Alcohol has been showing up in songs for as long as there have been songs to write. It’s been the subject of songs about heartbreak, celebration, bad decisions, and everything in between. This list covers all of it.
Be sure to check out the Songs About Alcohol Playlist at the bottom of this page!
Best Songs About Drinking Alcohol
1. “Tequila Sunrise” – Eagles
Lyric Sample: “Take another shot of courage, wonder why the right words never come.”
This country-rock classic isn’t really about tequila so much as it is about a man watching his life and his relationship slowly fall apart, one sunrise at a time.
2. “Drunk Face” – Machine Gun Kelly
Lyric Sample: “I’m still young, wasting my youth, I’ll grow up next summer.”
MGK’s 2020 pop-punk track is about wasting youth on substances and bad decisions while knowing full well that’s exactly what’s happening and not caring enough to stop.
3. “Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers” – ZZ Top
Lyric Sample: “Baby, don’t you want to come with me?”
This early ’70s blues rock track is a celebration of cold beer and no responsibilities.
4. “Blame It” – Jamie Foxx
Lyric Sample: “Blame it on the goose, got you feeling loose.”
“Blame It” is a 2009 R&B song about crediting the alcohol for what happens between two people at the end of a night out.
5. “Drunk in Love” – Beyoncé ft. Jay-Z
Lyric Sample: “We woke up in the kitchen saying, ‘How the hell did this happen?’”
This 2013 track uses intoxication as a metaphor for being completely consumed by someone, the kind of love that leaves you disoriented and not wanting to sober up.
6. “Whiskey in the Jar” – Thin Lizzy
Lyric Sample: “Being drunk and weary, I went to Molly’s chamber.”
Thin Lizzy’s hard rock take on this Irish traditional is about a highwayman who gets betrayed by the woman he loves after a night of drinking.
7. “Drink in My Hand” – Eric Church
Lyric Sample: “All you gotta do is put a drink in my hand.”
This country hit is about shutting out the week’s noise and standing with a cold drink, doing absolutely nothing, and being completely fine with that.
8. “Champagne and Reefer” – Muddy Waters
Lyric Sample: “Bring me champagne when I’m thirsty, and bring me reefer when I want to get high.”
Waters’ blues track is a list of everything he loves in life, with champagne and reefer at the top.
9. “Beer Never Broke My Heart” – Luke Combs
Lyric Sample: “Beer never broke my heart like diamond rings and football teams have.”
Combs’ 2019 country hit is about all the things that have let him down over the years, and saying that a cold beer has never been one of them.
10. “Brass Monkey” – Beastie Boys
Lyric Sample: “Brass Monkey, that funky Monkey.”
This funky rap classic celebrates a unique cocktail and its place in party culture.
11. “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer” – George Thorogood
Lyric Sample: “One bourbon, one scotch, and one beer, well, I ain’t seen my baby since I don’t know when.”
This blues-rock staple tells the story of a man drowning his sorrows after getting kicked out by his landlord.
12. “Tubthumping” – Chumbawamba
Lyric Sample: “He drinks a whiskey drink, he drinks a vodka drink.”
Getting knocked down, drinking some more, and getting back up again is the whole point of this 1997 Chumbawamba track.
Related: Best One-Hit Wonders & Brit Awards – Song of the Year
13. “Tennessee Whiskey” – Chris Stapleton
Lyric Sample: “You’re as smooth as Tennessee whiskey.”
In Stapleton’s modern classic, whiskey stands in for the kind of love that gets you completely hooked, smooth and intoxicating, and impossible to put down.
Related: “Tennessee Whiskey” Song Meaning
14. “Nightrain” – Guns N’ Roses
Lyric Sample: “I’m on the nightrain, bottoms up.”
This 1987 hard rock track is about scraping together just enough money to buy the cheapest wine available and spending the night on it. It’s named after a brand of cheap fortified wine the band used to drink.
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15. “Spill the Wine” – Eric Burdon and War
Lyric Sample: “Spill the wine, take that pearl.”
This 1970 psychedelic funk track follows a man who falls asleep in a field, dreams of being surrounded by women on a mountaintop, and is told to spill the wine. It’s deliberately surreal and never fully explained.
16. “Happy Hour” – The Housemartins
Lyric Sample: “It’s happy hour again.”
This 1980s indie track is about the hollow ritual of after-work drinks with the boss, where the smiles are fake and the beer is the only honest thing in the room.
17. “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)” – Elle King
Lyric Sample: “I got some new best friends forever, see, I met ’em at the bar.”
This 2021 country duet is about the specific kind of night where everything is going so well that going home seems like the worst possible idea.
18. “Piano Man” – Billy Joel
Lyric Sample: “It’s nine o’clock on a Saturday, the regular crowd shuffles in.”
Joel’s 1973 classic is about the regulars at a bar where he worked as a pianist. Each one uses the place and the drinks to escape whatever they couldn’t face outside of it.
Related: “Piano Man” Song Meaning
19. “Mas Tequila” – Sammy Hagar
Lyric Sample: “She did a mean Macarena to the funky cold medina.”
Hagar’s 1999 track is about a trip to Baja, Mexico, where the tequila flows freely and the good times are the only thing on the agenda.
20. “Cigarettes and Alcohol” – Oasis
Lyric Sample: “Is it worth the aggravation to find yourself a job when there’s nothing worth working for?”
“Cigarettes and Alcohol” is about being young, bored, and wondering if cigarettes and alcohol are as good as it gets.
21. “Gin & Juice” – Snoop Dogg
Lyric Sample: “Rollin’ down the street, smokin’ indo, sippin’ on gin and juice.”
Snoop’s hip-hop classic is about kicking back with a drink, letting the music play, and having a good time.
22. “Beers and Sunshine” – Darius Rucker
Lyric Sample: “Beers and sunshine, bonfires and summertime.”
Written during the 2020 pandemic lockdown, this country track is about cutting off the news, getting outside, and finding comfort in the simplest possible things: cold beer, bonfires, and good company.
Related: Best Songs About Sunshine
23. “Beer in Mexico” – Kenny Chesney
“So I’ll just sit right here, have another beer in Mexico, do my best to waste another day.”
This 2007 Chesney track is all about sitting on a beach in Mexico with a cold beer and no deadlines.
24. “One Too Many” – Keith Urban ft. Pink
Lyric Sample: “I spend all my money drinking on my own, in this bar, just sat here staring at my phone.”
This 2020 duet is about two people who know they’ve had one too many and are using it as an excuse to stay together a little longer.
25. “Day Drinking” – Little Big Town
Lyric Sample: “Don’t need a reason or a happy hour.”
This country tune celebrates doing nothing productive on a summer afternoon with a drink in hand.
26. “Whiskey Glasses” – Morgan Wallen
Lyric Sample: “Pour me, pour me another drink, ’cause I don’t wanna feel a thing.”
In “Whiskey Glasses,” Wallen asks a bartender to keep the drinks coming after a breakup.
27. “Takin’ Shots” – Post Malone
Lyric Sample: “And now I’m takin’ these shots like it’s novocaine.”
Post Malone’s 2018 song is about using drinks and late nights to avoid dealing with real feelings, running from something without quite being able to name it.
28. “Cold Gin” – KISS
Lyric Sample: “It’s time to leave and get another quart.”
This 1974 hard rock classic celebrates gin as the solution to life’s challenges.
29. “I Drink Alone” – George Thorogood
Lyric Sample: “I drink alone, yeah, with nobody else.”
Thorogood’s 1985 blues-rock hit is about a man who drinks alone and is completely happy about it.
30. “Swimming Pools (Drank)” – Kendrick Lamar
Lyric Sample: “Pour up, drank, head shot, drank.”
This 2012 track is about growing up around alcoholism and navigating the same pressure to drink as an adult, knowing exactly where that road leads.
31. “Kiss Me, I’m #!@’faced” – Dropkick Murphys
Lyric Sample: “So kiss me, I’m shitfaced, and I’m soaked and I’m soiled and brown.”
This Celtic punk track is a rowdy, self-aware celebration of being completely hammered
32. “Margaritaville” – Jimmy Buffett
Lyric Sample: “Wastin’ away again in Margaritaville.”
Buffett’s signature hit is about a man hanging out on the beach, drinking margaritas to avoid dealing with the choices that got him there.
Related: “Margaritaville” Song Meaning
33. “Red Red Wine” – UB40
Lyric Sample: “Red, red wine, go to my head.”
This reggae-infused track is about drinking wine to try to forget an ex, knowing full well it isn’t working, but ordering another one anyway.
Related: Songs with Colors in the Title
34. “Have a Drink on Me” – AC/DC
Lyric Sample: “So, come on, have a drink on me.”
AC/DC’s 1980 rock song is an invitation to drink until you can’t stand up, made more complicated by the fact that it came out on the first album after band member Bon Scott died from alcohol poisoning.
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35. “Alcohol You Later” – Mitchell Tenpenny
Lyric Sample: “Because it’s one more last time, we swore we wouldn’t.”
“Alcohol You Later” is about drunk-dialing an ex, knowing exactly what’s going to happen, and doing it anyway because the shots have already made the decision.
36. “Beer for Breakfast” – The Replacements
Lyric Sample: “All I wanna do is drink beer for breakfast.”
This punk rock track is about someone who’s completely checked out, beer for breakfast being the least of his transgressions.
37. “Shots” – LMFAO & Lil Jon
Lyric Sample: “Shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots!”
“Shots” is a pure party record about getting everyone in the club drunk, built almost entirely around repeating the word “shots” until it becomes its own kind of chant.
38. “Single Saturday Night” – Cole Swindell
Lyric Sample: “I was out taking shots, throwing down at the spot.”
This country song is about a regular night out at the bar that turns out to be the last one Swindell has as a single man, when a girl walks in and changes everything.
Related: Best Songs About Saturday
39. “Tipsy” – J-Kwon
Lyric Sample: “Everybody in the club gettin’ tipsy.”
J-Kwon’s 2004 hip-hop track is about being underage at a party and getting tipsy anyway.
40. “I Like Beer” – Tom T. Hall
Lyric Sample: “I like beer, it makes me a jolly good fellow.”
This lighthearted country classic is a humorous tribute to beer, listing everything it has going for it with the serious conviction of a man who has given this considerable thought.
41. “Why Don’t We Get Drunk” – Jimmy Buffett
Lyric Sample: “Why don’t we get drunk and screw?”
Buffett’s cheeky 1973 track is a casual proposition with no metaphor, no deeper meaning, and no pretense. It is exactly what it sounds like.
42. “Tequila” – Dan + Shay
Lyric Sample: “When I taste tequila, baby, I still see ya.”
Dan + Shay’s “Tequila” is about a specific drink being enough to bring an ex flooding back into your memory on a night when you were trying not to think about them.
43. “Pour Some Sugar On Me” – Def Leppard
Lyric Sample: “Pour some sugar on me, ooh, in the name of love.”
I’m cheating a bit by including this one, but it still belongs on most alcohol playlists.
“Pour Some Sugar on Me” is a legendary glam rock song that uses sugar as a stand-in for attraction, but the wild energy and the era it came from have made it a permanent fixture at bars and parties ever since.
Related: Best Karaoke Songs for Men
44. “Beer Can’t Fix” – Thomas Rhett
Lyric Sample: “Ain’t nothin’ that a beer can’t fix.”
In this 2019 country track, Rhett runs through every bad day scenario imaginable and arrives at the same conclusion every time: a cold beer fixes it.
45. “Last Night” – Morgan Wallen
Lyric Sample: “Last night, we let the liquor talk.”
Wallen’s 2023 single is about waking up after a night of drinking and replaying the end of a relationship that keeps pulling both people back together.
46. “Need You Now” – Lady A
Lyric Sample: “It’s a quarter after one, I’m all alone and I need you now.”
This Grammy-winning hit is about being alone late at night with a drink in hand, missing someone badly enough to pick up the phone even though you know you shouldn’t.
Related: Grammy for Record of the Year
47. “Drunk on a Plane” – Dierks Bentley
Lyric Sample: “Buyin’ drinks for everybody but the pilot, it’s a party.”
“Drunk on a Plane” is about turning a flight home from a cancelled wedding into a solo open bar at 30,000 feet, drinking away a heartbreak one miniature bottle at a time.
Related: Best Songs About Flying
Conclusion
Alcohol has been a fixture in music for as long as there’s been music to drink to. Some of these songs celebrate it, some use it as a metaphor, and a few look at it a little more honestly. Whatever the occasion, there’s something on this list for it.
If you enjoyed this list, you might also like our picks for Songs About Food, Songs About Missing Someone, and Songs About Divorce.
