"Ships That Don't Come In" is a song 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 ...

singer

Joe Diffie Joe Logan Diffie (December 28, 1958 – March 29, 2020) was an American country music singer and songwriter. After working as a demo (music), demo singer in the mid 1980s, he signed with Epic Records' Nashville division in 1990. Between then and ...

that reached the Top 5 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 ...

Hot Country Singles & Tracks 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. ...

(now

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. ...

) chart in 1992. It was released in April 1992 as the second single from his album '' Regular Joe''. The song was written by Paul Nelson and Dave Gibson the latter of whom was also recording for Epic as a member of the

Gibson/Miller Band Gibson/Miller Band was an American country music band founded in 1990 by Dave Gibson and Bill "Blue" Miller, the latter of whom was a former guest musician in rock musician Bob Seger's Silver Bullet Band. Both Gibson and Miller served as vocalis ...

at the time.

Content

The song features two men philosophizing about the nature of life while having a conversation at a bar.

Music video

The music video was directed by Jack Cole and premiered in mid-1992.

Chart performance

The song debuted at number 68 on the

chart dated April 18, 1992. It charted for 20 weeks on that chart, reaching its peak of number 5 on the chart dated July 11, 1992.

Year-end charts

Other versions

Toby Keith Toby Keith Covel (July 8, 1961 – February 5, 2024) was an American country music singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and businessman. Keith released his chart-topping debut single, "Should've Been a Cowboy", in 1993. During the 1990s ...

and

Luke Combs Luke Albert Combs (born March 2, 1990) is an American country music, country singer. He was born in North Carolina and grew up there, performing as a child. After leaving college to pursue a career in music, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, Nas ...

covered the song on '' Hixtape: Vol. 3: Difftape''. This recording was Keith's final studio recording before his death on February 5, 2024.

References

External links

Lyrics
at CMT.com 1992 singles Joe Diffie songs Luke Combs songs Toby Keith songs Song recordings produced by Bob Montgomery (songwriter) Epic Records singles Songs written by Paul Nelson (songwriter) Songs written by Dave Gibson (American songwriter) 1992 songs Songs about old age {{1992-country-song-stub