# Best Bar Song of All Time... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 27, 2002, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-bar-song-of-all-time/139006 "2002-11-27T00:51:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-bar-song-of-all-time/139006/21 "2002-11-27T06:02:54Z")
I’m gonna expand on the Billy Joel theme and go for his Greatest hits volume 1 and 2 cd, especially disc 1. I think every single person I know has this cd, and hearing any song from it never fails to get people singing, especially with a few beers in them. ---
**Author:** ![krazy\_kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b2d939/32.png) [@krazy\_kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/krazy_kat)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-bar-song-of-all-time/139006/22 "2002-11-27T06:34:50Z")
“here comes a regular” The replacements ---
**Author:** ![UWmite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UWmite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UWmite)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-bar-song-of-all-time/139006/23 "2002-11-27T06:51:24Z")
Depending on the bar, my nomination would be either: _Love Shack_, by the B-52’s, or _Why Don’t We Get Drunk and Screw_, by ol’ Jimmy Buffett. ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-bar-song-of-all-time/139006/24 "2002-11-27T06:54:01Z")
"Wastin’ away again in Margaritaville, searchin’ for my lost shaker of salt… Some people claim that there’s…a…WooOMAaN…to blame that’s a pretty good one too, I figure about half would probably agree 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-bar-song-of-all-time/139006/25 "2002-11-27T07:09:18Z")
Oh, what’s 'isname… Garth Brooks (I think it’s him, anyway.) **Friends in Low Places** is a decent one, too. ---
**Author:** ![moonchilde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3e96dc/32.png) [@moonchilde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moonchilde)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-bar-song-of-all-time/139006/26 "2002-11-27T07:21:49Z")
More votes for Buffett…first thought was “Why don’t we get drunk” but he has sooooo many songs people end up singing/humming/getting wasted to. besides, how can you go wrong with someone who has an album entitled “A White Sportcoat and a Pink Crustacean”? mc ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-bar-song-of-all-time/139006/27 "2002-11-27T07:56:54Z")
Come on, people! Absolutely nothing can touch _In taberna quando sumus_ from the thoroughly debauched **Carmina Burana**. Full rollicking lyrics [here](http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/works/orff-cb/carmlyr.html#track14). ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-bar-song-of-all-time/139006/28 "2002-11-27T09:08:08Z")
The Proclaimer’s “500 Miles” is always good for drunken singalong. Even better when everyone sings in their best worst Scottish accent: “If I get drunk! Yes I nerrr I’m gonne be I’m gonne be the man ooh gets droonk next to eh-you!” ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-bar-song-of-all-time/139006/29 "2002-11-27T12:48:36Z")
Pfui. Straight people ain’t got no musical taste. In _my_ bar, the one that gets people singing is “Stranger in My House” by Tamia. We all have that “whoo!” in the final chorus down like professionals, too… That or anything by Cher or Madonna. ---
**Author:** ![longjohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@longjohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/longjohn)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-bar-song-of-all-time/139006/30 "2002-11-27T14:31:06Z")
Might just be my bar, but “Rhinestone Cowboy” unfortunately seems to get everybody singing along. American Pie is another favourite. Nobody ever remembers all the verses, though and you tend to find the lyrics get conflated… “And while Lenin read a book on Marx The marching band refused to yield” J. ---
**Author:** ![Siemsi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b19c9b/32.png) [@Siemsi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siemsi)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-bar-song-of-all-time/139006/31 "2002-11-27T14:33:29Z")
Yes…Livin on a Prayer…ahhhhh. High school memories. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-bar-song-of-all-time/139006/32 "2002-11-27T14:41:56Z")
“Lightning Bar Blues” - written by Hoyt Axton, and probably best known for the rendition by Arlo Guthrie on _Hobo’s Lullabye_. But the version by Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen (who, by the way, were the ULTIMATE bar band), defines the song in all its drunken glory. And by substituting “Lone Star Beer” for “Ripple Wine,” the song is transformed: “I don’t need no diamond ring I don’t need no Cadillac car. I just wanna drink my Lone Star beer Down in the Lightning Bar.” ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-bar-song-of-all-time/139006/33 "2002-11-27T14:45:29Z")
Silly me. I left out dear Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive”. ---
**Author:** ![DaddyTimesTwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@DaddyTimesTwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaddyTimesTwo)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-bar-song-of-all-time/139006/34 "2002-11-27T15:20:57Z")
“_Smoke Smoke Smoke (That Cigarette)_”, the version I have is from **Commader Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen** , perhaps other have covered it, I have no idea. Actually, the old **Commander** is about the perfect bar band anyway. Any choice from his entire catalog would be good. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-bar-song-of-all-time/139006/35 "2002-11-27T15:37:22Z")
_You picked the wrong time to blow me, Lucille, I’ve had some good jobs, I’ve had some bad jobs, but this time the teeth marks won’t heal. You picked the wrong time to blow me, Lucille._ ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-bar-song-of-all-time/139006/36 "2002-11-27T15:40:49Z")
I definitely get the idea we’re talking about two competely different bar crowds here. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-bar-song-of-all-time/139006/37 "2002-11-27T15:45:03Z")
country road take me home to the place i belong!! or low lie the fields of athenry or the fantastically absymal irish dance version of maniac… maniac 2000 she’s a maniac, maniac on the floor!! ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-bar-song-of-all-time/139006/38 "2002-11-27T15:58:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DaddyTimesTwo \* > \*\*“_Smoke Smoke Smoke (That Cigarette)_”, the version I have is from **Commader Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen** , perhaps other have covered it, I have no idea. > > Actually, the old **Commander** is about the perfect bar band anyway. Any choice from his entire catalog would be good. \*\* “Smoke Smoke Smoke (That Cigarette)” was originally a hit for [Phil Harris](http://64.152.71.2/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=SEARCH&sql=A0jfpxq8kldte), who provided a couple of tunes for the Ol’ Commander (the other one being “That’s What I Like About the South”). Both those tunes can be found on the Commander’s third album, _Country Cassanova_, now sadly out of print. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-bar-song-of-all-time/139006/39 "2002-11-27T16:06:06Z")
It may not currently be played in many bars in the states, but I would like to submit [Alice, Alice, Who the Fuck is Alice?](http://home.pages.at/charlene/songs/ALICE_who_the_fuck_is_Alice.htm%5B/url). ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-bar-song-of-all-time/139006/40 "2002-11-27T16:17:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Munch \* > \*\*It may not currently be played in many bars in the states, but I would like to submit [Alice, Alice, Who the Fuck is Alice?](http://home.pages.at/charlene/songs/ALICE_who_the_fuck_is_Alice.htm%5B/url). \*\* **Munch** , that’s what I meant by the “unofficial refrain” to _Living Next Door to Alice_ (see my post above). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-bar-song-of-all-time/139006.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-bar-song-of-all-time/139006.md?page=3)