Described as "classic UK rock delivered with whiskey vocals", the band have been summarised as possessing a sound akin to the genres of alternative rock and "British traditional rock". Stereophonics' debut album, Word Gets Around, was released in August 1997 and charted at number six in the UK, aided by the singles "Local Boy in the Photograph", "More Life in a Tramps Vest" and "A Thousand Trees". The band reached mainstream success with the release of Performance and Cocktails (and its promotional singles "The Bartender and the Thief", "Just Looking" and "Pick a Part That's New") in 1999 and have achieved a total of ten top-ten singles as well as one number one: "Dakota" (2005). Having sold around 10 million copies worldwide by 2016, Stereophonics are one of the most successful Welsh rock acts. Upon their release of Pull the Pin, they achieved five consecutive UK number one albums.
The band have also been praised for their live performances, which have landed them headlining slots at many of the UK and Ireland's most high-profile music festivals, including Reading and Leeds in 2000, Glastonbury in 2002, V Festival in 2002, the Isle of Wight in 2004 and 2009, Oxegen in 2010, Tramlines Festival and TRNSMT in 2018, and Latitude in 2019. The band is part of the Cardiff music scene.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereophonics
Studio albums
Word Gets Around (1997)
Performance and Cocktails (1999)
Just Enough Education to Perform (2001)
You Gotta Go There to Come Back (2003)
Language. Sex. Violence. Other? (2005)
Pull the Pin (2007)
Keep Calm and Carry On (2009)
Graffiti on the Train (2013)
Keep the Village Alive (2015)
Scream Above the Sounds (2017)
Kind (2019)
Oochya! (2022)
Bartender and the Thief
Stereophonics Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
He's watching every word you say, yeah
Say yeah
And when he's sussed you out
He calls her up and out she comes and hustles
Us
Long digging
Love drinking
The bartender and the thief are lovers
Steal what they need like sisters and brothers
Met in a church a night to remember
Robbing the graves of bodies dismembered
He watched the lesbian talk
She kissed and groped but mostly talked in lust
Crushed
He couldn't make the call
His eyes were gripped on licking tongues
Enough's enough
Failed for once
Long digging
Gone fishing
Love drinking
The bartender and the thief are lovers
Steal what they need like sisters and brothers
Met in a church a night to remember
Robbing the graves of bodies dismembered
Long digging
Gone fishing
Love drinking
The bartender and the thief are lovers
Steal what they need like sisters and brothers
Met in a church a night to remember
Robbing the graves of bodies dismembered
Saved what they stole to meet at the altar
Place where they first set eyes on each other
Flew to the sun to start life all over
Set up a bar and robbed all the locals
Doo, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo
Doo, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo
Doo, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo
Doo, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo
The lyrics of the song "Bartender and the Thief" by Stereophonics tell the story of an unlikely love affair between a bartender and a thief. The first verse describes how the bartender has some sort of connection with someone who is spying on him and reports to her when he is suspicious of something. The next verse describes how the thief steals what they need and behave like siblings. The chorus proclaims that they met in church and took things to a new level by robbing graves.
The second verse tells the story of the thief watching a lesbian proposition a bartender and getting in on the action. However, the thief couldn't make the call himself because he was too busy watching the action. In the final verse, the two main characters save the things they have stolen, meet at the altar, and fly off to start a new life together. They open up a bar and proceed to rob everyone in town. The meaning of the song is unclear, but it could be about a dangerous love affair or people who are willing to go to great lengths to get what they want.
Line by Line Meaning
When you think about it
Reflecting on the situation
He's watching every word you say, yeah
He is very attentive to your every word
Say yeah
Agree with him
And when he's sussed you out
When he has figured you out
He calls her up and out she comes and hustles
He calls his accomplice and together they perform their theft
Us
Their potential victims
Long digging
Struggling for a long time
Gone fishing
Taking a break
Love drinking
Getting drunk together
The bartender and the thief are lovers
The two criminals are in love with each other
Steal what they need like sisters and brothers
They will do anything to get what they want from their victims
Met in a church a night to remember
They first met while committing a crime in a church
Robbing the graves of bodies dismembered
They have robbed graves and stolen from the dead
He watched the lesbian talk
He observed a conversation between two women
She kissed and groped but mostly talked in lust
One of the women was sexually explicit
Crushed
He was disappointed
He couldn't make the call
He couldn't execute his plan
His eyes were gripped on licking tongues
He was focused on the sexual communication between the two women
Enough's enough
He decided to give up
Saved what they stole to meet at the altar
They stored their stolen goods to exchange at a later time
Place where they first set eyes on each other
The location where they met for the first time
Flew to the sun to start life all over
They attempted to start anew but were ultimately unsuccessful
Set up a bar and robbed all the locals
They established a bar and continued their criminal activity
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Kelly Jones, Stuart Cable, Richard Mark Jones
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@jackt.ripper7272
The Bartender and the Thief
When you think about it he's watching every word you say, dazed
And when he's sussed you out he calls her up, and out she comes and hustles us
Long digging, gone fishing, love drinking
The bartender and the thief are lovers, steal what they need like sisters and brothers, met in a church a night to remember, robbing the graves of bodies dismembered
He watched the lesbian talk, she kissed and groped but mostly talked in lust, crushed
He couldn't make the call, his eyes were gripped on licking tongues, enough's enough
Failed for once
Long digging, gone fishing, love drinking
The bartender and the thief are lovers, steal what they need like sisters and
brothers, met in a church a night to remember, robbing the graves of bodies dismembered
Long digging, gone fishing, love drinking
The bartender and the thief are lovers, steal what they need like sisters and
brothers, met in a church a night to remember, robbing the graves of bodies dismembered
Saved what they stole to meet at the altar, place where they first set eyes on each other
Flew to the sun to start life all over, set up a bar and robbed all the locals
Doo-doo-n-doo-doo-doo
@me-pn5lu
When you think about it he's watching every word you say hey dazed
And when he's sussed you out he calls her up and out she comes and hustles us
Long digging gone fishing love drinking
The bartender and the thief are lovers
Steal what they need like sisters and brothers
Met in a church a night to remember
Robbing the graves of bodies dismembered
He watched the lesbian talk she kissed and groped but mostly talked in lust crushed
He couldn't make the call his eyes were gripped on licking tongues enough's enough
Failed for once
Long digging gone fishing love drinking
The bartender and the thief are lovers
Steal what they need like sisters and brothers
Met in a church a night to remember
Robbing the graves of bodies dismembered
Long digging gone fishing love drinking
The bartender and the thief are lovers
Steal what they need like sisters and brothers
Met in a church a night to remember
Robbing the graves of bodies dismembered
Saved what they stole to meet at the alter
Place where they first set eyes on each other
Flew to the sun to start life all over
Set up a bar and robbed all the locals
@Boabywankenobi
I spent about 3 hours in 1998 waiting for this song to come on Donna Air's MTV show so I could record it on VCR. The song that turned me on to Drop-D tuning. Many years later, the great Chris Cornell said Kelly was the best singer he'd heard in years. That's enough sign off as you'll ever need.
@paulonline123
ahah I used to do the same thing! MTV Select with the delectable Donna Air.
@omadamadao4429
Drop d, i thought it was only use for metal riffs,
@raulvegafonseca4334
The (main) tuning of Soundgarden by the way. Those are my two favourite bands!!!! I do love them
@jharri7908
I stole this album from hmv Brent Cross
@Boabywankenobi
@@omadamadao4429 Ironically, it was an issue of Metal Hammer that had the tab for this, that's how I found out.
@TheIkaraCult
First two Phonics albums are absolute gold
@brianlaudrupchannel
So are the rest
@TheMusicalElitist
@@brianlaudrupchannelnot really
@cliffschofield6230
21 seconds build up to an okay tune song - wonkrs u an' all