What's the derivation of the generic admonition "you're going to crash on the barrelhead?" Best I can tell it's a warning about regretting, or facing the consequences of, one's actions - but why "barrelhead?" Anybody know?

Thanks!

I've never heard this one. The expression I know is "cash on the barrelhead", which means to pay promptly and on receipt of goods.
Welcome to the board, aquilegia!

So maybe one of the rash actions that one might suffer for would be buying on credit? Or drinking too much root beer? (There's a brand called Barrelhead.) Thanks for the welcome - I look forward to learning lots of interesting stuff!

"Crash on the barrelhead" seems to be a song by Old 97. Gets about 3500 hits on Google. Attempts to limit the search by excluding "Old 97" or "Fight Songs" (the album "Crash …" is on) seem to do nothing to eliminate references to the song but do reduce the hit count somewhat. There may be a hit or two that use the phrase independently but I'm not going to dig for it. I suspect the origin is in a damp squid for Elizabeth's "cash on the barrelhead."

Aquilegia, that's a good one, EC; good to see you here, too!

Welcome, columbine. I looked through the first four pages that Google brought up, and ALL of the listings referred to a song. For reasons that I don't particularly care to find out, whoever wrote it surely must have changed the phrase 'cash on the barrelhead'.

Late edit: sorry for mantling you, Faldage--I didn't see yours at the time mine posted. Caught myself in a typo, too.

like elizabeth, i'd say its a misheard expression.

in the days of railroad shipment, you could 'pay' the railroad for the goods, as well as the frieght, and things were shipped to distant towns

once there, you could see and inspect the goods, (and many goods were shipped in barrels besides food goods) if the good met your approval, you paid right then and there (using the barrel head as a 'cash desk/work table'.

portand cement is still sold (in most masonary yards) in 90lb bags--why 90 lb and not 100? cause 90 lbs is 1/4 of a barrel! buy (for cash) when you see it, not mail order (send me the money, and i'll send you the good) was the commonest way to buy good in the 19th century.

* Cash for the merchandise, cash for the button hooks
* Cash for the cotton goods, cash for the hard goods
* Cash for the fancy goods
* Cash for the noggins and the piggins and the frikins
* Cash for the hogshead, cask and demijohn. Cash for
the crackers and the pickles and the flypaper.
* Look whaddaya talk, whaddaya talk, whaddaya talk,
whaddaya talk, whaddaya talk?
* Wheredayagitit?
* Whaddaya talk?
* Ya can talk, ya can talk, ya can bicker, ya can talk,
ya can bicker, bicker, bicker, ya can talk, ya can talk, ya can talk,
talk, talk, talk, bicker, bicker, bicker, ya can talk all ya wanna
but it's different than it was
* No it ain't, no it ain't, but you gotta know the territory
* Why it's the Model T Ford, made the trouble, made the
people wanna go, wanna get, wanna get, wanna get up and go,
seven, eight, nine, ten, twelve, fourteen, twenty-two, twenty-
three miles to the county seat
* Yes sir, yes sir
* Who's gonna patronize a little bitty two by four kinda
store anymore?
* Whaddaya talk, whaddaya talk,
* Where do you get it?
* Gone, gone, gone with the hogshead cask and demijohn,
gone with the sugar barrel, pickle barrel, milk pan, gone with the tub
and the pail and the tierce
* Ever meet a fellow by the name of Hill?
* Hill?
* Hill?
* Hill?
* Hill?
* Hill?
* Hill?
* Hill?
* Hill?
* No!

that's what I thought of, too, TEd.

I'm starting to think that the guy who said his father warned him "you're gonna crash on the barrelhead" is just an Old 97 fan, since he himself said he had no clue what it meant and is given to making up stories! And that Old 97 are more concerned with kegs than barrels per se (or, as I see all too often, "per say... as in according to what was actually said!")

FWIW I think the band name is plural, the Old 97s.

I like their song "Murder (or a Heart Attack)" which, despite its ominous sounding title, is a cute little ditty about a pet gone AWOL.