I used to drink a lot.
A lot. I drank nightly for roughly 10-15 years. And it wasn't really what you'd call casual drinking. A twelve pack a night was not unusual, it was the norm. At my worst, I closed my favorite watering hole every night for two weeks straight, unintentionably. (I mean, really, if a streak was intended, I'd still be there at last call tonight.) It is with an abundance of drinking experiences, combined with a lifelong obsession with music, that I feel qualified to critique a list of "
Top 100 Drinking Songs" posted on the blog
Barstool Mountain.
Let me start by saying that I don't mean to look a gift horse in the face. Overall, the list is excellent. If you like drinking songs (and you know you do), then you really should
check it out. He's going to be posting mp3s of the songs periodically, and there's some real gems in there. (
Digitized "Six Pack to Go"!?! I've got my finger on the "
Save as" button
now!), But there is one thing...
Wait, before I go further I should add that I can't really fault the host. The list, originally posted on his other blog,
Big Rock Candy Mountain, was culled from a vote, by whom I'm not sure (and don't really care). Apparently even some of the his favorites missed the cut. So, he's not to blame for the travesty of which I'm about to inform you. Please, steady yourself. I really don't want to be the one telling you this. But, fraught with worried caution, I must.
Jimmy Buffet is on the list.
Worse, Gang Green is not.
Contrast and compare:
Buffet's "Margaritaville": "Blew out my flip flop, stepped on a pop top"
Gang Green's "Alcohol": "I'd rather drink than fuck!"
Okay, you claim, I'm citing unrepresenative lyrics, selected to support my argument. Alright then, let's use the harshest lyrics from Margaritaville: "Wasted away again in Margaritaville"?!? That's it? That's all you've got? No goddamn self-respecting (or self-loathing for that matter) drunk is going to sing about some fantasy place called "Margaritaville."
"Free Beer City" maybe, but "Margaritaville"?!? I don't think so. Poseur.
Gang Green, on the other hand, seem focused. They've dedicated practically their whole existence to drinking. From the omni-present Budweiser logos, to their succinct nü-Foster Brooks lyrics, just about every thing they've touched has drink stink on it. And, their lyric, "
I'd rather drink than fuck!"? Hard to find a more declarative drinking statement.
Gang Green's MySpace page with four downloads:
