Today, for the first time, the blog entry will be in two
languages. This is due to the fact that, also for the first time, we
will perform an analysis and interpretation of the famous
Irish/English bar song entitled „Beer, beer, beer”. The title
itself does not leave much room for speculations what the song is
about. If you guessing that it is about beer... you are right. But
let us not jump to much ahead. Before anything happens let us
introduce the performance of this wonderful piece by a splendid band
„Flogging Molly”:
"Beer, beer, beer" Flogging Molly
A fantastic experience, don't you agree? Now let us approach the content, line by line.
The song starts in a manner typical for fairy tales and barroom stories that separates the recipient from the story:
„A long time ago, way back in history”
In a peculiar double manner we are informed that the story took place a wast amount of time ago, so far in the past that one should not hope to obtain any reasonable evidence that would support the story and one should just trust that the content is fairly representing the past deeds.
„When all there was to drink was nothing but cups of tea”
As the assurances of the previous verse would not be enough, once again we are being assured that story reaches so far in the past that the only available drink was tee. We are not informed if this was green or black tee, but regardless, we can imagine that it must have been very, very long time ago. We can also guess immediately, if we have not know it prior, that the song has been created in teacentric countries of British Islands. In principle, it could have been of Chines origin, but we disregard that possibility, due to the fact that Chines did not mastered the beer making till this day. We can also feel the peril of the people of this age, as we imagine that all that we have for a nice evening sip is a Caramel.
„Along came a man by the name of Charlie Mops”
Finally the main protagonist of the story is introduced. This is similar to Homer introducing Achilles into „Iliad”: the great hero arrives into the scene to shape future events like only a true heroes and an offspring of goods can do.
„And he invented a wonderful drink and he made it out of hops”
The story unfolds. We knew heroes that slain vicious creatures, eight headed hydras and others of the sorts. But the hero of today is of more an intellectual sort. He is an inventor which, I will point out, is a good roll model for your children! This Titan of intellect managed to create an alternative to previously introduce tea – a drink of an unique composition based on a common herb called hops. How he arrived at his recipe we do not know. Maybe there were a long process of an experimentation and changing ingredients that eventually lead to this „wonderful drink”.
The content of a refrain shade additional light on the character of Charlie Mops:
„He might have been an admiral, a sultan, or a king”
The first line speculates about a potential line of work the protagonist followed. All suggestions reach heights of a human society. It is one of the possibilities, one could also add a title of Pharaoh to the list, but that would be reaching far too far into the land of reality. What is surprising there is no indication that Charlie should have been not only a men of a high statue and power, but also a men of an incredible intellect.
„And to his praises we shall always sing”
Agreed!
„Look what he has done for us, he's filled us up with cheer”
This line summaries in the most perfect way the message of the poem. It stress the positive influence of Charlie Mopse's invention on each particular drinker and a society in general. Note the plural form, this should remind us that even if at a certain point we are not nicely beered up, there is someone else in the world that is!
„Lord bless Charlie Mops,
The man who invented beer”
Last two lines just reminds us the name of our hero, the fantastic invention in question and calls onto a deity to give him all the virgins he desires.
„The Jury's Bar, the Clancy's Pub, the Hole in the Wall as well
One thing you can be sure of, it's Charlie's beer they sell”
We follow with naming but a few places in which one can acquire The Best Drink In The World (in short TBDINTW). And yes, we can be sure that in all bars, pubs, discos, restaurants and other reputable establishments we will be able to acquire a tiddly beer! The last name might be a little deceiving: Hole in the Wall... but let's be frank, when ones sees a name like these, there is no doubt that inside he will be able to get hammered nice and easy and probably for a moderate price. By the way, if some of my readers ever encounter pub named Hole in the Wall, pleas let me know, I would be thrilled to go there and drink myself into an oblivion.
“So come on all me lucky lads at eleven O'clock ye stops”
Yes in deed, we are lucky, but correcting a sexist bias of the old times let us say that equal well we can be lads and lassies. Next we have to note that the eleven mentioned in the text is ambiguous, but taking from our knowledge that the gentlemen does not start before noon, we can rule out a eleven AM and that leaves us with a eleven PM deep into an evening. So what is so important that we should stop all the fun that we are having at eleven PM for?
“For five short seconds, remember Charlie Mops”
That is it! For short five seconds we shall celebrate our hero, man that brought us joy of inebriation. That the least we can do to honor him (or her, let us continue a struggle against the old time sexism).
“One, two, three, four, five”
Don't panic! It is just a count down for previously mentioned five seconds, we did not migrated into the lands of mathematics, all will be fine.
“A bushel of malt, A barrel of hops, you stir it with a stick”
In the third and the final part of the song we finally arrive at the recipe for the wonder drink. We can immediately recognize that this is not something that a modern large brewery would use as they try to stay away from a hops to be added to their product. But in the original recipe by Charlie hops is an important ingredient along with a malt (whether it is from barley or otherwise is not specified here leaving an open field). We also recognize that one should stir it well enough for all the components to nicely mix. Simple enough, yet but few mastered it to the extent that they provide an excellent product. As always in life: the devil is in the details.
“The kind of lubrication to make your engine tick.”
In this poetic form the author explains a role of the golden drink in a human body: it serves a similar role as an oil in a mechanical engine. For the smooth operation of our bodies, in particular our brains and our harts, we need to provide sufficient quantities of beer. Without it we can function for a while but effects of a friction will lead to heating up of the machinery, that can permanently damage vital parts of it. This effect can be observed in personal experiments: we notice that the world seams to operate much more smoothly and easy when we are properly lubricated, this is in actuality an effect of better operating conditions of our own bodies (mostly the brain and the heart).
“Forty pints of wallop a day will keep away the quacks.”
Now we move to a bit more quantitative description of the effects of beer consumption. A word “quacks” in the sentence can be interpreted in meany different ways. Most obviously as “quacks” - sounds that we make when we are displeesed, from our experience we know that indeed beer keps them away perfectly (in contradiction to vodka which seams to make people even more whine that they initially were). The second interpretation is “quacks” as the sums of all evils in the world (disease, poverty etc.), the effect is somewhat connected to the first one and equally real. The third interpretation is that beer chases away an actual ducks, something to be tested next time we visit a countryside. The fourth interpretation is that it chases away all kinds of charlatans and fraudulent doctors, here an experience would suggest that it is exactly opposite. The fifth interpretation would be that it chases away quakers (a christian denomination), also unlikely for the same reasoning. One should note, that to see the effect fully and surely one should be prepared to drink hefty forty pints a day!
“ It's only eight pence ha'p'ny a pot and one and six in tax”
In the final veers we get to the one drawback of the great invention: a price. Although even here the author keeps its optimism, branding the price as low. This can be explained by the fact that he lived in a very primitive times, when taxes were scandalously low. It is not clear how terribly low they were: either 1/6 of a penny, or one penny or something else, which is, as well, low. For a comparison in a modern days Poland a distribution of a price of beer is as follows (for the cheapest one for a cheep effect): 1.14 PLN is the price of the drink itself and 0.86 PLN are the taxes - this is how far we have advanced a civilization since the commissioning of this song.
Cheers!
PS:
This turned out to be quite a bit longer than I anticipated. For that reason polish version will come as a separate entry soon.
"Beer, beer, beer" Flogging Molly
A fantastic experience, don't you agree? Now let us approach the content, line by line.
The song starts in a manner typical for fairy tales and barroom stories that separates the recipient from the story:
„A long time ago, way back in history”
In a peculiar double manner we are informed that the story took place a wast amount of time ago, so far in the past that one should not hope to obtain any reasonable evidence that would support the story and one should just trust that the content is fairly representing the past deeds.
„When all there was to drink was nothing but cups of tea”
As the assurances of the previous verse would not be enough, once again we are being assured that story reaches so far in the past that the only available drink was tee. We are not informed if this was green or black tee, but regardless, we can imagine that it must have been very, very long time ago. We can also guess immediately, if we have not know it prior, that the song has been created in teacentric countries of British Islands. In principle, it could have been of Chines origin, but we disregard that possibility, due to the fact that Chines did not mastered the beer making till this day. We can also feel the peril of the people of this age, as we imagine that all that we have for a nice evening sip is a Caramel.
„Along came a man by the name of Charlie Mops”
Finally the main protagonist of the story is introduced. This is similar to Homer introducing Achilles into „Iliad”: the great hero arrives into the scene to shape future events like only a true heroes and an offspring of goods can do.
„And he invented a wonderful drink and he made it out of hops”
The story unfolds. We knew heroes that slain vicious creatures, eight headed hydras and others of the sorts. But the hero of today is of more an intellectual sort. He is an inventor which, I will point out, is a good roll model for your children! This Titan of intellect managed to create an alternative to previously introduce tea – a drink of an unique composition based on a common herb called hops. How he arrived at his recipe we do not know. Maybe there were a long process of an experimentation and changing ingredients that eventually lead to this „wonderful drink”.
The content of a refrain shade additional light on the character of Charlie Mops:
„He might have been an admiral, a sultan, or a king”
The first line speculates about a potential line of work the protagonist followed. All suggestions reach heights of a human society. It is one of the possibilities, one could also add a title of Pharaoh to the list, but that would be reaching far too far into the land of reality. What is surprising there is no indication that Charlie should have been not only a men of a high statue and power, but also a men of an incredible intellect.
„And to his praises we shall always sing”
Agreed!
„Look what he has done for us, he's filled us up with cheer”
This line summaries in the most perfect way the message of the poem. It stress the positive influence of Charlie Mopse's invention on each particular drinker and a society in general. Note the plural form, this should remind us that even if at a certain point we are not nicely beered up, there is someone else in the world that is!
„Lord bless Charlie Mops,
The man who invented beer”
Last two lines just reminds us the name of our hero, the fantastic invention in question and calls onto a deity to give him all the virgins he desires.
„The Jury's Bar, the Clancy's Pub, the Hole in the Wall as well
One thing you can be sure of, it's Charlie's beer they sell”
We follow with naming but a few places in which one can acquire The Best Drink In The World (in short TBDINTW). And yes, we can be sure that in all bars, pubs, discos, restaurants and other reputable establishments we will be able to acquire a tiddly beer! The last name might be a little deceiving: Hole in the Wall... but let's be frank, when ones sees a name like these, there is no doubt that inside he will be able to get hammered nice and easy and probably for a moderate price. By the way, if some of my readers ever encounter pub named Hole in the Wall, pleas let me know, I would be thrilled to go there and drink myself into an oblivion.
“So come on all me lucky lads at eleven O'clock ye stops”
Yes in deed, we are lucky, but correcting a sexist bias of the old times let us say that equal well we can be lads and lassies. Next we have to note that the eleven mentioned in the text is ambiguous, but taking from our knowledge that the gentlemen does not start before noon, we can rule out a eleven AM and that leaves us with a eleven PM deep into an evening. So what is so important that we should stop all the fun that we are having at eleven PM for?
“For five short seconds, remember Charlie Mops”
That is it! For short five seconds we shall celebrate our hero, man that brought us joy of inebriation. That the least we can do to honor him (or her, let us continue a struggle against the old time sexism).
“One, two, three, four, five”
Don't panic! It is just a count down for previously mentioned five seconds, we did not migrated into the lands of mathematics, all will be fine.
“A bushel of malt, A barrel of hops, you stir it with a stick”
In the third and the final part of the song we finally arrive at the recipe for the wonder drink. We can immediately recognize that this is not something that a modern large brewery would use as they try to stay away from a hops to be added to their product. But in the original recipe by Charlie hops is an important ingredient along with a malt (whether it is from barley or otherwise is not specified here leaving an open field). We also recognize that one should stir it well enough for all the components to nicely mix. Simple enough, yet but few mastered it to the extent that they provide an excellent product. As always in life: the devil is in the details.
“The kind of lubrication to make your engine tick.”
In this poetic form the author explains a role of the golden drink in a human body: it serves a similar role as an oil in a mechanical engine. For the smooth operation of our bodies, in particular our brains and our harts, we need to provide sufficient quantities of beer. Without it we can function for a while but effects of a friction will lead to heating up of the machinery, that can permanently damage vital parts of it. This effect can be observed in personal experiments: we notice that the world seams to operate much more smoothly and easy when we are properly lubricated, this is in actuality an effect of better operating conditions of our own bodies (mostly the brain and the heart).
“Forty pints of wallop a day will keep away the quacks.”
Now we move to a bit more quantitative description of the effects of beer consumption. A word “quacks” in the sentence can be interpreted in meany different ways. Most obviously as “quacks” - sounds that we make when we are displeesed, from our experience we know that indeed beer keps them away perfectly (in contradiction to vodka which seams to make people even more whine that they initially were). The second interpretation is “quacks” as the sums of all evils in the world (disease, poverty etc.), the effect is somewhat connected to the first one and equally real. The third interpretation is that beer chases away an actual ducks, something to be tested next time we visit a countryside. The fourth interpretation is that it chases away all kinds of charlatans and fraudulent doctors, here an experience would suggest that it is exactly opposite. The fifth interpretation would be that it chases away quakers (a christian denomination), also unlikely for the same reasoning. One should note, that to see the effect fully and surely one should be prepared to drink hefty forty pints a day!
“ It's only eight pence ha'p'ny a pot and one and six in tax”
In the final veers we get to the one drawback of the great invention: a price. Although even here the author keeps its optimism, branding the price as low. This can be explained by the fact that he lived in a very primitive times, when taxes were scandalously low. It is not clear how terribly low they were: either 1/6 of a penny, or one penny or something else, which is, as well, low. For a comparison in a modern days Poland a distribution of a price of beer is as follows (for the cheapest one for a cheep effect): 1.14 PLN is the price of the drink itself and 0.86 PLN are the taxes - this is how far we have advanced a civilization since the commissioning of this song.
Cheers!
PS:
This turned out to be quite a bit longer than I anticipated. For that reason polish version will come as a separate entry soon.
