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"Lanigan's Ball" is a popular Irish drinking song which has been played in pubs throughout the world for at least a century, and possibly much longer. Typically performed in a minor key, it generally is played in an upbeat style reminiscent of the party atmosphere in which the story that the lyrics portray unfolds.
In Irish culture, and often in American culture as well (due to the large emigration of Irish peoples in the late 1800s and early 1900s) "Lanigan's Ball" is often used as a metaphor to describe a situation that has gone horribly awry.
The lyrics are in fact about a party funded on the inheritance of a young man's recently passed father. There is a suggestion in the lyrics that the party is thrown specifically for the young man to show off his new dancing skills which he spent months learning in Dublin. There is reference to drinking, and an accident occurring wherein some party members are offended, at which point a large "ruckus" ensues, and even a musician and his instrument are injured.
A version of this song was recorded by the American celtic punk band Dropkick Murphys on their latest studio album, The Meanest of Times. The lyrics have been significantly altered, and the title changed to "(F)lannigan's Ball", but the chorus and general meaning of the song has been retained. Jump, Little Children performs another popular version of this song with most of the lyrics retained. The Celtic fusion band Enter the Haggis also recorded this song on their album Aerials with its traditional lyrics. New York rock band the Jim C Experience did a version of the song entitled "Glennigan's Ball".
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