Got nuthin, but freaked to learn that awesomely macabre SNL writer Micheal O’Donohue would write a song that was sung by Dolly Parton.
A couple by Gaelic Storm:
Johnny Tarr I suppose strictly speaking we don’t know for sure that the tale-teller is in a bar, but I think it counts.
The Night I punched Russell Crowe - allegedly a real event. Look for the live versions for the whole story.
It’s not explicitly stated, but I’m pretty sure Milord, most famously sung by Edith Piaf, is set in a bar.
If the video is anything to go by, Oliver’s Army (Elvis Costello) takes place in a pub. It’s a sales pitch from an army recruiter to one of Britain’s surplus unemployable young men.
Let’s Do Something Cheap And Superficial, Burt Reynolds
Fifteen Beers Ago, Ben Colder
“Whiskey Glasses” by Morgan Wallen
Come a Little Bit Closer by Jay and the Americans.
Rednecks White Socks and Blue Ribbon Beer - Johnny Russell
Not a C&W hit, but still a tale of love lost: “At the Copa (Copa Cabana),” assuming that a nightclub qualifies as a bar, since it clearly has a bar in it.
Of course, the club is now a disco, but Lola is still there, propped up at the bar and drinking herself half-blind…
A bit late, but I’m just listening to it and remembered this thread:
Thelonious Monster (with Tom Waits) - Adios Lounge
Oh, I got one more, a German classic, Griechischer Wein (Greek Wine) by Udo Jürgens. It’s considered the first popular song addressing the plight of the so called Gastarbeiter in Germany, taking place in an immigrant greek tavern a domestic man stumbles in one night by chance. It was a monster hit.
There are many bar scenes in the video for Too Much Time On My Hands by Styx.
The video Bad to the Bone by George Thorogood takes place in a pool hall.
‘There Stands the Glass” by Webb Pierce
“Cantina Band”, from Star Wars soundtrack.
Not any mention of a bar. Could be drinking at a party. Or in the park. Or at home.
Cold Chisel’s “Star Hotel”
“ All last night we were learning
Drank our cheques at the bar.
Somewhere bridges were burning
As the walls came down at the Star”
The Star was a live venue pub in Newcastle. Cold Chisel played there on the last night before it closed and then the locals rioted. Over 4,000 people involved and likely the biggest riot in Australian history,
John Schumann’s “The glass on the bar” is set entirely in a bush shanty.
Mojo Nixon’s Are You Drinking With Me Jesus. Love it, especially the ending:
Should we take a cab home Jesus?
Man, we can hoof it from here
I know You can walk on the water
But can You walk on this much beer?
Are you drinkin’ with me Jesus?
I can’t see You very clear?