One More Drink for the Four of Us
"One More Drink for the Four of Us" (aka "Glorious" or "Drunk Last Night") is a traditional drinking and marching song. It became popular during the First World War, and has been widely repurposed for other marches, college bands, and social clubs. It is referenced in Ulysses[1] and Finnegans Wake.[2]
The song talks about a family of drinkers, whose name is sometimes modified to refer to the group that is singing it. Other lines are sometimes added at the beginning or the end.[3]
History
The origins of the song are uncertain. It was popular during the First World War, and noted as a popular marching song in The New Republic in 1915.[4] It is referenced in military stories from that time, such as William Brown's Adventures of an American Doughboy (1919).[5] James Joyce referred to it in Ulysses (1918-1920).
One More Drink appeared in the song anthology Immortalia, published in 1927.[6] The song was sung on college campuses and across the United States throughout the 20th century.[7]
The chorus has been included as part of many other drinking songs, such as There Are No Airborne Rangers,[8] Glorious (1950s college song),[9] The Souse Family,[10] and The California Drinking Song.[11]
Conversely, other short songs and doggerel have been included as verses of this song.[12]
Core lyrics
- Drunk last night. Drunk the night before,
- Gonna get drunk tonight like I never been drunk before,
- For when I'm drunk I'm as happy as can be;
- For I am a member of the Souse family
- Chorus
- Singing Glo-ri-ous! Glo-ri-ous!
- One keg of beer for the four of us!
- Singing glory be to God that there are no more of us;
- For one of us could drink it all alone! [13]
Other verses
Many other verses and variations have been added in different parts of the world. A common second verse in the 20th century:
- And the Souse family is the best family
- That ever came over from Old Germany.
- There's the Highland Dutch, the Lowland Dutch;
- The Rotterdam Dutch and all the other damn Dutch.
References
- ↑ 12.238-239: "Thanks be to God... the start of us"
- ↑ "Annotations to Finnegans Wake - Roland McHugh - Google Boeken". Books.google.com. Retrieved 2014-06-18.
- ↑ The Hash House Harriers, rugby teams and fraternities all have used versions of the song.
- ↑ "The New Republic - Herbert David Croly - Google Boeken". Books.google.com. 2012-04-16. Retrieved 2014-06-18.
- ↑ "The adventures of an American doughboy : Brown, William. [from old catalog]] : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive". Archive.org. 2001-03-10. Retrieved 2014-06-18.
- ↑ Immortalia: An Anthology of American Ballads, Sailors' Songs, Cowboy Songs, College Songs, Parodies, Limericks, and other humorous verses and doggerel was published in 1927 and republished four times in later decades.
- ↑ "Germany and the Americas: O-Z - Google Boeken". Books.google.com. Retrieved 2014-06-18.
- ↑ "There are no Airborne Rangers". ArmyStudyGuide.com. Retrieved 2014-06-18.
- ↑ ""Glorious (One Keg Of Beer For The Four Of Us)" Song Lyrics w/Free MP3 Download". Horntip.com. 2013-09-23. Retrieved 2014-06-18.
- ↑ "The James T. Callow Computerized Folkore Archive :: UDM Libraries / Instructional Design Studio". Research.udmercy.edu. Retrieved 2014-06-18.
- ↑ "Cal Songs ~ University of California Marching Band". Calband.berkeley.edu. 1969-02-18. Retrieved 2014-06-18.
- ↑ steve on the slow train (2009-03-30). "Home in the railroad earth: A Song My Father Taught Me". Ontheslowtrain.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2014-06-18.
- ↑ "Basic lyrics and score". Sniff.numachi.com. Retrieved 2014-06-18.