# Odd lyrics to Hey Bartender

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-lyrics-to-hey-bartender/379730>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [November 9, 2006, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-lyrics-to-hey-bartender/379730 "2006-11-09T17:49:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-lyrics-to-hey-bartender/379730/1 "2006-11-09T17:49:12Z")

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“Hey Bartender”, written by the recently departed Floyd Dixon in 1954, made popular by the Blues Brothers, starts out:

I went balling the other night  
I started drinking and got real tight  
I blew each and all my friends  
I felt so good I had to blow it again  
This was a popular song in 1954. I can’t imagine that this was sexual content. So what does he mean by balling, and blowing his friends? :eek:

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**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-lyrics-to-hey-bartender/379730/2 "2006-11-09T18:15:38Z")

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Back in The Old Days, “ballin’” was a term for partying. It appears in a lot of R&B and blues records. In one such drinking song, a guy plans to get really drunk and laments “I’ll be crawlin’ instead of ballin’”. I’m not sure about “blowing my friends” but I think it could refer to buying them all a drink. Anybody have another idea?

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**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-lyrics-to-hey-bartender/379730/3 "2006-11-09T18:45:50Z")

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Ditto on “balling.” The Stray Cats’ second album “Gonna Ball” features a song of the same title. Related to “have a ball.”

But “blowing”? That’s thrown me for a while.

It makes one realize how ripe this song is for a gay club disco remake, though.

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**Author:** ![MG\_Brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@MG\_Brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MG_Brown)\
**Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-lyrics-to-hey-bartender/379730/4 "2017-12-07T23:49:38Z")

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According to my old school blues singing’ neighbor, “I blew each and all my friends” means to buy a round or pass around a joint.