Drinking Songs

We went to hear the CSO do Beethoven's Ninth last night, and the program described Schiller's Ode To Joy as a glorified drinking song, or words to that effect. Well, it's a celebration of friendship, which is a common theme in drinking songs.

The Ninth, which ran under an hour and a half, was the only piece on the program, but the orchestra did play the Star Spangled Banner first. It's the bicentennial of its lyrics. But its tune is that of an older drinking song, "To Anacreon in Heaven".

We came home and watched an episode of: Turn: Washington's Spies, set during the American Revolution, and, oddly enough, there was a scene in which our hero - and some British officers - were singing "To Anacreon in Heaven".

So here's to songs
you sing while drinking,
voices raised
and glasses clinking.