"The Bartender and the Thief" is a 1998 single by Welsh rock band Stereophonics. It was the first single taken from their second album Performance and Cocktails. It was released on 9 November 1998 and reached #3 in the UK charts.

The song is the second track on the Performance and Cocktails album. A live version from Cardiff Castle is available on CD2 of the single. Another live version from Sheffield Arena is on the "Moviestar" single. A bar version of the song is on CD 1 of the "I Wouldn't Believe Your Radio" single.

The music video features the band playing at Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand and is based on the Francis Ford Coppola movie, Apocalypse Now.

The song, which is one of their heavier tracks, is frequently played amongst their live sets. During live performances, vocalist Kelly Jones has been known to utilise the two bars without vocals before the final chorus to reference the Motörhead song "Ace of Spades". The lyrics therefore are "The ace of spades, the ace of spades. The bartender and the thief were lovers..."

Strangely, the song's full length intro only featured on the CD1 single (and in the music video), but was edited off the Performance & Cocktails album.

Welsh PDC Darts player Mark Webster uses this track as his entrance music. An instrumental version of the song is featured in the European version of the PlayStation racing game Gran Turismo 2.

sales+streaming figures based on certification alone

...
Wikipedia