There are drinking songs, and then there are songs that are about drinking. Drinking songs must be rowdy, spirited, and easy to sing through a drunken slur. But songs about drinking encapsulate what it means to be a true booze hound. They don’t shy away from the tawdry realities of being a drunk; they give voice to the oppressed people that society has relegated to the position of social ills. And because we never would want you, CollegeOTR readers, to feel alone, we present the Best Songs About Drinking That Sound Good Even When You Aren’t Drunk (a rarity.)

“Streams of Whiskey” The Pogues

Liquor Lyrics: “Oh the words that he spoke

Seemed the wisest of philosophies

Theres nothing ever gained

By a wet thing called a tear

When the world is too dark

And I need the light inside of me

Ill walk into a bar

And drink fifteen pints of beer”

I am going, I am going

Any which way the wind may be blowing

I am going, I am going

Where streams of whiskey are flowing”

“The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me)” Tom Waits

Liquor Lyrics: “And you can't find your waitress with a Geiger counter

And she hates you and your friends and you just can't get served without her

And the box-office is drooling, and the bar stools are on fire

And the newspapers were fooling, and the ash-trays have retired

'Cause the piano has been drinking, the piano has been drinking

The piano has been drinking, not me, not me, not me, not me, not me”

“Margaritaville” Jimmy Buffet

Liquor Lyrics: “Wastin away again in margaritaville

Searching for my lost shaker of salt

Some people claim that theres a woman to blame

But I know its nobodys fault”

“Whiskey Heaven” Fats Domino

Liquor Lyrics: “Every afternoon when I wake up 

I say a little prayer and I drink up 

I thank the lord for driving me home 

Once more 


There's an open bottle on the table 

And an empty bottle on the floor 

Last night I thought I'd died 

And I went to Whiskey Heaven 


You know the sun never shines in Whiskey Heaven 

It rains Jack Daniels all the time 

There's a price you pay, hang overs everyday”

“I Gotta Get Drunk” Willie Nelson

Liquor Lyrics: “Well I gotta get drunk and I sure do dread it

Cuz I know just what I'm gonna do

I'll start to spend my money callin' everybody honey

And I'll wind up singin' the blues

I'll spend my whole paycheck on some old wreck”

“One for My Baby” Frank Sinatra

Liquor Lyrics: “Its gotta be drowned

Or it soon might explode

So make it one for my baby

And one more for the road”

“Intoxicated Man” Serge Gainsbourg

Liquor Lyrics: “I drink in doses that are too high.”

“Gin House Blues” Nina Simone

Liquor Lyrics: “Lord I dont want no clothes

I dont even want no bed to lay my head

I dont want no clothes

I dont event want no bed to lay my head

I dont want no pork chops and green

Just give me gin instead”

“Roadhouse Blues” The Doors

Liquor Lyrics: “When I woke up this morning, I got myself a beer

Well, I woke up this morning, and I got myself a beer

The future's uncertain, and the end is always near”

“Gin and Juice” Snoop Dogg

Liquor Lyrics: “Now, that, I got me some seagrams gin

Everybody got they cups, but they aint chipped in

Now this types of shit, happens all the time

You got to get yours but fool I gotta get mine”