"A Guy Walks Into a Bar" is a song written by Jonathan Singleton, Melissa Peirce and Brad Tursi, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist

Tyler Farr Tyler Lynn Farr (born February 5, 1984) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Originally signed to BNA Records Farr released two singles for the label before it closed. He transferred to Columbia Records Nashville, releasing two a ...

. It was released on August 18, 2014 as the lead single to Farr's second studio album ''

Suffer in Peace ''Suffer in Peace'' is the second studio album by American country music artist Tyler Farr, released on April 28, 2015, through Columbia Nashville. Following the success of his 2013 debut effort '' Redneck Crazy'', Farr reteamed with producers ...

'' (2015). It utilizes the bar joke as a setting for a brokenhearted man at a bar. The song received positive reviews from critics who praised Farr's vocal performance over heartfelt lyrics. "A Guy Walks Into a Bar" gave Farr his first number one country hit on the ''Billboard''

Country Airplay Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since October 20, 2012, although the magazine also retrospectively recognizes the Hot Country Songs charts from January 20, 1990, through October 13, 2012, ...

chart. Its 42-week climb to number one is considered the fifth longest climb in that chart's 25-year history. The song also reached numbers seven and 51 on both the

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

and

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

charts respectively. It was certified Gold by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA), denoting sales of over 500,000 units in the country. The song also charted in Canada, reaching number nine on the

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

chart and number 67 on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007 as the standard record chart in Canada; a new chart ...

. It received a Gold certification from

Music Canada Music Canada is a non-profit Industry trade group, trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 in Toronto to represent the interests of companies that record, manufacture, produce, and distribute music in Canada. It also offers benefits to s ...

, denoting shipments of over 40,000 units in that country. An accompanying music video for the song, directed by Jeff Venable, features Farr as a bartender attempting to get the attention of a woman he sees at a bar.

Content

The song uses the

bar joke A bar joke is a type of joke cycle. The basic syntax is as follows: "A walks into a bar and ". First recorded example The earliest known example of a bar joke is Sumerian, appearing in the form of two slightly different versions of a proverb ...

as a setting for a brokenhearted man in a bar. It is in the key of

C major C major is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and its parallel min ...

with a moderate tempo and a main chord pattern of C-G4-F2.

Critical reception

Billy Dukes of ''

Taste of Country Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wit ...

'' gave the song a favorable review, saying that "While the lyrics are sharp, it's the singer's delivery that makes this song cook…'A Guy Walks Into a Bar' finds him throwing himself into the emotion of a song like never before." Verity Magazine rated it 4.5 out of 5, calling it "organic and genuine with its heartfelt lyrics", also saying that "Farr’s aching voice over the strumming guitar makes it a genuine, heartfelt track that captivates listeners." In 2017, ''Billboard'' contributor

Chuck Dauphin Charles Frederick Dauphin III (February 17, 1974 – September 18, 2019) was an American sports and country music journalist. He was a radio broadcaster for WDKN in Dickson, Tennessee for 18 years, a radio show host and sports director at WNKX i ...

put "A Guy Walks Into a Bar" at number three on his top 10 list of Farr's best songs.

Commercial performance

"A Guy Walks Into a Bar" became Farr's first number one country hit on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

chart. It reached that position on the week of May 30, 2015, which is its forty-second week on the chart, and the fifth longest climb to number one in the Country Airplay chart's 25-year history. As of 2024, it remains Farr's only number one single. On the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, the single debuted at number 97 on the week of January 17, 2015. It peaked at number 51 the week of May 23, and remained on the chart for twenty weeks. The song was certified gold by the

(RIAA) on April 17, 2015. It has sold over 500,000 copies in the US as of June 2015. On the week of April 18, 2015, the track debuted at number 99 on the Canadian Hot 100 before leaving the next week. It reappeared the week of May 2 at number 87, reached number 67 the week of June 20, and remained on the chart for nine weeks. "A Guy Walks Into a Bar" was certified gold by

on October 27, 2017.

Music video

Jeff Venable directed the song's

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

. The video has Farr playing the role of a bartender who attempts to get the attention of a woman he sees sitting with her friend. He stops a bar brawl from happening but feels sad when he sees the woman chatting with someone he assumes is her boyfriend. While closing up the bar, Farr sees a piece of paper that unfolds into showing a phone number, belonging to the woman who enters the bar waiting for him, and Farr smiles when he turns around to see her.

Live performance

On April 28, 2015 Farr promoted the release of ''Suffer in Peace'' by performing the song live on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

's ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

''.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guy Walks Into A Bar 2014 singles 2014 songs Tyler Farr songs Columbia Records singles Country ballads Song recordings produced by Julian King (recording engineer) Songs written by Melissa Peirce Songs written by Jonathan Singleton Songs written by Brad Tursi