OFF THE WAGON
Lyrics & Music: Rich Lipski
Brendan Power- Vocals; Bill Brown- Whistle; Erich Arndt- Guitar; Gary Eurice- Fiddle; Jon Heller- Bass; Rich Lipski- Banjo; Tommy Leanza- Drums
Early Sunday morning, I got down on my knees
I asked the Lord above “Help me rid this vile disease”
You see my love for whiskey it goes coursing through my veins
If I don’t change my ways, the state will lock my up in chains
(Chorus)
It’s been seven days this Sunday since I gave up the drink
I’m feelin’ quite hungover man it’s harder than you think
It’s not congratulations or a medal that I seek
Cause I fell off the wagon for the seventh time this week
It’s been forty years now I got nowhere to go
I wasted all my days away and got nothing to show
I try to have a good time but do things I do regret
It’s a friggin miracle that I’m not dead yet
(Repeat Chorus)
I know that I should change now and be the man I should
You know I want to try but I don’t know if I could
I love my life on Guinness, Irish whiskey, and good luck
Keep telling me to grow up, but I don’t give a…
(Repeat Chorus x2)
Cause we fell off the wagon for the seventh time this week
We’ve been playing this song for years and I absolutely love it. We first recorded an acoustic version for our acoustic album, but I really hope this full-blast electric version goes down as the “main” version. If I’m feeling a little blah at the start of show, blasting through this one always has a way of getting my feet moving. This is one of Rich’s babies but I wish I’d written it. -Erich
I had this chorus finished back when we were recording Whiskey Blues but never fleshed out verses. When I sat back down in an effort to finish it, I ended up pulling the majority of lyrics from an old song I wrote almost 20 years prior called "What's It All About". It had a totally different feel, but with some minor tweaks, it fit Off The Wagon perfectly. This was my attempt at a classic Irish drinking song. It felt so familiar (they all laughed and said it sounded too much like a certain Mary Poppins song). Hopefully it's a good earworm that sticks with ya for awhile. -Rich