Rooted in religion and the celebration of Irish culture, St. Patrick's Day is now celebrated around the globe. Most of us recognize it as a day of feasting and drinking – a reprieve, for many, from the obligations of Lent. Crowds that pack local bars will likely tell you they're eager for the chance to indulge. While drunken revelry is not the holiday's original intent, it has become part of its ethos. And wherever folks raise a pint, there's bound to be music. The five songs we spotlight here are not drinking songs, per say, but rather tunes that explore why people drink.

Liz Phair, "Polyester Bride"
The bartender is your friend. Or maybe not. "Polyester Bride," properly released on Liz Phair's 1998 album Whitechocalatespaceegg but dating to her early homemade Girly Sound tapes, stands as one of her more polished and exuberant-sounding songs – swelling from an acoustic strum to a hearty electric backbone. Glistening harmonies help capture some of the romanticism reflected in the narrative, in which Phair portrays a lonely narrator whose local bartender may be one of her closest pals. An oasis in her stormy sea of unreliable relationships, "Henry," her bartending friend, gives her life some consistency and her person some advice. Clinging to suburban romantic notions, Phair fights impulses to act reckless amongst her desire to settle down. It remains unclear, however, whether the song is about days wasted drinking or the regret of leaving those days behind.

Guns N' Roses, "Nightrain"
About a minute and a half into "Nightrain," Axl Rose tames his legendary howl and sings, "Ready to crash and burn/I never learn." It's peak Rose, his vocals deliciously malleable as he restrains his rasp and gets ready to unleash it with a high-pitched yell moments later. "Nightrain," a song of pure adrenaline, takes its name from a cheap yet high-alcohol fortified wine. The track hits with such an upbeat rush that you don't have time to think about the remorse that will surely come when the hangover hits. After launching with a brief countdown from drummer Steven Adler, once "Nightrain" gets going, it never lets up, as guitarists Slash and Izzy Stradlin provide a lesson in how to play with flash and sleekness. No wonder Rose says he never learns: His band makes debauchery sound like a smashing idea.

The Pogues, "A Pair of Brown Eyes"
No list of songs about drinkin' would be complete without a mention of the Pogues, whose leader Shane MacGowan has long remained obsessed with whisky and Celtic music. While MacGowan spent much of his life in England, the Pogues rose to fame for merging traditional Irish sounds with punk rock, and pretty much every song in the band's catalog is fit for a list such as this one. "A Pair of Brown Eyes" illustrates MacGowan's poetic flair. He paints a heartbreaking scene of a drunk who over-indulges in order to live in a fantasy world in which he can dream of a lost lover's brown eyes. Songs on the jukebox bring a rush of memories, and MacGowan leaves the pub in a crawl, dreaming of a time that once existed. Musically, "A Pair of Brown Eyes" unfolds as a romance. The Pogues build it around the traditional folk song "Wild Mountain Thyme," which, while lovesick, features a more hopeful bent and feels something of a waltz. MacGowan's anti-heroes, however, often only dance with a bottle.

Lydia Loveless, "Jesus Was a Wino"
Country music and booze have a long tradition, be it Hank Williams' "There's a Tear in My Beer," Willie Nelson's "Whiskey River," or even Garth Brooks' "Friends in Low Places." No surprise, then, that young country upstart Lydia Loveless would take to the spirits-and-music genre. This should-be-classic from 2011 does a mighty fine job of making a mess of religion, guilt, and addiction. "You might go to church to bow your head and pray," sings Loveless with a fiery lilt, "but that ain't always enough to get through the day." Instead, throughout the bouncy tune, in which a sharp guitar matches Loveless' smart-alecky tone, the singer engages in a nightly baptism by wine. And if you have any arguments to counter Loveless' assertion, she's ready with a comeback: "Jesus had only water but he turned it to wine anyway."

Frank Sinatra, "Drinking Again"
If anyone can make misery sound elegant, it's Sinatra. The lyrics, from Johnny Mercer, feel relatively minimal, telling a tale of falling off the wagon while missing a former lover. But it's Sinatra, in his 1967 rendition, who turns the torch song into something akin to a bad romance. His stern baritone adopts a non-judgmental tone as the man falls in love with his drink and his fellow barflies. "Making the rounds, accepting a round from strangers," Sinatra sings, "being a fool just hoping that you'll appear." Thing is, his new partner proves a poor substitute for his old one, as it dooms him to a life of living in his head. Sinatra, however, seems more interested in showing alcohol's seductive power all the while a comforting piano gives way to lush, cinematic strings. Only we know this is less a film and more a nightmare.