Cleaning This Gun (Come On In Boy)

Add links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
"Cleaning This Gun (Come On in Boy)"
Single by Rodney Atkins
from the album If You're Going Through Hell
ReleasedOctober 1, 2007
Recorded2006
GenreCountry
Length3:46
LabelCurb
Songwriter(s)Casey Beathard
Marla Cannon-Goodman
Producer(s)Ted Hewitt
Rodney Atkins
Rodney Atkins singles chronology
"These Are My People"
(2007) 		"Cleaning This Gun (Come On in Boy)"
(2007) 		"
Invisibly Shaken
"
(2008)

"Cleaning This Gun (Come On in Boy)" is a song written by Casey Beathard and Marla Cannon-Goodman, and recorded by American country music artist Rodney Atkins. It was released in October 2007 as the fourth from his album If You're Going Through Hell. The song became Atkins' fourth consecutive number one hit on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, tying a record for most number ones from a country album since Tim McGraw's Set This Circus Down in 2001–2002.[1]

Content

The song begins with the narrator's recollections of his

high school, one thing he does remember is the speech given to him by his girlfriend's father after meeting him for the first time—a speech meant to instill fear in the boy so that he doesn't misbehave when he's with the girl, ending with "I'll see you when you get back / Bet I'll be up all night still cleanin' this gun
."

In the second verse, the narrator, who's now a father himself, confesses that he's "scared to death" that his own daughter is going to find a boyfriend who was just like him when he was in high school ("That teenage boy I used to be / Seems to have just one thing on his mind"), and he'll need to give that same speech to his daughter's boyfriend.

In a short bridge later in the song, the narrator admits that the approach is merely to intimidate the young suitor, but that it's extremely effective ("It's all for show, ain't nobody gonna get hurt / It's just a Daddy thing, but hey, believe me: man, it works").

The song concludes with the narrator speaking to the boyfriend with "Yeah, son, y'all buckle up and have her back by 10, uh, let's say about 9:30. Drive safe!"

In popular culture

Chart performance

Chart (2007–2008) Peak
position
Canada
Country (Billboard)[2]
 5
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[3] 84
US Billboard Hot 100[4] 40
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[5] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (2008) Rank
US Country Songs (Billboard)[6] 9

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[7] Platinum 1,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ Horner, Alanna (2008-04-07). "Story Behind the Song". Country Weekly. 15 (7): 15.
  2. ^ "Rodney Atkins Chart History (Canada Country)". Billboard.
  3. ^ "Rodney Atkins Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
  4. ^ "Rodney Atkins Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
  5. ^ "Rodney Atkins Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
  6. ^ "Best of 2008: Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2008. Retrieved December 13, 2008.
  7. ^ "American single certifications – Rodney Atkins – Cleaning This Gun". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cleaning_This_Gun_(Come_On_In_Boy)&oldid=1079396013"