Songfacts®:

• This love-lost anthem finds Jason Aldean singing of a man who is in denial that he's coping with a breakup.
  
  I stay 'til they're all long gone
  And I take the long way home
  But I ain't sittin' 'round
  Tryin' to drown the thought of you
  Ask any ol' barstool
  
  "The guy is just trying to convince her that he's doing fine, not drinking too much. It's one of things we've all been through in some way," Aldean explained. "Plus, that traditional feel is the country music I grew up on and has always been important to me to include on our albums. I love that stuff."
• The song was written by "Beer on the Table" and "Way Out Here" singer Josh Thompson with Canadian songwriter Deric Ruttan. It was the first time that the duo had written together. Ruttan recalled to The Boot:
  
  "I thought we were writing for Josh when we went in... We got in there, and he threw out that title.
  
  Josh is from Wisconsin; I'm from Canada. I think initially we bonded over our love of snow tires, and the fact that we know how to drive in the snow. But as a Canadian, I really felt like a song about being drunk for multiple days in a row — I just really bonded with that idea, and I identified with it, culturally, as a Canadian, because we drink a lot. [Laughs]"
  
• This is Jason Aldean's second recording to include a barstool in the title. Back in 2010 he laid down a track, "Church Pew Or Barstool," for My Kinda Party.
  
  Tim McGraw has also recorded a song titled after the tall chair. In 2014 he cut "Diamond Rings and Old Barstools" for his Sundown Heaven album.
• The song is one of the more traditional country-sounding tracks on They Don't Know. "Every once in a while, I like to pull those out, like 'The Truth,'" Aldean told Radio.com. "It's one of those break-up songs that we country fans love. [The guy in the song is] talking about how he's not really letting her know how bad she's crushed him. 'If you don't believe me, ask any old barstool.' He's been hitting every bar in town."
  
  "It brings me back to my country roots," he added. "I love playing the heavier rock and roll things. But I love country music, and everyone once in a while it's fun to go back and [play] something a little more traditional and remind people this is what I love as well."
• It wasn't long after Thompson and Ruttan demoed the tune that Aldean got to hear it through his producer Michael Knox. The rest is history. Ruttan said:
  
  "I think [Aldean] has always been a fan of traditional country music, and I think this is one of those songs that kind of spoke to him. It had those elements, but still, with the chorus the way it is, to me, it always kind of had that angst and a little bit of aggression that also suits his sound, sonically. To me, I think that's why it was a great marriage of song and artist."