I suspect many drinking songs were ribald parody of hymns.
A pastor at our church used to claim that the Methodist hymn “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing” was set to a tune that was the equivalent to “Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall.” But I doubt it. The tune to which it is usually sung was composed by a German composer of sacred tunes and arranged by Lowell Mason, who composed a whole slew of hymn tunes including song that probably every American knows, “Joy to the World” (the gospel song, not the rock and roll song).
bttt
They hymns may not have, but the “Star Spangled Banner” did. The original melody was a bar tune titled “To Anacreon in Heaven.”
Bump....
Let’s assume for a moment that the allegations is correct, what difference does it make? The music itself is spiritually neutral IMO. This is particularly true when dealing with an old tune that no one remembers as a drinking or ribald song of the past. Maybe instead of considering the tunes as forever contaminated, perhaps we should be thankful that this secular creation can be made God-honoring.