Cleaning This Gun (Come On In Boy)

"Cleaning This Gun (Come On in Boy)"
Single by Rodney Atkins
from the album If You're Going Through Hell
Released October 1, 2007
Format CD single
Recorded 2006
Genre Country
Label Curb
Writer(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)
If You're Going Through Hell track listing
"Watching You"
(3)
"Cleaning This Gun (Come On in Boy)"
(4)
"In The Middle"
(5)

"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 teenage years. In the first verse, he admits that while he doesn't remember much from what he learned in 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 and 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!"

Chart performance

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

Year-end charts

Chart (2008) Position
US Country Songs (Billboard)[5] 9
Preceded by
"Letter to Me"
by Brad Paisley
Billboard Hot Country Songs
number-one single

March 1–March 8, 2008
Succeeded by
"All-American Girl"
by Carrie Underwood

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
United States (RIAA)[6] Gold 500,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified 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" Canadian Hot 100 for Rodney Atkins. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
  3. "Rodney Atkins – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Rodney Atkins. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
  4. "Rodney Atkins – Chart history" Billboard Hot Country Songs for Rodney Atkins. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
  5. "Best of 2008: Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2008. Retrieved December 13, 2008.
  6. "American single certifications – Rodney Atkins – Cleaning This Gun". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved September 27, 2012. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
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