"Diamond Rings and Old Barstools" is a song recorded by American country music artist Tim McGraw featuring Catherine Dunn. It was released in January 2015 as the fourth and final single from his second studio album for Big Machine Records, '' Sundown Heaven Town''. The song was written by

Jonathan Singleton Jonathan Singleton is a 2 time Grammy nominated American country music singer and songwriter who resides in Nashville, TN. He also won the ACM song of the year in 2022 with “Things a Man Oughtta Know” by Lainey Wilson, and the CMA album of t ...

, Barry Dean and Luke Laird.

Content

The song is a mid-tempo ballad featuring backing vocals from McGraw's cousin, Catherine Dunn. Its lyrics mainly compare certain objects such as "midnight and cigarette smoke" and "watered-down whiskey and Coke" to illustrate a story of two people who are incompatible with each other.

Critical reception

Jon Freeman of '' Country Weekly'' gave the song an A−, saying that "It's a gorgeous production: sparse without being skeletal, warm without being overbearing and perfectly tailored to Tim's oak-aged vocals." He said of the lyrics that "Not all of the pairings in the lyric make perfect sense, but that doesn't take anything away from the overall effect and message." The song was nominated at the

58th Grammy Awards The 58th Annual Grammy Awards was held on February 15, 2016, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The ceremony recognizes the best recordings, compositions and artists of the eligibility year, which was from October 1, 2014, to September 30, 201 ...

for Best Country Song.

Music video

The music video was directed by Brian Olinger and premiered in March 2015.

Chart performance

The song has sold 298,000 copies in the US as of July 2015.

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2014 songs 2015 singles Tim McGraw songs Big Machine Records singles Male–female vocal duets Songs written by Barry Dean (songwriter) Songs written by Luke Laird Songs written by Jonathan Singleton Song recordings produced by Byron Gallimore Song recordings produced by Tim McGraw