“We'll Have A Pint” lyrics Rie Sheridan Rose, music Marc Gunn
Performed by Marc Gunn
From CD: Don’t Go Drinking With Hobbits
There’s many an inn dotting the Shire
that serves a lovely brew
From Bywater to Bree they say
you’ll want a pint or two
The finest Stout, or nut-brown ale,
the taste comes shining through–
and if you raise a glass to me,
I’ll drink a toast to you!
* We’ll have a pint — a pint — a pint
We’ll have a pint of stout
And when we’ve drunk it bottom up,
we all will give a shout — (all) Hurrah!
The Ivy Bush, the Green Dragon,
the Pony o’er in Bree
Let’s make the rounds of Hobbit towns
and have a pint or three
A half-a-pint is fine for lads
of less than thirty-three
but I will drink a full with you,
if you will drink with me!
A toast, a toast, to friend and host
a toast to bonny brew!
We’ll lift a glass to seasons past
and adventures yet to do
We’ll toast each lass that we have met
and some we wish we knew…
and then at last we’ll stagger home…
and tomorrow start anew!
Chords: Key C
[C]There’s many an inn dotting the Shire
that serves a lovely [F]brew
From [C]Bywater to Bree they say
you’ll [F]want a [G]pint or [C]two
The finest Stout, or nut-brown ale,
the taste comes shining [F]through–
and [C]if you raise a glass to me,
I’ll [F]drink a [G]toast to [C]you!
We’ll [F]have a pint — a pint — a pint
We’ll [C]have a pint of stout
And [F]when we’ve drunk it bottom up,
we [C]all will [G]give a [C]shout — (all) Hurrah!
Background
This is one of my favorites from Don't Go Drinking With Hobbits. I asked Rie Sheridan Rose to write a good drinking song. She sent me these lyrics. They totally capture the mood of a few hobbits singing songs in a pub, just like in Lord of the Rings. Plus, what makes a good drinking song? Call and response!
At the time of recording, I was still learning how to write good drinking songs. The best drinking songs are ones that you can easily teach to your audience. This one was great, because I just needed to ask people to shout “a pint, a pint” whenever I sang “We'll Have a Pint”. And I could make it extra fun for all by asking them to sing in a high-pitched hobbit voice.
I noticed my error when I started performing the song. I sing “We'll Have a Pint” two times in the chorus, but I only shout “a pint, a pint” once on the recording. My first audiences, who hadn't heard the original recording, were smarter than I. They shouted “a pint, a pint!” both times.
I must say, I prefer hearing the audience shout “a pint, a pint” both times. It just sounds better, and it's something I can't do while performing solo. So it adds another layer to the song IMHO.
The other error I noticed in creating this song was Rie's final call and response lyric at the end of the chorus where they shout “Hurrah!” First, I always forget to teach this to my audiences. It's too much.
Nevertheless, it's a great cheer for hobbits. EXCEPT that I perform for Renaissance festival audiences. In those communities, we shout “Huzzah!” So the original lyrics comes off sounding weird.
Despite a few criticisms, the song is still a blast to sing.
Performance Video
This performance was made live in PurgaTorre. That's the name of my home studio and office in the basement of my home. It was the home of my cat Torre who was banished down there at night because he would start fights with my other cats. The office has the worst looking wood paneling. I wish I could figure out how to make it more visually interesting, but that's why I do audio. I was hoping to record it outside, but my daughter Inara woke a bit earlier. So this just seemed quicker.
I made the recording on my iPhone and edited it in iMovie.
Musicians Performing on This Song
Don't Go Drinking With Hobbits was the first album I ever crowdsourced performances for it. Here are the musicians who performed on “We'll Have a Pint of Stout”.
- Marc Gunn: autoharp, vocals
- Bethany McLyr: penny whistle
- Jamie Haeuser: bodhran, background vocals
- Daniel I. Briggs: bass, acoustic guitar, background vocals
