Seven Drunken Nights by The Dubliners: The Story Behind the Song
Few Irish folk songs have caused as much mischief as Seven Drunken Nights
by The Dubliners. With its cheeky lyrics, catchy chorus and increasingly ridiculous excuses, it became one of the band's best-known songs. But there's a lot more to it than a drunken husband and his unfaithful wife. Its story goes back centuries, long before The Dubliners brought it into the charts in 1967.
The Origins
Nobody knows who originally wrote Seven Drunken Nights
, but the song is an adaptation of an old traditional ballad known as Our Goodman
, catalogued as Child Ballad No. 274. The story follows a husband who returns home to find suspicious evidence that his wife has been entertaining another man. Each time he questions her, she comes up with an increasingly unbelievable excuse, leaving him looking like a complete fool.
The Dubliners
The Dubliners learned Seven Drunken Nights
from the legendary Irish traditional singer Joseph Heaney, better known as Joe Heaney, who was famous for his sean-nós singing. Originally from Carna in Connemara, Heaney was one of Ireland's great keepers of traditional songs, passing on material that had been sung for generations. The Dubliners took the old ballad and gave it their own lively treatment, with Ronnie Drew's unmistakable voice leading the way.
The Dubliners released Seven Drunken Nights
as a single in 1967, during a period when Irish folk music was becoming increasingly popular in Britain. Produced by Tommy Scott and released on the Major Minor label, the recording helped introduce the band to a much wider audience. Although the song was already well known in traditional singing circles, The Dubliners turned it into a commercial hit.
Other Versions
Long before The Dubliners recorded their version, variations of Our Goodman
were being sung throughout Ireland, Scotland and beyond. During the 1940s and 1950s, folk music collectors and archivists, including Alan Lomax, travelled around recording traditional singers. These field recordings helped preserve songs that had largely been passed down by word of mouth, often with different lyrics, characters and endings depending on the singer.
The various recordings show just how much the song had changed over the years. Some singers performed shorter versions, while others included more nights and considerably ruder verses. Scottish versions often appeared under titles such as The Merry Cuckold
and the Kind Wife
, while Irish singers had their own variations. The basic joke remained the same, though, with a suspicious husband repeatedly accepting explanations that nobody in their right mind would believe.
The Verses
The song follows the same pattern each night, with the husband arriving home drunk and noticing something that shouldn't be there. On Monday, he finds a strange horse outside the door, which his wife insists is a sow. Tuesday brings a coat hanging up, supposedly a blanket, while Wednesday sees a pipe that she claims is a tin whistle. Each excuse is more ridiculous than the last.
Things become even harder to explain as the week continues. On Thursday, the husband spots a pair of boots under the bed, but his wife tells him they're flowerpots. Friday brings a head lying on his pillow, which she claims is a baby boy. By Saturday, he discovers two hands on her breasts, supposedly part of a nightdress. The joke gets progressively dirtier as the husband's suspicions become impossible to ignore.
The Seventh Night
The seventh night takes the story to its cheekiest conclusion, with the husband returning home on Sunday to find another man's private parts where they certainly shouldn't be. His wife tries to explain them away as a tin whistle, continuing the same ridiculous pattern as the previous nights. It's the most outrageous verse of the lot, which probably explains why it was often left out of public performances and recordings.
The Radio Ban
Despite its popularity, Seven Drunken Nights
ran into trouble with RTÉ, which banned the song from its airwaves because of its suggestive lyrics. The controversy did little to harm its success. In 1967, The Dubliners reached No. 7 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 1 in Ireland, giving the group one of their biggest hits. The ban arguably made the song even more appealing to listeners.
Final Verdict
Seven Drunken Nights
is a perfect example of why traditional Irish folk songs have survived for so long. It's funny, a little bit rude and easy to sing along with, even after a few pints. The Dubliners didn't invent the song, but they certainly made it their own, turning an old ballad into a folk classic that still gets people laughing and singing nearly sixty years later.
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