Back before I moved up north, our local bar would erupt into an outrageously passionate sing-along to…
…“Simple Kind of Man” from Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Almost two years later, whenever I hear the beginning chords of that song I feel the need to sing along at the top of my lungs and start drinking. Which, considering the lyrics, seems pretty ironic.
No matter what band was performing, at some point during the night that song had to be played. A lot of the time, some random guy who hung out at the bar would steal the stage from them and sing it.
If your drinking in Australia learn to sing Khe San:
I left my heart to the sappers round Khe Sanh
And my soul was sold with my cigarettes to the blackmarket man
Ive had the Vietnam cold turkey From the ocean to the Silver City And its only other vets could understand
…
You know the last plane out of Sydneys almost gone Only seven flying hours, and Ill be landing in Hong Kong
There aint nothing like the kisses From a jaded Chinese princess Im gonna hit some Hong Kong mattress all night long
I just clicked on the link for the lyrics to “Those Were The Days” and had myself a good cry, thinking about the group I used to hang out with in college. Sadly, I lost touch with most of them. I wonder if I’d find any of them at the old beer-and-pizza joint we used to frequent.
The song we used to sing along to was “Space Oddity” by David Bowie.
My thoughts immediately went to Toby Keith’s, “I Love This Bar,” mostly because of the title! It’s one of my favorites.
There was a bar in college that my friends and I would go to almost each night we went out that always ended the evening with the song, “That’s Amore.” Everyone knew that it meant the bar was closing and we were to head home. To me that song is a bar song.
Yeah. I was pretty young when it was popular. Now that I’m middle-aged it sure makes me feel different than it did back then! (Being a man I don’t cry though… :))
Ooh, nice choice! That really makes me wish I’d ever met a single one of my fellow Americans who’s even heard of Spirit of the West. If I saw that on a jukebox here, I think I’d have a heart attack.
Here’s a YouTube link to the video for that incredible song.
New York by Frank Sinatra always seems to be a crowd pleaser. I’ve seen it commonly used as a “you don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here” song.
Definitely. This is the song that immediately came to mind for me as well. I’ve been enchanted by this song for years and still know all the words.
Here’s a cover of it by the lead singer of the Refreshments (Roger Clyne) and his new band the Peacemakers. This doesn’t really do the album version justice, but it’ll give you an idea.