4 of the All-Time Best 1970s Songs To Pair With Your Favorite Cocktails

There is no shortage of songs about drinking beer or enjoying a glass of wine. But what if you like your drinks with more bite? Tequila sippers and whiskey shooters deserve to have songs to soundtrack their good times, too.

No matter if you’re drinking top shelf or well, gin or vodka, or whiskey or scotch, these four iconic songs from the 1970s are perfect for pairing with cocktails.

“Margaritaville” by Jimmy Buffett

Kicking off our list of 1970s songs about cocktails is one of the most famous examples of all time, “Margaritaville” by Jimmy Buffett. This 1977 song about “wasting away again” on the beach is a quintessential oceanside track. Even if the lyrics themselves aren’t all that positive.

Whether you prefer your margaritas frozen or on the rocks, in classic lime or something funky like pineapple habanero, Buffett knows just how to complement these tart, tangy flavors. Now, where’d that salt shaker go?

“Escape (Piña Colada Song)” by Rupert Holmes

We’ll continue this trend of sweet, beachy drinks with the best-known song about piña coladas of all time, “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” by Rupert Holmes. Released in 1979, the song is sung from the perspective of a man looking for a new partner in the newspaper’s personal column. (It really was 1979.)

We can’t speak to the digs at yoga or women the narrator thinks have less than “half a brain.” But Holmes’ late 1970s song does blend perfectly with the smooth, coconutty, pineapple-y flavors of classic piña colada cocktails.

“Tequila Sunrise” by The Eagles

A tequila sunrise is a popular cocktail known for its distinct gradient of dark red to orange from the bottom to the top of the glass. This look is achieved by grenadine sinking to the bottom of an orange juice and tequila mixture.

A “Tequila Sunrise” is a 1973 hit from The Eagles’ iconic album, Desperado. Both versions pair nicely with one another. That’s especially true if that tequila sunrise (lowercase) is being consumed while pining over a lover who’s not with him, like they’re doing in “Tequila Sunrise” (uppercase).

“One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer” by George Thorogood

The last entry in our list of 1970s songs about cocktails needs a couple of asterisks. 1.) beer is mentioned, and 2.) bourbon and scotch, in this case, are probably neat. Is that technically a cocktail? No, not technically. But is it a good song from the 1970s about liquor? Yes, yes it is—multiple kinds of liquor, in fact.

George Thorogood released his version of this classic blues song in 1977, two decades after the first version by Amos Milburn came out in 1953. It remains a well-loved drinking song, especially for those for whom whiskey is their preference.

Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images