Written by Dean Dillon, Bubba Strait, and George Strait himself, “Every Little Honky Tonk Bar” is the lead-off single to Straits’ 30th studio album Honky Tonk Time Machine. It earned a lawfully fair spot in the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 at No. 11 following its release on February 11, 2019. The song also reached No. 20 on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs.
During a live performance in December 2018, Strait debuted the song at his concert in T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada. He later shared that night the inspiration behind the song, “With his son Bubba and longtime collaborator Dillon, the song came to fruition. While tired from writing a couple of songs, Strait asked, ‘Anybody got anything else?’ And Bubba goes, ‘Whiskey is the gasoline that lights the fire that burns the bridge.’ We go, ‘What?! Okay, we’ll write that.’ So we did.”
The song’s music video premiered on May 6, 2019. It contains live footage of Straits performing the song on his tour. This was the first single to have an official music video since his single “Living for the Night” in 2009.
Meaning Behind the Song
George Straits’ “Every Little Honky Tonk Bar” is a vivid description of what goes inside a honky-tonk bar every night.
The first verse narrates that whiskey is the catalyst for every good and bad occurrence in the bar, referring to it as “the gasoline that lights the fire that burns the bridge.” Anyone who comes inside must have a reason for finding solace and comfort in alcohol, but once consumed, people would do things they would never do sober.
On the other hand, “Stool holds the fool” simply means that whoever sits on the stool is probably drinking their sorrows away by pouring out their hearts to fellow companions, and lighting up a cigarette is their means of hiding pain.
For You
The second verse references Hank Willliam’s 1949 classic “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” indicating that customers listen to country classics to feel invincible for a while. It is impossible to resist the intoxicating bar environment, and some customers let go of their inhibitions to dance.
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Finally, when the customers leave, reality hits. Neon lights flash a hypnotic daze for them to make unwanted advances toward waitresses and bartenders the whole night. But when it all ends, they realize that they are not at all “tall and bulletproof” until somebody knocks them down a peg.
Offering a bittersweet escape, the song is one of George Strait’s ageless hits for the honky-tonk lovers. If you’re wondering what it feels like to be in the actual bar, you can vibe out at home and listen to the King of Country Music’s “Every Little Honky Tonk Bar.”
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