FREE! Click here to Join FunTrivia. Thousands of games, quizzes, and lots more!
Fun Trivia
Home: Questions and Answers Forum
Answers to 100,000 Fascinating Questions
Welcome to FunTrivia's Question & Answer forum!

Search All Questions


Please cite any factual claims with citation links or references from authoritative sources. Editors continuously recheck submissions and claims.

Archived Questions

Goto Qn #


How did the song "How Dry I Am" come to be associated with drunks?

Question #107399. Asked by star_gazer.
Last updated Aug 23 2016.

Related Trivia Topics: Music  
avatar
looney_tunes star
Answer has 9 votes
looney_tunes star
18 year member
3287 replies avatar

Answer has 9 votes.
"'The Near Future' is the name of a song written by Irving Berlin in 1919. It is better known for the small part of its lyric that took on a life of its own: 'How Dry I Am'.

The term 'Dry' in that time period meant abstinence from alcohol, and support of Prohibition. Those who took the opposite approach and/or view were often called 'Wet'. Prohibition became fact in 1920, in 'the near future' after the song was issued.

This portion of the song...

How dry I am, how dry I am
It's plain to see just why I am
No alcohol in my highball
And that is why so dry I am

...became known for its ironic use, by people getting drunk and singing it, sometimes in harmony, in all manner of popular media, especially Warner Bros. cartoons. That usage necessitated removing the parts that overtly denied drinking, which tended to reduce the song to these two lines:

How dry I am, how dry I am
Nobody knows how dry I am... Hooow dryyy I aaaaaam!"

link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Near_Future

Jul 26 2009, 2:58 AM
skypilot024
Answer has 11 votes
Currently Best Answer
skypilot024
21 year member
142 replies

Answer has 11 votes.

Currently voted the best answer.
I remember a different version of the song from my long ago youth:
With sincere apologies to Mr. Berlin.....

How dry I am,
How wet I'll be,
If I don't find the bathroom key,
I find the key, I open the door,
Whoops, too late, all over the floor!


Jul 26 2009, 12:24 PM
crotalus77
Answer has 4 votes
crotalus77
18 year member
307 replies

Answer has 4 votes.
The melody originally came from a Christian hymn," Happy Day ". I recall singing this one in church a time or two as a child when we attended the Methodist Church.

books.google.com/books?id=EVninY59ul0C&pg=PA279&lpg=PA279&dq=church+hymn+m
elody+how+dry+i+am&source=bl&ots=XDg_pysCxF&sig=vZlwTDrAaAt9E8jqyuEJ9Nf0X7
Y&hl=en&ei=2L9sSpOcD5iQmAe1xOjlBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2
link http://tinyurl.com/j26jf59

Found another link with sound
link http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh391.sht


Response last updated by gtho4 on Aug 23 2016.
Jul 26 2009, 2:50 PM
free email trivia FREE! Get a new mixed Fun Trivia quiz each day in your email. It's a fun way to start your day!


arrow Your Email Address:

Sign in or Create Free User ID to participate in the discussion
Return to FunTrivia
"Ask FunTrivia" strives to offer the best answers possible to trivia questions. We ask our submitters to thoroughly research questions and provide sources where possible. Feel free to post corrections or additions. This is server B184.