"99 Bottles of Beer" is an anonymous United States folk song dating to the mid-20th century. It is a traditional song in both the United States and Canada. It is popular to sing on long trips, as it has a very repetitive format which is easy to memorize, and can take a long time to sing. In particular the song is frequently sung by children on long bus trips, such as class field trips, or on Scout and/or Girl Guide outings. The song is derived from the English "Ten Green Bottles".
The song's simple lyrics are as follows:
Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall, Ninety-nine bottles of beer.
Take one down, pass it around, Ninety-eight bottles of beer on the wall.
Alternate line:
If one of those bottles should happen to fall, Ninety-eight bottles of beer on the wall.
The same verse is repeated, each time with one bottle less. The song is completed when the singer or singers reach zero. Variations on the last verse following the last bottle going down include lines such as "No more bottles of beer on the wall, no more bottles of beer. Go to the store and buy some more, 99 bottles of beer on the wall." and simply "If that one bottle should happen to fall, what a waste of alcohol!". It takes approximately 20 to 30 minutes to sing all 100 verses.
Sometimes, the word "beer" is replaced by the word "Coke" or "milk" when being sung by groups (such as religious groups) that consider the consumption of alcohol to be inappropriate.
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Famous quotes containing the words bottles and/or beer:
“I was a closet pacifier advocate. So were most of my friends. Unknown to our mothers, we owned thirty or forty of those little suckers that were placed strategically around the house so a cry could be silenced in less than thirty seconds. Even though bottles were boiled, rooms disinfected, and germs fought one on one, no one seemed to care where the pacifier had been.”
—Erma Bombeck (20th century)
“Boughs have their fruit and blossom
At all times of the year;
Rivers are running over
With red beer and brown beer.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)