# Have any of you ever sung the whole of "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 18, 2013, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-ever-sung-the-whole-of-99-bottles-of-beer-on-the-wall/663806 "2013-07-18T01:59:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-ever-sung-the-whole-of-99-bottles-of-beer-on-the-wall/663806/41 "2013-07-19T01:55:48Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > Here in the Great Midwest, we took one down and passed it around. Jeez, bottles falling off the wall would be tragic. Who wants to get bummed out on a school field trip? Exactly! > [@RTFirefly](#): > > At my elementary school, we always started with 100 bottles of beer on the wall. 99 bottles of beer would have been the end of the first verse, and beginning of the second. Yup. That was always the bus version. > [@Tethered\_Kite](#): > > This is what drives school bus drivers to drink. Again, yes. I remember this song going all the way to 0 a number of times. It’s amazing that more field-trip drivers don’t go insane and hurt the kids. > [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Sometimes, I think kids playing with their Smartphones isn’t always such a bad thing. This is something more people should consider when they worry about “screen time” in vehicles. Reportedly, modern band trips have a lot less inane group singing than they used to. ---
**Author:** ![Engineer\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9fc29f/32.png) [@Engineer\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Engineer_Dude)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-ever-sung-the-whole-of-99-bottles-of-beer-on-the-wall/663806/42 "2013-07-19T02:04:55Z")
Yes, but not at one time. When my son was a baby and I’d rock him to sleep (he was like 10 months old and didn’t know the difference), I’d sing him about 20 lines each night (and pick up where I left the night before). Got down to negative 30 bottles or so and got tired of it. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-ever-sung-the-whole-of-99-bottles-of-beer-on-the-wall/663806/43 "2013-07-19T02:31:52Z")
Only once, when Mrs Piper and I were walking across England. We hit a particularly dreary stretch of Yorkshire which was not very attractive, something I had assumed was impossible. Being from socialist Saskatchewan, we naturally did the “pass it around” version - beer doesn’t “happen to fall” here! ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-ever-sung-the-whole-of-99-bottles-of-beer-on-the-wall/663806/44 "2013-07-19T08:39:10Z")
“99 Bottles of Beer in the Wall” in [1500 programming languages](http://www.99-bottles-of-beer.net/a.html)! ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-ever-sung-the-whole-of-99-bottles-of-beer-on-the-wall/663806/45 "2013-07-20T17:04:01Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > Sorta. It’s ‘If one of those bottles should happen to fall’ - the meter’s not right on ‘happens to fall’. > > Never heard your third version until this thread. We were a “should happen to fall” family, too. And we got through all ninety-nine bottles on our annual vacation trips. Six hours each way in the car. We sang a LOT of other songs, to. On the camp bus we sang the “pass it around” version. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-ever-sung-the-whole-of-99-bottles-of-beer-on-the-wall/663806/46 "2013-07-20T17:26:27Z")
We did the “Take one down, pass it around” version where I grew up. I did just happen to know the “if one of those bottles should happen to fall” version as well, but we didn’t sing it very often. As noted, the version I knew is most similar to #1 but not exactly the same, although others have heard and sang exactly those words too so I’m not alone! I don’t think I’ve ever made it down to 0 before, but I absolutely love the idea of going to the store, buying some more, and having 99 bottles of beer on the wall! I believe we did always start it at 100, but starting it at 99 seems right to me as well. Hmm… ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-ever-sung-the-whole-of-99-bottles-of-beer-on-the-wall/663806/47 "2013-07-20T18:17:10Z")
**drewtwo99** , good username/post combo. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-ever-sung-the-whole-of-99-bottles-of-beer-on-the-wall/663806/48 "2013-07-21T00:58:37Z")
I’ve sung it all the way through several times. Version I learned was like your first, but without the word “you” (“Take one down, pass it around…”). I’ve heard of the second version, but not the third. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-ever-sung-the-whole-of-99-bottles-of-beer-on-the-wall/663806/49 "2013-07-21T14:51:05Z")
I think I only heard the third version (if one fell, what the hell) at a Girl Guide camp. Later on, I sang it to my cousin (just one verse, not the whole song) and he thought it was funny because it had the word “hell” in it. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-ever-sung-the-whole-of-99-bottles-of-beer-on-the-wall/663806/50 "2013-07-21T17:25:36Z")
Oh sometimes to be cute when we were kids we would say “99 bottles of non alcoholic beverages on the wall!” The trick is you say “non-alcoholic beverages” about as fast as you normally say “beer” in the song, so it sounds ridiculous but tries to fit the meter/tempo of the original. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-ever-sung-the-whole-of-99-bottles-of-beer-on-the-wall/663806/51 "2013-07-21T18:32:11Z")
I remember in a cartoon, Garfield was singing “99 kettles of soup on the stove.” ---
**Author:** ![Renifer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Renifer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renifer)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-ever-sung-the-whole-of-99-bottles-of-beer-on-the-wall/663806/52 "2013-07-21T23:56:15Z")
Song made an infamous appearance in the Daria episode “Malled.” As you’ve guessed, it’s on a school trip. In real life, I’ve been on school trips where teachers tried starting up that song. But in less than five verses, kids get bored with it and give up. It’s pretty tedious. For some reason, “The Song That Never Ends” from Lambchop was much more popular. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-ever-sung-the-whole-of-99-bottles-of-beer-on-the-wall/663806/53 "2013-07-22T01:20:22Z")
> [@Renifer](#): > > … > > For some reason, “The Song That Never Ends” from Lambchop was much more popular. Probably, somewhat paradoxically, for the reason that it never actually ends. So everyone has to “give up” on singing it sooner or later, and it’s usually sooner. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-ever-sung-the-whole-of-99-bottles-of-beer-on-the-wall/663806/54 "2013-07-22T01:47:39Z")
_99 bottles of Beer_ was part of the vacation ritual. We usually hit zero before we got to Indianapolis, if we were headed to see the grandparents in Florida. We passed it around too. 😛 We sang the “should happen to fall” version on bus trips. One of our drivers used to turn his hearing aid down when it started. Until this thread, I’d never heard of the third version. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-ever-sung-the-whole-of-99-bottles-of-beer-on-the-wall/663806.md?page=2)