99 Bottles of Beer

99 Bottles of Beer is a traditional reverse counting song that has been passed down through oral tradition in the United States and Canada since at least the mid-20th century. Its structure is deceptively simple: each verse begins with the current number of bottles on the wall, followed by taking one down and passing it around, then the count decreases by one. The song repeats until the bottles reach zero. This cumulative pattern makes it easy to learn and extend, and groups often use it to fill time on long bus rides, road trips, or camping excursions. The song has no known single author or copyright holder, placing it firmly in the public domain.

Beyond its role as a folk song, 99 Bottles of Beer has become a canonical exercise in computer science education. The task of printing the lyrics using a loop is a common first assignment in programming courses, and a website, 99-bottles-of-beer.net, catalogs implementations in over 1,500 programming languages, from assembly to esoteric languages like Brainfuck. This intersection of folk tradition and programming pedagogy gives the song an unusual longevity and cultural reach.

Several recorded versions exist, though none are definitive. Atticus, a Knoxville band, released a thirteen-and-a-half-minute live recording on their 2001 album Figment, which Modern Drunkard Magazine ranked as the number one drinking song in 2002. The Great Kat produced an official music video on YouTube, and Budweiser created a full-length performance video for International Beer Day. The Blank Tapes also released a 30-minute version. These recordings, however, are interpretations of a traditional piece, not original compositions. [edit]