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 Finnegan's 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!
Other verses
Many other verses and variations have been added in different parts of the world. A common second verse in the 20th century:
- Now the [Souse] family is the best family
- That ever came over from Old Germany.
- With the Highland Dutch, and the Lowland Dutch;
- The Rotterdam Dutch, and the goddamned Dutch.
References
- ^ 12.238-239: "Thanks be to God... the start of us"
- ^ Annotations to Finnegan's Wake, pg 384.
- ^ The Hash House Harriers, rugby teams and fraternities all have used versions of the song.
- ^ New Republic, Vol. 4 October 2, 1915
- ^ William Brown, Adventures of an American Doughboy. Internet Archive (fulltext).
- ^ 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.
- ^ Walter Struve, Germany and the Americas (Ed. Thomas Adam), pg 288
- ^ [1], Army Study Guide
- ^ Glorious from 1957
- ^ The Souse Family, James T. Callow Folklore Archive
- ^ Berkeley Marching Band list of songs, noting that other schools have their own version of "One More Drink"
- ^ For instance, see A song my father taught me.
- ^ Basic lyrics and score