New Year's Eve is a lot of fun. New Year's Day, however, can be rougher than a couple of bears in a truck stop restroom. Drinking and partying too much can lay waste to your to your day, but don't feel bad, everyone's been there from time to time. You're not the only one who has been bitten by the bar. Musicians basically invented the hangover, so we've turned to the music industry for some solidarity on this Saturday morning. Here are some odes to hang overs, toilet hugging, one night stands and that rough morning after.
10. Sunshine – Atmosphere
Atmosphere's Slug has the hangover to end all hangovers. He's yakking and can't even drink a cup of joe generously given up to him. But after a fall down the stairs, the Minnesota rapper begins to shake off his rough morning to enjoy the good things in life.
Ain't no way to explain or say
How painful the hangover was today
In front of the toilet, hands and knees
Trying to breathe in between the dry heaves
My baby made me some coffee
Afraid that if I drink some it's probably coming right back out me
Couple of Advil, relax and chill
At a standstill with how bad I feel
I think I need to smell fresh air
So I stepped out the back door and fell down the stairs
9. Pukology – Otto Von Schirach
If you do find yourself with a head in the commode after a night of drinking, just know that one person's barf is another's music. Case and point: Otto Von Schirach, the hardcore/ IDM musical mutilator who commissioned his fans for some special “field recordings.” With these recordings of vomit comets and chunder tornadoes, Schirach made the album Pukology, which made “beats” out of barf.
*The album is so gross that we've decided not to post any “songs” from it (if you wanna buy it, be our guest). Oh alright. Since you asked. Here's “Gagged Gizzard Goo,” listen at your own risk.
8. What Good Can Drinkin Do? – Janis Joplin
As you may be struggling to pull yourself out of a bush, pile of dirty laundry, or from under an oversized trucker, don't make the mistake of thinking your day is completely ruined. When Janis Joplin woke up from a drunken stupor, she sat down and wrote a song about it right then and there. Do something creative with your hangover, it worked for Joplin.
What good can drinkin' do, what good can drinkin' do?
Lord, I drink all night but the next day I still feel blue
There's a glass on the table, they say it's gonna ease all my pain,
And there's a glass on the table, they say it's gonna ease all my pain
But I drink it down, an' the next day I feel the same
7. Bob – NOFX
Ok, so Bob seemed to have had a 15 year hangover that was cured by some seriously un-fun liver explosure. Not the best way to stop drinking, right? But NOFX is looking at those post drunk times where the last thing you want is a drink. Their solution: Shave your head, but on some boots, and kick some heads at a punk rock show.
He spent fifteen years getting loaded
Fifteen years 'till his liver exploded
Now what's Bob gonna do now that he can't drink?
6. Lee Hazlewood – The Night Before
The psychedelic cowboy Lee Hazlewood was the man behind many country hits of the 60's, and the man was not a stranger to the bottle either. In the 1970's he headed to Scandinavia where he wrote and produced a TV special, “A Cowboy in Sweden.” While there, Hazlewood seemed to have a little too much fun. The evidence is all there in “The Night Before.”
I wake up Sunday morning
With my mind all in a haze
Tearstains on my pillow
And make-up on my face
I see those empty whiskey bottles
And records scattered on the floor
And from the next room, I hear crying
Then I remember the night before
5. Willie Nelson – Bloody Mary Morning
These days Willie Nelson is known for smoking the herb than hitting the bottle but Willie's partying prowess is second to none. It'd take some kind of super computer to calculate Nelson per capita party average, but we'll but the number at one zillion. So with that much experience, he knows how to handle the morning after with grace. It all starts with a Bloody Mary…
All the night life and the parties
And temptation and deceit
The order of the day
Well it's a Bloody Mary mornin'
Cause I'm leavin' baby somewhere in LA
It's a Bloody Mary morning…
4. Passenger Side – Wilco
Wilco's Jeff Tweedy has spent a lot of time over the limit, and this song explores what happens when the Man has caught you going too far. Tweedy sings of those times when you have to hitch a ride with friends when you've had one too many. In Tweedy's case he's had so many his license was revoked. Take it from Tweedy, riding bitch sucks.
Hey, wake up, your eyes weren't open wide
For the last couple of miles you've been swerving from side to side
You're gonna make me spill my beer,
If you don't learn how to steer
3. My Head Hurts, My Feet Stink and I Don't Love Jesus – Jimmy Buffett
Mr. Buffet is professional when it comes to drinking. He's visited Margaritaville he's suggested more than once that maybe, just maybe he'd like to “Get drunk and Screw.” So here we have indisputable evidence that Jimmy B also gets hangovers like the rest of us. As for the foot stink, perhaps tough actin' Tinactin will banish the stench, Buffet.
2. Fuck and Run – Liz Phair
Fucking and running. It's the oldest trick in the book, and on New Years' morning sometimes you have to make a less than graceful exit. Maybe you did too many hits with Miley Cyrus, or perhaps you graduated from the beer bong to the WINE bong (trust me, don't do this), but for some reason your standards were lowered and there you are, in need of escape. Fortunatley, Liz Phair wrote a song about you.
1. Johnny Cash – Sunday Morning Comin' Down
Johnny Cash may be the king of the morning after regret. Through out his battles with addiction he chronicled his ups and downs in song. His odes to hangovers seemed to be gestures of solidarity to all those who has a lapse in self control. We've all been there in one way or another, and we're glad Cash knows where we're coming from.
Well I woke up Sunday morning,
With no way to hold my head that didn't hurt.
And the beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad,
So I had one more for dessert.
Then I fumbled through my closet for my clothes,
And found my cleanest dirty shirt.
An' I shaved my face and combed my hair,
An' stumbled down the stairs to meet the day.
Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.