Three Sheets to Kishkiyya · Track 92 · middle

Brown Bottle Flu

VOLUME IV — the HUNGOVER morning after. The idiom and the song's title hook: "Brown Bottle Flu". Its true history: Ireland — the 'flu' blamed on brown beer bottles; a light, sly, illness-framed excuse. Render this beat of the night as the band's affectionate, funny, celebratory tribute — the idiom itself is the chorus hook.

Lyrics

[Intro]
Well, look at the hero of the hour.
Tangled in the blankets, hiding from the sun.

[Verse 1]
I hauled you up the stairs at 3 AM,
Your shoes in my pocket, your arm on my shoulder.
Now you're shivering like a fragile gem,
Swearing to the ceiling you feel a decade older.
You're practicing a tiny, delicate hack,
To sell the illusion of a sudden attack.

[Chorus]
Oh, you’ve caught the Brown Bottle Flu,
The oldest epidemic on the Emerald Isle.
There’s no thermometer gonna rescue you,
You just have to weather this particular trial.
It’s a 24-hour, self-inflicted doom,
And I’m the only nurse in the living room.

[Verse 2]
Back in Ireland they knew how to frame the crime,
When the thick dark glass left a ringing in the ear.
You call the foreman on the company dime,
And blame a tragic shiver instead of the beer.
So go on, dial the number, make your voice go thin,
Tell them a terrible bug is moving in.

[Bridge]
You were a queen upon the table, ruling the dark,
Now you’re a ghost in the daylight, avoiding the glare.
I’ll bring you the water, I’ll close up the park,
I’ll smooth down the mess of your glorious hair.

[Chorus]
Cause you’ve got the Brown Bottle Flu,
The oldest epidemic on the Emerald Isle.
There’s no thermometer gonna rescue you,
You just have to weather this particular trial.
It’s a 24-hour, self-inflicted doom,
And I’m the only nurse in the living room.

[Outro]
Drink your water, tragic queen.
I won't tell them what I've seen.
Just a terrible, sudden strain of the brown bottle...
Yeah, you just rest up now.