The Song
"One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" - George Thorogood and The Destroyers
What People Think It's About
Hard livin', hard drinkin', down-on-his-luck independent man just trying to get by in the world.
What It's Really About
Pathetic welfare leech with crippling alcoholism who lies to friend and stranger alike so he can fuel his addiction and thinks highly of himself for doing so.
So let's break it down.
Our 'hero' returns (more likely staggers) home on Friday and has to tell his landlady he can't pay his rent due to no employment. The landlady (the only decent, although naive character in this song) tells him he can pay later. I guarantee her contract doesn't not leave this open. She does this only out of the goodness of her heart.
Our 'hero' then complains that as the days go by, the landlady isn't all cheerful when she seems him. Sorry, what does he expect? He's behind on his rent and she is seeing evidence day after day that he has no intention of doing so.
She eventually confronts him about this situation directly. Remember, he has said he will have the rent in a few days. We aren't told how long it's been, but we can guess by her reaction that it's been beyond just a couple of days. He makes an excuse that he can't find a job. She then points our that she has seen him loafing around corners during the middle of the day. He makes a pathetic excuse about 'being tired' because he's walked all day looking for a job.
What happens? She gives an ultimatum: Rent money on Friday or your out. That day comes and what does our hero do?
Our 'hero' shambles to the home of an acquaintance, a man who is obviously more successful and harder working than himself, with a family to care for. He asks him if he can crash on his couch for a few days because he's losing his apartment. This friend, obviously a bit lacking in the character judgement department, asks his wife if his unemployed, alcoholic loafer of a 'friend' can stay at their house. While that scene is not spelled out, my guess is that the wife is shocked that her husband would display such a lack of judgement and says 'no'.
This acquaintance, obviously a modern man not used to direct conflict, tries to give his friend the hint that, no, it's no ok for him to crash here. Our inebriate 'hero' misses the point and thinks it's all funny.
He then goes to his apartment and grabs his clothes and a few other items. He doesn't totally pack, as the lyrics say he leave quietly out the back on foot. That means he grabbed some clothes and perhaps a few small items. It also means he left his trash and whatever insect-ridden furniture he was accustomed to passing out on in his apartment, meaning that now the landlady has to do a full clean out of the apartment (see my videos for an example). He leaves laughing to himself that the landlady isn't going to get any of the current or back due rent. In short, he's delighted with himself with stealing from her.
Now one may be tempted to sympathize with him at this point. I mean, no job, no money, what is he to do? Oh no, the next part just brings it all home. Where does he go after screwing over his landlady? To the bar.
He apparently knows this bartender, and begins to order enormous amounts of alcohol. In fact he stays there for what we may guess to be about 10 hours. Why 10 hours? Well, his landlady was 'hollering' at him as he was leaving, so unless the lady lived there herself it was, latest, about 5pm. After pickling himself he asks the time only to be told it's 3am. That's 10... solid... hours....
Which brings up another good point. Liquor at a bar is not cheap. He's been drinking, 3 drinks at a time, for 10 hours. That's a SHIT load of money. Given the age of the song, he wasn't using a credit card, so he was paying with cash. I'm willing to bet he spent CLOSE to his rent amount just in booze that night. So in reality, he could have been responsible, he could have paid his rent, but he chose not to. It's at this point that an objective listener will also conclude that he lost his job because he constantly smelled like a distillery.
This song is meant to be liked by a 'toughguy' audience. But the 'hero' is really just a first rate piece of shit. The next time you're even in a bar and this song plays on the radio, look around at who actually seems to be into the music. It will usually be some fat, balding guy in a Harley vest, who in real life is a mid-level accountant with a perpetually angry wife and 2 layabout, loser kids. It's kind of sad really.
Where not told the final fate of the song's 'hero'. I like to think that, almost blind drunk, he tries to stagger to his friend's house, begins banging on and trying to force the front door, not realizing that it's the wrong house, and receives a barrage of 9mm rounds to his face when he finally bursts into the living room. It's a pity that part never made it into the song.
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| The kind of person you losers THOUGHT the song was about |
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| The kind of person the song is REALLY about |
