Mini Playlist: Barroom Smackdowns

Ah, the bar: location of our greatest triumphs, and more often than not, our most embarrassing downfalls. Luckily, embarrassing downfalls are always more palatable when they happen to somebody else. After all, we can’t all be smooth like George Strait in “The Chair” or as sultry as Alison Krauss’ “Let Me Touch You For A While.” So give a listen to these songs and revel in the sweet, sweet schadenfreude. Just remember: What goes around, comes around.

• 5. “The Hellbound Train” – Those Poor Bastards
  The gothic country duo tackles the classic poem/folksong about a drunkard who falls asleep on the pub’s floor and dreams of the horrific Hellbound Train. Being sentenced to eternal damnation is probably the worst barroom smackdown possible, but this song is ever so catchy.
• 4. “Kiss This” – Aaron Tippin
  Told from the perspective of the bartender, a gal delivers the smackdown to her cheating man in a crowded bar. The song was actually co-written by Tippin and his wife, Thea. Hmm…
• 3. “I’m Gonna Take You Home (And Make You Like Me)” – Robbie Fulks
  This fella gets so drunk he doesn’t know the woman he’s shamelessly hitting on…is his wife. Hoo boy. Fulks’ duet partner is actually real life wife Donna.
• 2. “What Part of No” – Lorrie Morgan
  This one is Morgan’s best known hits, not to mention one of the most memorable songs of the ’90s. Rarely has a smackdown sounded sweeter.
• 1. “Me Neither” – Brad Paisley
  Hilarious, one-sided dialogue delivered with Paisley’s trademark self-deprecating charm. It’s hard to imagine a girl who could turn Brad down, but considering that “Me Neither” is one of only two Paisley singles to miss the Top 10 (it peaked at #18), it seems that quite a few ladies–and dudes–passed this one up.

Listen to this playlist on Rhapsody