Bottle Songs to Celebrate New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve is about the only time I ever think about champagne. I might have other occasions to celebrate the bubbly were I a fan of the Yankees or Lakers or Celtics or Red Wings or some other team that wins championships regularly. Unfortunately the teams I always root for end up as also-rans season in and season out.

That lack of success in my sports loyalties leaves New Year's Eve as my sole occasion to open a champagne bottle. This year I am honoring my annual undertaking with a ten song tribute to the bottle. Not all of the songs, if any, in this list are referring to champagne bottles, but most of them had been filled with something similar to that drink.

10. "Cold Milk Bottle" by Mountain Goats: This short acoustic ballad from the folk band's Sweden album is written to a mean woman, whose man says, "Despite your best efforts, I feel all right" and "Despite the force of your fury, I feel all right."

9. "Message in a Bottle" by The Police: The band's earliest big hit is probably their most enduring song, possibly because of its pleading chorus of "I'm sending out an SOS to the world, I hope that someone gets my message in a bottle."

8. "Bottom of the Bottle" by Porter Wagoner: The steel guitar bridge and the lyrics of loneliness make this the quintessential classic country song by the legend more famous for being Dolly Parton's ex.

7."Bottle of Wine" by Tom Paxton: The song has been covered by dozens of artists over four decades, but I still enjoy Paxton's original the most. His tenor contains a sincerity that cannot be attained except from the man who wrote it.

6. "Underneath the Bottle" by Lou Reed: This self-deprecating ditty about an alcoholic, teamed with "The Power of Positive Drinking," makes Growing Up in Public one of my favorite albums from the leader of The Velvet Underground.

5. "Yea Heavy and a Bottle of Bread" by Bob Dylan and the Band: Another gem from friendly The Basement Tapes collection, this track contains classic Dylan lyrics such as "Hit that drummer with a pie that smells."

4. "Where the Bottles Break" by John Gorka: This tune from Jack's Crows is one of the folksinger's objective looks at life in the inner city, where "Life beyond the playground fence is serious as basketball."

3. "Instead of the Bottle" by The Psychodots: This country-tinged indie song from the indie-garage rock band is the highlight from its most successful album, Terminal Boulevard.

2. "The Bottle Let Me Down" by Merle Haggard: The Okie from Muskogee struck gold again with classic country woe about a guy who has lost the ability to drown his sorrows.

1. "Time in a Bottle" by Jim Croce: The bottle here had no alcohol, but the song itself is depressing enough to drive anyone to drink. The singer-songwriter laces love throughout the ballad, but any happiness is dried up by the inevitable passing of time joined with the dirge-like acoustic guitar.