THE sun is out, drinking six bottles of Sol is necessary if you hope to survive, and these pro-alcohol anthems make it wholly acceptable on a Monday night:
Tubthumping by Chumbawamba, 1997
An ode to resilience, the major-label hit from everyone’s favourite anarcho-punk collective makes getting leathered the duty of the political working class. Listing off drinks like Lemmy’s shopping list, you should down them all in order or risk being told you’ve sold out to The Man.
Cigarettes and Alcohol by Oasis, 1994
To the middle-aged Britpop veteran, nothing tops Liam Gallagher’s ill-informed braggadocio about the joys of coke and booze. Why aspire to better yourself when you can get shitfaced in a beer garden smoking fags?
Come On Eileen by Dexy’s Midnight Runners, 1982
Doesn’t strictly mention booze, but the only way you come up with a plan to seduce a woman by getting all of your mates to chant ‘come on’ at increasing speed is around a crate of beer. Disguises drunkeness because you sound pissed singing it sober.
Escape (The Piña Colada Song) by Rupert Holmes, 1979
A charming, romantic story about a paid of blackout drunks so hammered they answer each other’s personal ads unaware they’ve even written them. That’s what happens when you wash down piña coladas with champagne, you tell your mates’ husband as you lean in for a snog.
Gin and Juice by Snoop Dogg, 1994
The South Central LA vibe makes you feel, even in South Crawley, that you’re living the gangster lifestyle. Little separates Irlam from Inglewood when you’re rollin’ down the high street after 10 pints of Madri. It’s not your fault the pub wouldn’t let you take the bottle of Tanqueray with you.
Red Red Wine by UB40, 1983
A pop-reggae hit about drinking something that, under glaring heat, will give you a headache before you’ve finished the glass? It’s an unwritten law that Red Red Wine validates any embarrassing drunken behaviour, up to and including mooning the Pope.
