‘A Bar Song (Tipsy)’ by Shaboozey - Lyrics & Meaning

Virginia-based singer-songwriter, Shaboozey, timed the release of his viral 2024 single, ‘A Bar Song (Tipsy)’, to perfection. After building some hype via social media with his simmering, brooding ‘Let It Burn’, which dropped in October 2023, Beyoncé offered Shaboozey one of the most powerful co-signs in modern music, by recruiting the up-and-coming artist for two COWBOY CARTER cuts, ‘SWEET ★ HONEY ★ BUCKIIN’ and ‘SPAGHETTII’, towards the end of March 2024.

Two weeks later, Shaboozey dropped ‘A Bar Song (Tipsy)’ - and the rest, as they say, is history. It quickly established itself as one of the biggest releases of the year - across all genres - and surged to No. 1 on a plethora of charts including Billboard's Country Airplay, Digital Song Sales, Hot Country Songs, Country Streaming Songs and Country Digital Song Sales, as well as securing four non-consecutive weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100.

Since it's release, the uptempo track has become ubiquitous, with Shaboozey continuing the momentum by dropping his third album two months later, Where I've Been, Isn't Where I'm Going, featuring ‘A Bar Song (Tipsy)’, ’Let It Burn’ and a slew of other stand-outs showcasing Shaboozey's seamless fusion of hip hop and outlaw country.

Shaboozey weaves the melody of J-Kwon's ‘Tipsy’, into ‘A Bar Song (Tipsy)’, with the ‘Let It Burn’ crooner transforming the 2004 rap hit into a classic country drinking soundtrack.

Shaboozey's signature laid-back cadence injects a sense of playfulness and swagger into ‘A Bar Song (Tipsy)’, with the fast-emerging artist's charismatic delivery cushioned by the energising claps, the driving drum pattern and the easygoing acoustic guitar.

“My baby want a Birkin, she's been tellin' me all night long

Gasoline and groceries, the list goes on and on

This 9 to 5 ain't workin', why the hell do I work so hard?

I can't worry 'bout my problems, I can't take 'em when I'm gone, uh”

Shaboozey opens ‘A Bar Song (Tipsy)’ by lamenting how his girlfriend keeps begging him to buy her a Birkin - a notoriously expensive Hermes bag that costs thousands of dollars. He piles this atop his extensive list of financial worries, with Shaboozey questioning why he puts so much into his day-to-day job, when it barely leaves him enough money to buy necessities such as “gasoline and groceries”.

He performs an about-turn, and decides to dismiss his collection of concerns, using the logic that he can't take them with him when he dies, so why worry about them now?

“One, here comes the two to the three to the four

Tell 'em bring another out, we need plenty more

Two steppin' on the table, she don't need a dancefloor

Oh my, good Lord”

This sets up the party-starting ambience of the bridge, which begins with another homage to J-Kwon's ‘Tipsy’. Shaboozey uses the same lyric, “One, here comes the two to the three to the four”, before asking the bartender to hurry up with his drinks.

Even the reference to the famous Texas two-step is a nod to J-Kwon's club track, with the St. Louis rapper kicking off his 2004 chart-topper by repeating, “Two-step with me”. The now-iconic ‘Oh my, good Lord’ line recurs throughout ‘A Bar Song (Tipsy)’.

“Someone pour me up a double shot of whiskey

They know me and Jack Daniels got a history

There's a party downtown near Fifth Street

Everybody at the bar gettin' tipsy

Everybody at the bar gettin' tipsy

Everybody at the bar gettin' tipsy”

The infectious hook pivots around Shaboozey's love of Jack Daniels whiskey, inviting someone to pour him a double-shot, before teasing that he's got a long-standing history with Jack, implying it's his drink of choice. He explains the party is taking place in Nashville near Fifth Street - which made Shaboozey's Music City performance of ‘A Bar Song (Tipsy)’ at CMA Fest 2024 all the more special.

“I've been Boozey since I've left, I ain't changin' for a check

Tell my ma I ain't forget (oh, Lord)

Woke up drunk at 10 am, we gon' do this shit again

Tell your girl to bring a friend (oh, Lord)”

In the second verse Shaboozey reminds the listener that any success he enjoys won't change who he is, with the genre-blender hoping his mother knows this is the case.

He then quickly shifts the focus back to the party, with Shaboozey waking up still drunk the next day, before resolving to keep the good vibes going again this evening.

Shaboozey wants to ensure there are plenty of pretty women at the bar tonight, so he addresses the male attendees and tells them to make sure their girlfriends bring their friends.

“One, here comes the two to the three to the four

When it's last call and they kick us out the door

It's gettin' kind of late but the ladies want some more

Oh my, good Lord”

He delivers a variation of the earlier bridge here, again outlining his intentions to stay drinking in the bar as long as possible, remarking that they're about to get kicked out but the women he's been partying with aren't ready to call it quits just yet - with the implication being he's broken up with the girlfriend that wanted the Birkin at the start. The theme of endless celebration and refusing to return to real-world problems helps to make ’A Bar Song (Tipsy)’ an archetypal escapist anthem.

In a 2024 interview with Billboard, Shaboozey revealed what inspired him to interpolate J-Kwon's club-ready 2004 hit, ‘Tipsy’, for ‘A Bar Song (Tipsy’, “I had been wanting to flip a 2000s song for a while. I just said, ‘Everybody at the bar getting tipsy,’ and then we were like, ‘Oh, shit!’ The producer picked up the guitar and started playing the chords, and then we started writing, just having fun and being creative”.

In the same article, Shaboozey touched on how J-Kwon has regularly reached out to express his appreciation for the homage, with the rapper even “more excited” than Shaboozey about the track. Shaboozey underlined, “Feeling like you did the song you’re flipping justice and then getting that co-sign, not everybody gets that”.

“My baby want a Birkin, she's been tellin' me all night long

Gasoline and groceries, the list goes on and on

This 9 to 5 ain't workin', why the hell do I work so hard?

I can't worry 'bout my problems, I can't take 'em when I'm gone, uh

-

One, here comes the two to the three to the four

Tell 'em bring another out, we need plenty more

Two steppin' on the table, she don't need a dancefloor

Oh my, good Lord

-

Someone pour me up a double shot of whiskey

They know me and Jack Daniels got a history

There's a party downtown near Fifth Street

Everybody at the bar gettin' tipsy

Everybody at the bar gettin' tipsy

Everybody at the bar gettin' tipsy

-

I've been Boozey since I've left, I ain't changin' for a check

Tell my ma I ain't forget (oh, Lord)

Woke up drunk at 10 am, we gon' do this shit again

Tell your girl to bring a friend (oh, Lord)

-

One, here comes the two to the three to the four

Tell 'em bring another out, we need plenty more

Two steppin' on the table, she don't need a dancefloor

Oh my, good Lord

-

Someone pour me up a double shot of whiskey (double shot of whiskey)

They know me and Jack Daniels got a history (we go way back)

There's a party downtown near Fifth Street (okay, let's go)

Everybody at the bar gettin' tipsy (at the bar gettin' tipsy)

Everybody at the bar gettin' tipsy (at the bar gettin' tipsy)

Everybody at the bar gettin' tipsy

-

One, here comes the two to the three to the four

When it's last call and they kick us out the door

It's gettin' kind of late but the ladies want some more

Oh my, good Lord

-

Someone pour me up a double shot of whiskey (double shot of whiskey)

They know me and Jack Daniels got a history (way back)

There's a party downtown near Fifth Street (come on)

Everybody at the bar gettin' tipsy (ooh)

-

Someone pour me up a double shot of whiskey (double shot of whiskey)

They know me and Jack Daniels got a history (me and J.D.)

At the bottom of a bottle gon' miss me (they gon' miss me)

Everybody at the bar gettin' tipsy (bar gettin' tipsy)

Everybody at the bar gettin' tipsy

Everybody at the bar gettin' tipsy”

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