all suggest prime Americana styled drinking music. This song is no exception to the rule.
Billy Joel- Scenes from an Italian Restaurant
“A bottle of red, a bottle of white.” A multi-sectional, narrative bookended by bottles of wine? You should only feel slightly embarrassed when screaming every word.
Don Ho- Tiny Bubbles
Tiny bubbles in the wine make you feel happy and warm all over, Don Ho? Us too, us too… and so does your brilliantly corny song that we can’t stop listening to.
Garth Brooks- Friends in Low Places
Garth Brooks may be best known as a country singer, but this song isn’t really “country,” it’s just “drinking.”
Dexys Midnight Runners- Come on Eileen
Okay, so this song is presumably about somebody named Eileen and is pretty much void of any reference to drinking at all. It is really fun to bounce around to right before you hit the town though.
Snoop Dogg- Gin n’ Juice
We can’t (in good conscience) recommend that you actually drink gin and juice, but the audio version is pretty damn fantastic.
The Pogues- Streams of Whiskey
No list of drinking songs is complete without at least one Pogues tune. There are plenty great options to choose from, but this one is the easiest to sing along to after a few libations.
War- Spill the Wine
Funk and wine go together incredibly well, which is why this lesson in groove earns a coveted spot on the list. But bear in mind that “spill the wine” is not a command. Try not to spill it.
Busta Rhymes- Pass the Courvoisier
Life hack: you don’t have to actually drink Courvoisier to jam out to this song and feel like an absolute boss. Whatever it is, just pretend it’s Courvoisier.
Hank Williams Jr.- Whiskey Bent and Hellbound
One of country music’s myriad contributions to the proud genre that is ‘drinking music.’ This is a tear in your beer kind of track, and that’s a great thing in our book.
R. Kelly- Ignition (Remix)
Classics like this one require little to no explanation. Just put it on and see how the room reacts.
Kris Kristofferson- Sunday Morning Comin’ Down
Never has man penned a better song about being hungover. It’s certainly not the part of drinking we like, but it has to be addressed. Kris prefers a hair of the dog approach and we can’t fight him too hard on that.
The Eagles- Hotel California
At first you’ll groan, you’ll moan and you’ll berate the DJ. Five minutes later, you’ll be playing the air guitar as if the life of your first born child depended upon it.
Mandolin Orange- Waltz About Whiskey
This one proves that drinking songs can be pretty too. With lyrical gems like “the only thing I know of a ring is the circle my glass leaves behind” this waltz deserves a play during those quieter moments of celebration and reflection.
Jacques Brel- La Bière
This is a bawdy, beer soaked song with a polka feel befitting the finest of biergartens. “It smells of beer from London to Berlin.” That’s how the chorus goes, and that’s pretty much all you need to know.
Semisonic- Closing Time
An incredibly catchy, nostalgia filled song about last call? For better or worse, this one will get everybody singing- yes, even you.
