"The Bartender and the Thief" is a song by Welsh rock band Stereophonics, written by the band in April 1998. The song is the second track on their second album, Performance and Cocktails (1999). "Bartender" was the first single taken from Performance and Cocktails and was released on 9 November 1998, reaching number three on the UK Singles Chart. The music video features the band playing at Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand, and is based on the Francis Ford Coppola movie Apocalypse Now.^{[citation needed]}

The track's full-length intro is only included on the CD1 single and in the music video but was edited off the 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.^[2]

The song, which is one of Stereophonics' heavier tracks, is frequently played amongst their live sets. During live performances, vocalist Kelly Jones has been known to use 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..."^{[citation needed]}

Credits are taken from the Performance and Cocktails album booklet.^[8]

Recording

• Written in April 1998
• Recorded at Real World (Bath, Somerset, England)
• Mastered at Metropolis (London, England)

Personnel