Dinners With Dan # 6 - Hair Of The Dog

Daniel Balcombe
Dec 3, 2017
4 min read

This week, I’m having a bit of a look into the dreaded hangovers, it’s cure and the best songs to have on when you progress through the stages of the hangover.

Ah hangovers, the thumping headache, the disgusting taste of stale beer, cotton mouth and the occasional cigarette ashtray taste mixed with the ever going stomach pain and the occasional cold shiver of regret. Yet, tomorrow night you bet your ass you’ll be out on the beers again, it must be the hair of the dog right? It’s science after all. But why hangovers this week? Maybe because I’m suffering from one currently and it’s the only thing on my mind. Maybe now as I’m getting older and the hangovers last days, progressing worse each hour I’ve decided I’d put together a list of songs that represent the hangover and the feels you get from it.

The Depressed Mess: 9 Crimes // Damien Rice – Alright, this song is depressing as hell, so it fits the mood when you first wake up in the morning, the sunlight beaming from the half opened blind you forgot to close and the belt that’s been digging into your gut because you forgot to take you jeans off. It’s a great song to feel sombre too, maybe even have a little sneaky cry if you feel inclined, but it is also incredibly chilled and relaxing, in a weird way.

The Vomit Station: Wait and Bleed // Slipknot – I PUSH MY FINGERS INTO MY EYES!!! Very relevant, very necessary for when you're hugging the porcelain bus, trying your hardest to not let the splash back touch your face, but not very concerned about the old hands dangling down dangerously close to where you take a shit. I’m all for a strategic vomit, but when it’s the ones that you CAN’T control, that’s where the pain sets in and this is when you tell yourself the old tale of ‘I’m never going to drink again’.

The Second Wind: I Can See Clearly Now // Jimmy Cliff – You’ve made it!! You’ve vomited out all the bad stuff and feel on top of the world. The light doesn’t burn your eye’s as bad and the thoughts of fat soaked bacon is appealing. You’ve gotten out of bed, you’ve even taken a shower, brushed your teeth and chucked a sneaky grog bog. You can communicate and reply to drunk messages you sent last night. You can think about the next beer and when your mates will be ready.

The Return: Creeping Up Slowly – Taxiride – Oh O, what’s this. What’s happening, why am I starting to feel like the truck just backed up and took another couple rolls over me. Why is my head hurting again, why does the sun feel like it’s in my lounge room, mocking me with its burning rays. It can’t be, no I just got rid of it 20 minutes earlier, there’s nothing left to be vomited out, right? WRONG! It’s back and its back as bad as a Great white Shark hunting down the Brody family in the fucking Bahamas (Jaws the Revenge FTW). The bacon was so good, why must it come back up, cutting the back of my throat as you hug the porcelain bus again, this time it’s worse, cause there’s not much left in there. Oh the pain, you’re about to crack some ribs right?

The Losing Battle: In The End – Linking Park– It doesn’t matter, it really doesn’t. You didn’t want to be alive anyway, you had a solid life up to this point so what’s it matter now. You tried your best, you tried so hard to get through it but it always wins, no matter what you do, no matter how tough you are – the hangover will win and that’s a part of growing up.

The Hair Of The Dog: I Miss You // Blink 182 – YOU AREN’T GOING TO LET IT WIN. Sure you’ve been in bed for a day, you’ve been hovering near the bathroom for more hours then you’ve been asleep, BUT GOD DAMN IT YOU’RE GUNNA BEAT IT. So you do what you need to, the only cure. You muster up all your strength, you grab your car keys, you get in the car and you hit legs to the nearest bottleshop or pub. You grab a six pack or a schooner and you down it quicker than you ran to the bathroom to release the first vomit of the hangover. YOU MADE IT. It was hard, it was long, it was depressing, but you’ve made it through, and you’re a better person for it. The first beer is always razorblades, it’ll hurt, you’ll want to vomit, you’ll want to crawl into a ball but when the last drop hits your lips, you’ll feel it and you’ll feel good.