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“Honky tonk”

FlickShagwell

HR Legend
Jun 16, 2003
42,785
75,453
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Omaha, NE
We’ve had workers in our house for weeks now who listen to contemporary country music and apparently the phrase “honky tonk” is required to be in every single song. I’ve literally never heard another human utter this is real life, though. What the hell is honky tonk, and is it a thing people actually say outside of country music?
 
We’ve had workers in our house for weeks now who listen to contemporary country music and apparently the phrase “honky tonk” is required to be in every single song. I’ve literally never heard another human utter this is real life, though. What the hell is honky tonk, and is it a thing people actually say outside of country music?
What? You don’t tonk honkies? That’s raciss!!!
 
Great sad song:



She's in some honky tonk tonight I know
She's dancing where the music's loud and lights're low
In a crowded bar she likes to hang around
And as long as there's a honky tonk she'll never settle down
So close up the honky tonks lock all the doors
Don't let the one I love go there anymore
Close up the honky tonks throw away the key
Then maybe the one I love will come back to me
I wish I had the power to turn back the time
And live again the hours when she was all mine
But it hurts to see her running with that crowd downtown
And as long as there's a honky tonk she'll never settle down
So close up the honky tonks...
 
Nothing like the OG....
Gilleys.jpg
 
Redneck word for a bar where country music is played. Heard it many times growing up in Nashville.
 
Flick, it's not as bad as my electrician - a dude who i've had beers with for 15 years and never uttered a word about politics - who comes over to do work and has to listen to MAGA radio as loud as his bluetooth speaker will go. 'Strangest thing when he gets done and we go have beers and talk about baseball after that
 
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Several years ago I found this 78 rpm record, the very first to feature the words ‘honky tonk’, 1937.

 
Great sad song:



She's in some honky tonk tonight I know
She's dancing where the music's loud and lights're low
In a crowded bar she likes to hang around
And as long as there's a honky tonk she'll never settle down
So close up the honky tonks lock all the doors
Don't let the one I love go there anymore
Close up the honky tonks throw away the key
Then maybe the one I love will come back to me
I wish I had the power to turn back the time
And live again the hours when she was all mine
But it hurts to see her running with that crowd downtown
And as long as there's a honky tonk she'll never settle down
So close up the honky tonks...
This song references that Buck Owens original.
 
The bars on Broadway in Nashville are collectively referred to as "Honky Tonks" and if you go out on Broadway, you're "Honky Tonkin'". That said, no individual bar is referred to as a Honky Tonk.
 
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