The band's best-known song was "Drinking with the Lord", a parody of the Christian hymn "Lord of the Dance" as a drinking song.
The band released two albums as Uisce Beatha, and were a popular draw on the Canadian folk festival circuit. They were sued in 1997 by a Scottish distillery over rights to the band name, and subsequently changed their name to Red. They released one album under that name, but subsequently broke up.
Drinkin' With The Lord
Uisce Beatha Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And you can go just about everywhere
And if you look it's plain to see
The Lord of the dance is drinking with me
Well we were at the local watering hole
I said yes and he said no
But before the clock on the wall struck 3
Drink, drink, wherever you may be
You are the drunk and disorderly
And you will drink wherever you may be
Cause you are the drunk and disorderly
Next time we looked it was nearly 9
We had as many we were feeling fine
He said come on it's time to go
I said "One more before we go"
Next time we looked it was nearly 2
He said there's nothing you can do
You've gone too far and now you're free
The Lord of the dance stopped drinking with me
In "Drinkin' with the Lord" by Uisce Beatha, the lyrics describe a night of drinking with the Lord of the dance. The song is an upbeat and playful tune about enjoying a night of heavy drinking with a celestial being. The song begins with the singer proclaiming that he can go anywhere and everywhere, and if he looks, he can see the Lord of the dance drinking with him.
The second verse of the song describes the singer and the Lord at a local bar. The singer says yes, and the Lord says no, but before the clock strikes three, the Lord is drinking with him. The chorus of the song reiterates the theme of heavy drinking and revelry, with the singer and the listener being the "drunk and disorderly."
The third verse describes the passing of time and the increasing intoxication of both the singer and the Lord. They both agree to leave, but then have "one more" before departing. By the final verse, it is nearly 2 am and the Lord tells the singer that he has gone too far and is now "free." The song is a fun-loving tribute to the joys of heavy drinking and letting loose.
Line by Line Meaning
Well you can go here and you can go there
You have the freedom to go wherever you want
And you can go just about everywhere
The possibilities of your destinations are endless
And if you look it's plain to see
Upon observation, it is clear to notice
The Lord of the dance is drinking with me
Having a drink with me is the Lord of the dance himself
Well we were at the local watering hole
We were at a bar or pub
I said yes and he said no
We had conflicting opinions on something
But before the clock on the wall struck 3
Before it was late in the night
The Lord of the dance was drinking with me
I was having a drink with the Lord of the dance
Drink, drink, wherever you may be
Drink alcohol no matter where you are
You are the drunk and disorderly
You act in a wild and unruly manner while drinking
And you will drink wherever you may be
You have an urge to drink alcohol at any location
Cause you are the drunk and disorderly
Your behavior while drinking is wild and unruly
Next time we looked it was nearly 9
The time had gotten later without us realizing it
We had as many we were feeling fine
We had consumed many drinks and were feeling good
He said come on it's time to go
The Lord of the dance remarked it's time to leave
I said "One more before we go"
I wanted to have one more drink before leaving
Next time we looked it was nearly 2
Time had flown by and it was now early in the morning
He said there's nothing you can do
The Lord of the dance communicated it was too late to change our behavior
You've gone too far and now you're free
We had indulged too much and now we had no inhibitions
The Lord of the dance stopped drinking with me
The Lord of the dance discontinued having drinks with me
Contributed by Alaina C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Lael Peters
I saw this group way back when they were promoting their album, "The Mystic of the Baja" (1993 ) Fantastic performers and hard working musicians. They really took Celtic music to a different level.. A toast to them.... 'Where ever they may be!'
Maelstrom - Mech Arena - Live Stream - Minecraft
Lael Peters Same! Can’t believe I found these after all these years!
kathryn Milsom
Oh man .. did this ever bring me back in time ! I could use a night at birdland in halifax again 😊
Robert Thompson
Love it
Peter Lehman
Always loved how the children decided that the pianist was going too slow and just sang - kids!
That! Shirt Store.
I saw these guys twice. The first time was at the College of Piping in Summerside PEI, we were getting hammered drunk with the guys from the Irish Descendants, the second was at university... The unclear events of those hazy evenings can only be foggily recollected.