Sugar Ray is set to headline day one of the 2018 Summer of Rum festival in downtown Tampa. So we naturally wanted to create a drinking playlist of 21 songs about rum which don’t actually suck. Flip through to see the list, and listen to all of them via cltampa.com/music.
Here are 21 songs about rum which don’t actually suck
By CL Staff on Thu, Aug 30, 2018 at 5:07 am
Tags:
- andrews sisters,
- bacardi,
- chuck berry,
- cory branan,
- drinking songs,
- first aid kid,
- garth brooks,
- gloria estefan,
- GZA,
- john frinzi,
- kanye west,
- M.I.A.,
- nada surf,
- Nas,
- pablo cruise,
- princess nokia,
- r kelly,
- robbie williams,
- rum,
- st. petersburg,
- summer of rum,
- Tampa,
- Tampa Bay,
- the beach boys,
- the pogues,
- the replacements,
- the white stripes
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The Andrews Sisters — "Rum and Coca-Cola"
Birthed in 1940s Trinidad by Lord Invader and Lionel Belasco, this song was popularized by three sisters from Minnesota and features not-so-savory allusions to prostitution.
Photo via promotional billboard (Creative Commons)
Gloria Estefan — "Cuba Libre"
Probably more of a political statement than a song about rum and coke, this late 90s jam from Miami’s Gloria Estefan still jams.
Photo via Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Creative Commons)
R. Kelly — "Ignition (Remix)"
The world has turned a cold shoulder towards this Chicago singer in the decade and a half since this party anthem was released, but there’s probably isn’t a better R&B song to be “sippin' on coke and rum” to.
Photo via YouTube (Screenshot by CL Tampa)
Cory Branan — “Equinox”
One of America’s most underrated, road-tested songwriters talks waltzes with old women and drinking dark rum on the rocks.
Photo via Bloodshot Records
Chuck Berry — “Havana Moon”
The pioneering rock and roll guitarist is alone with an entire jug of rum on this mid-50s Chess Records gem, and we wouldn’t mind being right there with him.
Photo via Don Clemente (Creative Commons)
John Frinzi — “Buoyancy”
Bay area Jimmy Buffett pal John Frinzi sings about pina coladas with no fruit no umbrellas in tumblers on this 2009 song he wrote on a boat headed to Cancun.
Photo via YouTube (Screenshot by CL Tampa)
Pablo Cruise — “Good Ship”
Find the album artwork for this 1975 yacht rock classic. We’d sail the straights of Rum Bay with these hunks.
Photo via A&M Records
Nada Surf — “Barcardi”
A driving, lonesome rock song you put on when you’re blurry-eyed, a little angry and headed home in the back of an Uber or Lyft.
Photo via FXR (Creative Commons)
Garth Brooks — “Two Pina Coladas”
This one from Chris Gaines’ 1997 album Sevens isn’t even on Spotify, but it’s way better than “Friends In Low Places.”
Photo via Department of Defense
Princess Nokia — “Tomboy”
This party song by the NYC rapper is the one to have on when you’re on you’re “finna sit back and just sip on Bacardi.”
Photo via Grandstand HQ
This party song by the NYC rapper is the one to have on when you’re on you’re “finna sit back and just sip on Bacardi.”
Photo via Grandstand HQ
Kanye West — “I Thought About Killing You”
A manic-depressive cut where ‘Ye is alcohol free and in need of “coke with no rum” because he tastes “coke on her tongue.” Easy, Yeezy.
Photo via Brian Mahar
The White Stripes — “Icky Thump”
A candy cane, black rum and sugar cane all sound righteous in the hands of Jack and Meg White.
Photo via Fabio Venni (Creative Commons)
First Aid Kid — “When I Grow Up”
Leave it to a pair of Swedish sisters to pair “crab claws and bottles of rum.” The first thing we think of when rum is on the brain, but the melodies on this are haunting to let us overlook the oddity.
Press Handout
The Replacements — “Beer For Breakfast”
Life’s not complete if you’ve never gone a bender with Paul Westerberg on the stereo and while the ‘Mats version doesn’t mention rum, a 2001 cover by the Get Up Kids updates the lyrics with a reference to the liquor.
Photo courtesy Bob Mehr
The Beach Boys — “Sloop John B”
Rum is never directly referenced in this song, but what else are you gonna drink when you’re with the first mate and captain while drinking all night in Nassau town?
Photo via Capitol Records
The Pogues — Rum Sodomy & the Lash
OK, this one’s an album, but if you’re day drinking in a dirty old town and not listening to this pre-Flogging Molly Celtic punk band, then you’re doing it all wrong.
Photo via Island Records
Robbie Williams — “Karma Killer”
Was Nada Surf not cathartic enough? Here’s one where our British dreamboat politely suggests that you choke on your Bacardi and Coke.
Photo via Drewde Fawkes (Creative Commons)
GZA — “4th Chamber”
At its best, a good rum drink can make a drinker feel like they’re holding a liquid sword. You’ll feel extra mighty if you have this 1995 hip-hop classic where “Iron Man be sippin' rum, out of Stanley Cups,” on the radio.
Photo via BabyGrande Records
Zac Brown Band — “Toes”
It’s like a pop-country version of a Jimmy Buffett song, and there’s no way we were going to throw Jimmy Buffett on this playlist.
Photo via Kamran Malik
Nas — “Sly Fox”
A scathing, 2008 critique on societies demonization of black people. “Only black man that Fox love is in jail or a dead one/Red rum, political bedlam.” Still relevant.
Photo via Press Here Publicity
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