Was the AC/DC hit ‘Have a Drink on Me’ in poor taste?
Irresponsible, reckless, unflinching, insensitive—all of these words could be used to describe the actions and music of AC/DC at one point or another. Through a modern lens, many of their songs seem entirely inappropriate, but to the loyalists, this is what makes them great. In that respect, the band emerged as one of the more daring outfits in history, even when destruction peered a little close to home.
Over the years, early AC/DC fans have faced a reckoning of sorts that places moralistic virtue under the interrogation light. The band has gifted the music world some of the best songs in history—that’s a fact—but they have also delivered some of the most controversial lines of all time, with issues ranging from perceived sexism to poorly timed quips about sex, drugs, and alcohol.
Some might scoff at such an accusation, labelling it nothing more than a mere “product of the times”, while others have grown to find it increasingly difficult to stomach such themes, pushed to either ignore certain parts of their discography entirely or take everything they know and love with a heady dose of blissful ignorance. A defining facet of this attitude was, of course, Angus Young, but everything unpredictably glorious came from the man himself—Bon Scott.
Scott’s story is one filled with unrelenting twists and turns, some to be laughed at and others not to be sniffed at. He lived in the moment, and while this often yielded a certain endearing partylike quality, other times it sparked cause for concern and a certain sadness that comes with those who seem to be ever falling off into the deep end at the hands of alcoholism and despair.
When Scott passed away, many rightfully deemed it the end of AC/DC, unable to look past the visceral, energetic core he enabled, which became the signature AC/DC aura. At the time of his death, the band were working on the beginnings of what would eventually become Back in Black, Scott delivering drum parts to ‘Have a Drink on Me’ and ‘Let Me Put My Love Into You’—two songs forever associated with the band’s more distasteful leanings—but was tragically discovered lifeless due to what would later be revealed as alcohol poisoning.
‘Have a Drink on Me’ was released a few months later as part of the album, but despite its potential to be viewed as an inevitable tribute to Scott and his contributions, its content has since been coloured with the dark sourness of insensitivity. Although Brian Johnson served as a worthy replacement and even wrote songs about the same topics as those that Scott was interested in, the song entered the feared ambivalent corner of controversy.
However, the very fact it has become divisive in nature makes it one of the band’s more interesting decisions. Some say that Scott would have wanted them to continue partying, making the song a perfect tribute to their late friend and band member. Others contrarily point to the insidious nature of the business and the song’s ignorance of the pitfalls of alcoholism as reasons for their disdain.
In that respect, it’s difficult to analyse the song one way or the other. Lines like, “We’re gonna make a big noise / So, don’t worry about tomorrow” could be viewed as straying either way, its overt urge for celebration honouring Scott the only way right while simultaneously tackling his death with astonishing heartlessness. Whatever the reading, the song aligns with AC/DC’s consistent desire to deliver great music that stuns, even if the core could be misconstrued as inconsiderate.
