Irish Drinking Song

• Objective: Make a rhyming and rotating Irish drinking song
• Instructions:
  • Four singers needed, accompanist is technically optional but is very helpful
  • The singers will get some suggestion from the audience, any type is fine
  • The singers will get in a row and then make up a song, one line at a time
  • The lines follow a specific rhyming pattern, and there is rotation involved
  • The whole song consists of 4 sets of 8 lines, each set containing 2 rhymes
  • In between each set, a specific tune is repeated, then a “rotation” occurs
  • ENTIRE song line structure (“~” = non-rhyming line, letters = lines that rhyme):
    ~A~A~B~B ~C~C~D~D ~E~E~F~F ~G~G~H~H
• Example:
  • Assume musical accompaniment and an audience suggestion of ‘video games’
  • All 4 Singers: “Oooh eye dee-die dee-die dee-die dee-die dee-die dee-die”
  • Singer 1: “I love to play video games”
  • Singer 2: “They are very fun.”
  • Singer 3: “I’ve played them now for years”
  • Singer 4: “In fact, I’m number one”
  • Singer 1: “I’m the best player in the land”
  • Singer 2: “I am the world champ”
  • Singer 3: “I’ve become so famous”
  • Singer 4: “They even put me on a stamp”
  • All 4 Singers: “Oooh eye dee-die dee-die dee-die dee-die dee-die dee-die”
  • Singer 2: “One time I was playing Pac-Man”
  • Singer 3: “And a crowd started to form”
  • Singer 4: “I was on my ‘A’ game”
  • Singer 1: “And then it started to storm”
  • Singer 2: “The power began to flicker”
  • Singer 3: “And I began to sweat”
  • Singer 4: “We lost electricity”
  • Singer: “And then my pants, I did wet”
  • All 4 Singers: “Oooh eye dee-die dee-die dee-die dee-die dee-die dee-die”
  • *The next 8 lines are given in singer order 34123412*
  • All 4 Singers: “Oooh eye dee-die dee-die dee-die dee-die dee-die dee-die”
  • *The next 8 lines are given in singer order 41234123*
  • All 4 Singers: “Oooh eye dee-die dee-die dee-die dee-die dee-die dee-die, oh eye dee-die dee-die dee-die dee-die dee die dee diiiiiiiieeeeeeee”
• Notes:
  • !!! It’s easier to get the hang of the structure by watching the linked video !!!
  • Staying on rhythm is pretty important in this game. If you find yourself about to stray from the beat, just make sure you say a single word (or just a syllable) at the end of the line so as to not knock the next person off beat.
  • It helps to pretend you’re holding a beer and sway your arm to the beat.
  • If you are the person setting up the line that another person will rhyme with, make sure your final word is something relatively easy to rhyme with.
• Video reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUx6fFRlYnw
  • In this instance they tell a story, this isn’t required, but it is impressive!