Three Sheets to Kishkiyya · Track 7 · middle
Drunk as a Lord
VOLUME I — being gloriously, world-tilting DRUNK (the night at full tilt). The idiom and the song's title hook: "Drunk as a Lord". Its true history: UK, 17th c. — nobles could afford endless wine and overindulged at clubs and dinners; the phrase named lavish, privileged drunkenness. Render this beat of the night as the band's affectionate, funny, celebratory tribute — the idiom itself is the chorus hook.
Lyrics
[Intro] Behold the velvet ropes of the spinning room! [Verse 1] In the 1600s, a gentleman of means Could purchase the horizon and the velvet in the seams. With a cellar full of claret and a powdered heavy head, He would orchestrate a banquet till the tavern went to bed. Now I have not a title, nor an acreage to boast, But I feel the ermine collar when I raise a second oak. [Chorus] Oh, I am drunk as a lord, magnificent and swaying, A sovereign of the pavement where the commoners are playing! With a carriage made of starlight and a copper in my shoe, I am drunk as a lord, and I grant a dukedom to you! [Verse 2] At the Parliament of bottles, I am passing bold decrees, I am levying a tariff on the cobblestone streets. When the wealthy nobles gathered in those early London clubs, They were underwriting empires while they overfilled the mugs. And the sheer financial gravity of pouring endless wine, Is a temporary peerage that is currently just mine! I am walking down the corridor with architectural grace, Though the walls are oscillating at a rapid little pace! [Chorus] For I am drunk as a lord, magnificent and swaying, A sovereign of the pavement where the commoners are playing! With a carriage made of starlight and a copper in my shoe, I am drunk as a lord, and I grant a dukedom to you! [Bridge] Oh, the majesty of tilting! The geometry of pride! When the pockets may be empty but the ocean is inside. I command the chandeliers to sparkle brighter than before, As I gracefully, majestically, slide upon the board. [Outro] Yes, a peer of the realm in the kingdom of the night. Bring the finest silver goblet, catch the morning light. I am royalty in motion, I am splendid, I am floored... I am drunk as a... well, you know the title. Drunk as a lord.