Pubs in song

[RogerB]

One of my cyberfriends has done this witty little ode to our favourite pub chain http://www.myspace.com/eliza.p (select the "Welcome to..." track on the playlist).

This has got me thinking of what other pubs or pub chains get mentioned in the world of song.

[Rex_Rattus]

The classic "Pop Goes the Weasel" including The Eagle just off the City Road.

And then there's that old music hall favourite "Down at the Old Bull and Bush".

I'll leave others to come up with the more obscure ones.

[Alesonly]

The Old Bull & Bush At Hampstead

Down at the Old Bull & Bush this was I heard sung there accompanied by the old piano long before it became a record.
when I used too drink there in the early seventy's the words were painted around the walls of the Pub on a Note scale.

[Oggwyn Trench]

"Went into the Nags Head , to sustinate me belly" Charlotte , the Macc Lads , thats the first one that comes to mind

[trainman]

Very good, thanks for that Roger.

I'm scraping the barrel, but how about the non specific Liars' Bar (Beautiful South), or the equally unnamed 'greatest little boozer' in (The Pogues') 'Sally MacLennane'?

[Evil Gazebo]

“Pill, Pill”, by Scrumpy and Western pioneers The Wurzels references two of the town’s hostelries in its chorus.

Pill, Pill, I love thee still
Even though I’m leavin’
Pill, Pill, I love thee still
When the ferry boat starts heavin’
When the rain down pours, the thunder roars
The lightnin’ flashes bright
I’ll be better by far in The Duke (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/334/) or The Star (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/660/)
Than on the old Pill ferry tonight.

[arwkrite]

The first song that came to my mind was "The Pub with No Beer" sung with a strong Aussie accent.Cannot remember the words or the singer.

While on holiday at Clevedon I asked a barmaid if Pill was worth a visit. " Not unless you want to see a lot of babies with no fathers. Thats all they seem to produce in that place ". I thought that may have been a bit harsh a judgement.

[RogerB]

The first song that came to my mind was "The Pub with No Beer" sung with a strong Aussie accent.Cannot remember the words or the singer.
That would be Slim Dusty although Rolf Harris and the Dubliners have made notable versions. I assume they were singing about the Boadicea.:confused:

[gillhalfpint]

I believe there actually was a temperence society pub with no beer somewhere.

[arwkrite]

Looking at the words for " In my Liverpool Home", made popular by The Spinners in my younger years, in verse six Yates gets a mention as being the place to drink all day.This was well before 24 hour drinking.Mind you this song is rumoured to have 300 verses,plenty of room to mention a few pubs I suppose.
Its been many years since I was into folk music and rambling ( though Conrad would argue the last point ). Pubs, being the places that kept folk music alive for years, I would have thought were worth a mention in a folk song or two.

I would suppose that most of you have heard that song of homage to White Van Man.." I've Been Every Where Man " which is a gazetteer of place names. It surprises me that no version using pub names has been written. Or has it ?

[ETA]

Abba: Waterloo

Led Zeppelin: http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/10139/

Jethro Tull; http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/13866/

The Cranberries http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/55414/

Squeeze http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/6611/

etc etc...

[Crossste]

Does T.Rex,s Ride a White Swan count.

[trainman]

Does T.Rex,s Ride a White Swan count.

If ETA can have Led Zep's Black Dog, I guess you sneak in too Crossste, especially if you shin up the drainpipe to the roof at closing time...

[rpadam]

I believe there actually was a temperence society pub with no beer somewhere.
This one still exists:

www.cautleyspout.co.uk

You still can't buy a beer (or indeed any alcoholic drink) at the Cross Keys Inn but you can take your own and they will provide the glasses???

[RogerB]

This one still exists:

www.cautleyspout.co.uk

You still can't buy a beer (or indeed any alcoholic drink) at the Cross Keys Inn but you can take your own and they will provide the glasses???

That actually looks like a nice "pub".

Wasn't there a muslim pub that opened in Manchestershire somewhere a couple of years ago that doesn't sell alcohol?

[RogerB]

Wasn't there a muslim pub that opened in Manchestershire somewhere a couple of years ago that doesn't sell alcohol?

Answered my own question here!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1584591/Britains-first-no-alcohol-pub-opens.html

[Maldenman]

Straying a little off topic here but I've always wondered as to the origin of the name of this pub.

http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/23224/

[Evil Gazebo]

Straying a little off topic here but I've always wondered as to the origin of the name of this pub.

According to this (http://www.fancyapint.com/pubs/pub3371.php), it's named after a billiard hall which used to occupy the site.

[Maldenman]

Didn't know that, good spot EG.

[Alesonly]

About the Clissold Arms in Fortis Green Road Muswell Hill. The first Pub The Kinks Played in Opposite Denmark Terrace where they Lived.


Dave Davies's song Fortis Green goes: 'Mum would shout and scream when dad would come home drunk, When she'd ask him where he'd been, he said Up The Clissold Arms, Chattin' up some hussy, but he didn't mean no harm.'

[hondo]

"They smelt of pubs and Wormwood Scrubs" from Down in the tube station at midnight by the jam:notworthy:

[Andy Ven]

The first song that came to my mind was "The Pub with No Beer" sung with a strong Aussie accent.Cannot remember the words or the singer.

Slim Dusty! [Edit: just noticed the Roger B beat me to it. I've got a version by the Aussie Bush Band]

Oh it's-a lonesome away from your kindred and all
By the campfire at night we'll hear the wild dingoes call
But there's-a nothing so lonesome, morbid or drear
Than to stand in the bar of a pub with no beer

[Andy Ven]

Hurry Up 'Arry by Sham 69

(we're goin' down the pub)

[Soup Dragon]

Harry Champion, music hall singer, he of 'boiled beef and carrots' fame, sang 'The Old Red Lion'

[Pubsignman]

Just Jack had a hit a few years ago with a song called 'Stars in Their Eyes' which was a bit of an attack on modern day, X-Factor pop stars and the industry that creates them.

One of the lines from the song is:

It's a long way to come from the Dog and Duck karaoke machine - Saturday night's drunken dreams.

[Pubsignman]

Just thought of another one...Cornerstone by Gordon Brown's favourite band, the Arctic Monkeys.

I thought a saw you in the BATTLESHIP, but it was only a look alike
She was nothing but a vision trick under the warning light

I thought I saw you in the RUSTY HOOK, huddled up in a wicker chair
I wandered over for a closer look and kissed whoever was sitting there

I thought I saw you in the PARROT'S BEAK messing with a smoke alarm
It was too loud for me to hear her speak, and she had a broken arm

I saw your sister in the CORNERSTONE on the phone to the middle man
When I saw that she was on her own, I thought she might understand

[Millay]

I don't think anyone has mentioned Marvin Gaye's classic I Heard it Through The Grapevine yet.

[arthurchappell]

Mike Batt's The Railway Hotel http://www.metrolyrics.com/railway-hotel-lyrics-mike-batt.html

had wanted much more for the first night with you,
But the railway hotel was the best I could do.
I knew the Savoy would have suited you well,
But the best I could do was the railway hotel.