25 Songs for National Beer Day

There are many, many, many rock ‘n’ roll songs about drinking — call it an occupational hazard.

And if you narrow things down further, there’s quite a lot of songs that have to do specifically with beer. In honor of National Beer Day (April 7), we’ve compiled a list of 25 songs either written about drinking beer or at the very least mentioning it.

Cheers!

1. “Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers,” ZZ Top
From: Tres Hombres (1973)

“Beer drinkers and hell raisers, yeah / Baby, don’t you want to come with me?”

 

2. “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer,” George Thorogood and the Destroyers
From: George Thorogood and the Destroyers (1977)

“Gonna get drunk, won’tcha listen right here / I want one bourbon, one shot ‘n’ one beer.”

 

3. “Warm Beer and Cold Women,” Tom Waits
From: Nighthawks at the Diner (1975)

“Warm beer and cold women, I just don’t fit in / Every joint I stumbled into tonight / That’s just how it’s been.”

 

4. “Roadhouse Blues,” The Doors
From: Morrison Hotel (1970)

“I woke up this morning and I got myself a beer / The future’s uncertain and the end is always near.”

 

5. “Beer for Breakfast,” The Replacements
From: All for Nothing / Nothing for All (1997)

“All I wanna do is drink beer for breakfast / All I wanna eat is them barbecue chips / All I want is someone to just try and protect us / You can try, but never wanna try and defect us.”

 

6. “Bubbles in My Beer,” Willie Nelson
From: Shotgun Willie (1973)

“Tonight in a bar alone / I’m sitting apart from the laughter and the cheer / Scenes from the past rise before me / Watching the bubbles in my beer.”

 

7. “Say It Ain’t So,” Weezer
From: Weezer (1994)

“Somebody’s Heine’ is crowdin’ my icebox / Somebody’s cold one is givin’ me chills / Guess I’ll just close my eyes / Oh yeah, all right, feels good inside.”

 

8. “Beercan,” Beck
From: Mellowgold (1994)

“We went down, lit up the shack, grabbed me a beer out of the sack / Everybody bent over twice, painting the walls, throwing some dice.”

 

9. “Joe’s Garage,” Frank Zappa
From: Joe’s Garage (1979)

“Down in Joe’s Garage / We didn’t have no dope or LSD / But a coupla quartsa beer / Would fix it so the intonation / Would not offend yer ear.”

 

10. “Working Man,” Rush
From: Rush (1974)

“‘Cause I get home at five o’clock / And I take myself out an ice cold beer / Always seem to be wonderin’ / Why there’s nothin’ goin’ down here.”

 

11. “Piano Man,” Billy Joel
From: Piano Man (1973)

“And the piano, it sounds like a carnival / And the microphone smells like a beer.”

 

12. “Saturday Night’s All Right for Fighting,” Elton John
From: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973)

“It’s getting late, have you seen my mates? / Ma, tell me when the boys get here / It’s seven o’clock and I want to rock / Want to get a belly full of beer.”

 

13. “Six Pack,” Black Flag
From: Six Pack (1981)

“I’ve got a six pack and nothing to do / I got a six pack and I don’t need you.”

 

14. “Ziggy Stardust,” David Bowie
From: The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars (1972)

“So where were the spiders / While the fly tried to break our balls? / Just the beer light to guide us / So we bitched about his fans and should we crush his sweet hands?”

 

15. “Sunday Morning Coming Down,” Kris Kristofferson
From: The Austin Sessions (1999)

“Well, I woke up Sunday morning / With no way to hold my head that didn’t hurt / And the beer I had for breakfast wasn’t bad / So I had one more for dessert.”

 

16. “Seven Days,” Sting
From: Ten Summoner’s Tales (1993)

“IQ is no problem here / We won’t be playing Scrabble for her hand I fear / I need that beer.”

 

17. “Sunset Grill,” Don Henley
From: Building the Perfect Beast (1984)

“Maybe we’ll leave come springtime / Meanwhile, have another beer / What would we do without all these jerks anyway? / Besides, all our friends are here.”

 

18. “Tangled Up in Blue,” Bob Dylan
From: Blood on the Tracks (1975)

“She was workin’ in a topless place / And I stopped in for a beer / I just kept lookin’ at the side of her face / In the spotlight so clear.”

 

19. “The Power of Positive Drinking,” Lou Reed
From: Growing Up in Public (1980)

“Some like wine and some like hops / But what I really love is my scotch / It’s the power, the power of positive drinking.”

 

20. “Sunny Afternoon,” The Kinks
From: Face to Face (1966)

“My girlfriend’s run off with my car / And gone back to her ma and pa / Tellin’ tales of drunkenness and cruelty / Now I’m sittin’ here / Sippin’ at my ice cold beer / Lazin’ on a sunny afternoon.”

 

21. “House of the Gods,” The Pogues
From: Hell’s Ditch (1990)

“Finally found a place they could never reach / Sipping Singha beer on Pattaya Beach / Singha beer don’t ask no questions / Singha beer don’t tell no lies.”

 

22. “There’s a Tear in My Beer,” Hank Williams
From: 1950-51 Sessions

“There’s a tear in my beer / ‘Cause I’m cryin’ for you, dear / You are on my lonely mind / Into these last nine beers / I have shed a million tears / You are on my lonely mind.”

 

23. “Cold Beer and Remote Control,” Indigo Girls
From: Come On Now Social (1999)

“I try not to care I would lose my mind / Running ’round the same thing time after time / And only two things bound to soothe my soul / Cold beer and remote control.”

 

24. “I Hardly Ever Sing Beer Drinking Songs,” Johnny Cash
From: Look at Them Beans (1975)

“I hardly ever sing beer drinking songs / And when they play them cheatin’ tunes I never sing along / I never ever sing the blues / I’ve forgotten born to lose / And I hardly ever sing beer drinking songs.”

 

25. “All I Wanna Do,” Sheryl Crow
From: Tuesday Night Music Club (1993)

“I like a good beer buzz early in the mornin’ / And Billy likes to peel the labels from his bottles of Bud / He shreds them on the bar / Then he lights every match in an oversized pack / Letting each one burn down to his thick fingers / Before blowing and cursing them out / He’s watching the bottles of Bud as they spin on the floor.”