99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall

Nationality: Japanese American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: March 2012
Primary Language: English
Language: Japanese, Spanish

“Oh you know this one for sure:

99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer, take one down pass it around, 98 bottles of beer on the wall. 98 bottles of beer on the wall, 98 bottles of beer, etc etc etc.

We sang this one on school field trips when we had the long bus rides to pass the time. I don’t know if there was a goal like seeing how low we could get with the numbers, but damn, I didn’t realize I sang so many songs as a kid.”

 

This is another camp song that children sing to pass the time. However, this time it refers to beer, a subject that might be taboo to such a young age group. Taking one down and passing it around obviously refers to the consumption of beer, which is illegal for children but probably something they see as an adult action their parents do. Thus, this song is the childrens’ way of taking part in the action with their own friends, and acting like the adults that are their role models.