Song Details
- Album Release Date: 2012
- Genre: folk
Song Meaning of “Old Black Rum” by Great Big Sea
The Canadian folk-rock band Great Big Sea’s beloved song ‘Old Black Rum’ is an infectious exploration of personal addiction and reliance, using the idea of a bottle of rum as a metaphor for a giant, overpowering dependency. The band’s signature Irish-inspired folk-rock energy is ever-present in this track, making it a real crowd-pleaser.
The lyrics explore the strong attachment that some people have to their favourite vices, such as alcohol, seeking solace and meaning in them even when everything else in life seems hopeless. As the narrator of the song describes in the opening lines, “I’ve got an old black rum and I’ve got an old black pain, and when I stand them side by side they dance, me and they.” With this, we can assume that the narrator is deeply addicted to both the substance and the pain of his life. The rum provides a temporary distraction from the sorrowful parts of his life, allowing him to forget about them and instead revel in his intoxication.
The rest of the song focuses on how hard it is to break away from his unhealthy attachment, as he sings about leaving it but being drawn right back to it. He ends the track with the line, “but old black rum never lets me go,” further cementing the deep bond between the narrator and the bottle of rum, and reinforcing the idea that it is hard to break away from something that you have become overly invested in and heavily rely upon.
Altogether, Great Big Sea’s ‘Old Black Rum’ is an incredibly powerful story, offering a raw glimpse into the struggles of addiction and dependence. It is a potent reminder that addiction goes deeper than what meets the eye, and it can be very hard to get out of it.