by Julian Spivey Note: portions of this article have previously been published on this site 30. "Life Ain't Fair and the World Is Mean" by Sturgill Simpson (2013) “The most outlaw thing I’ve ever done was give a good woman a ring” The title “Life Ain’t Fair & the World is Mean” off Sturgill Simpson’s debut solo album High Top Mountain in 2013 is the perfect way to some up country music in the decade. The great stuff was hard to find and certainly not in the mainstream – and this song kind of gets at the reasons why because true artistry can’t just be bottled and sold because it can’t be easily harnessed by the suits. One of my absolute favorite lyrics of the decade is: “the most outlaw thing I’ve ever done was give a good woman a ring.” That is pretty outlaw. 29. "Ho Hey" by The Lumineers (2012) "I belong with you/You belong with me/You're my sweetheart" It’s not often that something in the folk/Americana world can take the pop world by storm, but that’s exactly what happened with “Ho Hey” by The Lumineers in 2012. The Lumineers were riding the wave of pop-indie-folk led by British band Mumford & Sons, but in my opinion were actually doing a better job at crafting stories and have done a better job since of remaining true to themselves. The Lumineers certainly craft earworms that get stuck in your head and stay there, and “Ho Hey” was the first and possibly greatest of these, but they aren’t just catchy little ditties, as they often get into the intricacies of relationships with a bit more substance than typical top-40 tunes. 28. "Thoughts & Prayers" by Will Hoge (2018) "Why don't you do your job up there/And keep your thoughts and prayers" It’s incredibly unfortunate, but Will Hoge’s “Thoughts & Prayers” might be the song that most summarizes the world we currently live in. It’s a track about the bullshit line politicians seem to throw out every time there’s a mass shooting in this country – which is seemingly a monthly thing these days. Hoge says what many of us in this country are thinking: “we don’t give a damn about your thoughts and prayers.” Maybe one of these days the politicians who make the laws for this country will care more about human life than receiving money from the National Rifle Association, but until that glorious day comes, we’ll need songs like “Thoughts & Prayers” by artists like Will Hoge. 27. "Dearly Departed Friend" by Old Crow Medicine Show (2014) "There's only one road leads out of this town and it comes right back/So I just drive in circles, circles, and I try not to blow my stack" Old Crow Medicine Show’s Ketch Secor is brilliant when it comes to writing realistic tales of human suffering and sacrifice and just life. “Dearly Departed Friend,” from 2014’s Remedy, is a tale too many men and women who’ve come back from war have felt when they have to stand by the graveside of a comrade who’s passed too soon. The little things are captured so well in this track like all the grieving soldiers flinching at the sound of a truck backfiring and the annoyance at the deceased friend’s mother’s new boyfriend. Then you get to the awful loneliness of small-town living in the final verse and how it’s something that may have pushed one into preferring to fight overseas to begin with. It’s just pure poetry by O.C.M.S. 26. "Mr. Misunderstood" by Eric Church (2015) "Your buddies get their rocks off on Top-40 radio/But you love your daddy's vinyl, old-time rock & roll/Elvis Costello, Ray Wylie Hubbard and think Jeff Tweedy is one bad mother" Eric Church is one of the few mainstream country stars worth paying any attention to and he surprised the country music world this November with a surprise album released on the day of the CMA Awards. The album’s title track “Mr. Misunderstood” is a killer track that speaks to an entire generation of misfits who feel like outcasts because they don’t listen to the same music or like the same things that the populous does. The name-drops on this track of Elvis Costello, Ray Wylie Hubbard and Jeff Tweedy are particularly exciting and leave many realizing Church ain’t like the other wannabe badasses in Nashville. He’s the real thing. 25. "Another Nightmare in America" by Cory Branan (2017) "A tattered flag is crimson with a blood that can't be wrong/Take one last drag of night air/Cinch that blackness in a lung/As we hoist another nigtmare" Sometimes the best way to call something horrible out is to put yourself in the shoes of those doing the horrible. Cory Branan decided to take on one of the biggest social injustices facing this country – the shooting of unarmed black men by police – by placing himself in the shoes of the police for “Another Nightmare in America.” It’s a brutal recording about a brutal subject and one of the most important releases of 2017. The singer-songwriter from Memphis has been brand alt-country or folk, but “Another Nightmare in America” has a much-needed punk streak about it with keys that remind me of Elvis Costello’s “Radio Radio” and an “Oh say can you see” chant at the end reminiscent of some of Green Day’s finest work. 24. "Girl Goin' Nowhere" by Ashley McBryde (2018) "It took a whole lot of yes I wills and I don't care/A whole lot of basement dives and county fairs/To this show right now and y'all sure look good out there/Not bad for a girl goin' nowhere" One of the greatest country music moments of 2018 was when singer-songwriter Ashley McBryde made her Grand Ole Opry debut and performed the driven-to-succeed anthem “Girl Goin’ Nowhere,” which she wrote when a teacher back home in Arkansas told her to quit her far-fetched dreams of being a songwriter. Thankfully McBryde has a stubborn streak and boy did she ever make it big in 2018 with her debut album Girl Goin’ Nowhere. As she sings that’s “not bad for a girl goin’ nowhere.” 23. "The Mercury" by Turnpike Troubadours (2015) "Girl, I know you're gonna wreck this town/Won't you tell me where to be when the walls start falling" The Turnpike Troubadours are the best band currently in country music. Period. Not only does their sound perfectly capture a raucous Saturday night jam session, but front-man Evan Felker has proven himself to be something of a William Faulkner-esque songwriter when it comes to capturing the complexities and minute details of small town living. “The Mercury” is prime example of this. Felker captures the tumultuous relationship of Lorrie and Jimmy and somehow finds his narrator right in the middle of a love triangle. The Troubadours are at their best when Felker puts a complete short story to music and his story is driven home hard here with probably the most rocking country song released this year. It’s infectious as hell. 22. "Yvette" by Jason Isbell (2013) "I might not be a man yet/But that bastard will never be/So I'm cleaning my Weatherby" “Yvette” is Jason Isbell’s most underrated masterpiece. It’s almost hidden away at the end of his 2013 career-defining and changing Southeastern album and doesn’t get near the attention it deserves. “Yvette” tells the story of a teenage girl who’s kinda quiet and shy in school and the narrator, a classmate of hers who lives across the street from her house, is the only one who knows her secret because he sees the shadows behind her curtains. It’s a shocking tale of child abuse and getting revenge, but the way Isbell tells and sings it it sounds stunningly beautiful, especially with the slide guitar used throughout. 21. "Welcome to Earth (Pollywog)" by Sturgill Simpson (2016) "Wish I'd done this 10 years ago/But how could I know/How could I know/That the answer was so easy" Sturgill Simpson’s third studio album A Sailor’s Guide to Earth plays out as a letter to his newborn son. That letter (or the album) begins with the introduction into the world “Welcome to Earth (Pollywog),” which sees Simpson get personal and emotional about his firstborn’s entrance into the world. The song also takes on a new sound for Simpson with a horn section, particularly on this song, and a more sort of operatic feel to it that turns midway into something more soulful than we’ve experienced previously from Simpson. It’s an epic beginning to the best country music and Americana album of 2016.
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by Julian Spivey Note: portions of this article have previously been published on this site 40. "You Never Really Knew My Mind" by Chris Cornell (2018) "I know you feel the way I change/But you can't change the way I feel/Sometimes I'm a stranger to you" It saddens me that one of the best songs of 2018 is a collaboration between two musical legends who are no longer with us. The song is “You Never Really Knew My Mind” performed by Chris Cornell (of grunge rock legends Soundgarden fame) and written as a long unpublished poem by Johnny Cash. It’s not the first time Cornell and Cash have been linked. Cash included a terrific cover of Soundgarden’s “Rusty Cage” on one of his American Recordings releases in the ‘90s. Cash wrote the poem in 1967 and after hearing Cornell’s take on the song, I just can’t imagine anybody else performing it. Cornell gets the emotion of the words perfectly and conveys them in one of the year’s best vocals. I hope somewhere Cornell and Cash are collaborating in person. 39. "Every Girl" by Turnpike Troubadours (2010) "Her voice it is a melody that sings just like a bird/Oh she's every song I've ever heard/And her heartbeat is a rhythm that commands her every word/Aw she's every song I've ever heard" The way songwriter Evan Felker weaves the lyrics to create perfect verse after perfect verse in “Every Girl,” off the Turnpike Troubadours’ 2010 album Diamonds & Gasoline, still stuns me all these years later. Felker has a knack of writing great female characters that you just dream of knowing or being with in real life. “Every Girl” is a good example of the Troubadours all-around talents as a band with the steady, chugging guitar by Ryan Engelman, the propulsive fiddle of Kyle Nix and just an all-around urgency that makes the band’s records sound like live performances and their live performances feel like honky tonk heaven on earth. 38. "Give Me Back My Hometown" by Eric Church (2014) "My friends try to cheer me up/Get together at the Pizza Hut/I didn't have the heart to tell them that was our place" The longing and hurt in the vocal by Eric Church on 2014’s “Give Me Back My Hometown” is certainly one of the best vocals of his career. There’s a real hurt you can hear in this song about a man, living in his small-town and how this once great experience for him has been tainted by the end of a relationship, because he literally can’t go anywhere or do anything without being reminded of this love. " 37. "Macon" by Jamey Johnson (2010) "I gotta get back to Macon/Love all night" “Macon,” off Jamey Johnson’s The Guitar Song from 2010, should’ve been a major mainstream country hit (it wasn’t even released as a single), but Johnson’s third studio album (an excellent double album at that) just didn’t receive much airplay period. This was around the start of country radio’s downward turn and Johnson just had too much great songwriting in his stuff for them. “Macon” has a great double entendre as “I gotta get back to Macon/makin’ love all night” serves as not only the narrator’s hometown, but also his intentions. Johnson hasn’t released an album of new original material since this release, now a decade ago, and that’s probably the biggest cause of ongoing country music hurt for me personally. 36. "What it Means" by Drive-By Truckers (2016) "Our heroes may be rapists/Who watch us while we dream/But don't look to me for answers/'Cause I don't know what it means" Probably the most important song in the Americana or country music genres in 2016 was the Drive By Truckers’ “What It Means” off of their excellent American Band album. The song is basically a synopsis of many of the troubles facing the country at the time, like racism, police brutality, gun violence, etc. It’s unabashedly political with references to the shootings of Mike Brown in Ferguson, Mo. and Trayvon Martin in Florida and it might come as a surprise to some of the following of this exalted Southern Rock band. It’s a song that is designed to make some listeners feel uncomfortable and if you’re one of them you probably should ask yourself, “what it means?” 35. "Second Hand Heart" by Dwight Yoakam (2015) "She said when I trusted love I dreamed in color too" For Dwight Yoakam’s 2015 release Second Hand Heart he decided to meld the musical styles of his 2012 critically-acclaimed album 3 Pears with his ‘80s cowpunk and it left fans and critics smiling from ear-to-ear. The title track was the real highlight from the album with its tale of broken hearts not wanting to jump back into the game of love because they’ve been beaten and broken by it too many times. It’s also one of the coolest sounding tracks of the decade due to Yoakam’s trademark twang. 34. "Something More Than Free" by Jason Isbell (2015) "When I get home from work/I'll wrestle off my clothes/And leave 'em right inside the front door/'Cause nobody's home to know" Jason Isbell’s follow up to his 2013 stunner Southeastern turned out to be noticeably more upbeat and optimistic than the somber release that appeared on many “best of” two years before, but everybody seemed to love it just as much. The title track “Something More Than Free” showed the world that this Americana darling could write something more country and true-to-life than any of those hacks releasing records in mainstream Nashville. “Something More Than Free” is a true working man’s anthem and something we should all try to strive for. 33. "Drivin'" by Robert Ellis (2016) "“Oh I just wish you’d go to bed/Without the expectation that I’ll come up there and say/Something to help you feel like things aren’t such a mess/I’ll just sweep the floor and clean the desk/Put up the dishes and then fold some clothes I guess” Robert Ellis is such a literary lyricist that his songs frequently blow me away. My favorite song off of his brilliant self-titled album in 2016 is “Drivin’.” It’s a song about the monotony of being in a relationship that’s dead, but not over. It seems simplistic at first, as most great country songs frequently do, but has the ability to blow you away with a verse like: “Oh I just wish you’d go to bed/Without the expectation that I’ll come up there and say/Something to help you feel like things aren’t such a mess/I’ll just sweep the floor and clean the desk/Put up the dishes and then fold some clothes I guess.” Who writes like that? Thankfully Robert Ellis does. 32. "S.O.B." by Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats ( “Son of a bitch/give me a drink/One more drink/This can’t be me/Son of a bitch/If I can’t get clean/I’m gonna drink my life away.” The first time I heard “S.O.B.” by Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats the song and especially the performance of it frankly knocked me on my ass. It was on an episode of “The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon” and it was the first time I’d ever heard of this group. It was eye opening; exactly what I needed to hear at the time. Rateliff’s performance on this track is a force to be reckoned with, especially when he first lights into the line: “Son of a bitch/give me a drink/One more drink/This can’t be me/Son of a bitch/If I can’t get clean/I’m gonna drink my life away.” Rateliff’s performance, especially in person, makes drunkenness seem like a blast. 31. "Irene (Ravin' Bomb)" by Ian Noe (2019) "Took down all my mirrors/I gave away all my rope and guns/Drowned the darkest time with some rotgut wine/and my faithful M*A*S*H re-runs" Ian Noe burst upon the scene this year with his debut release Between the Country and I was immediately flabbergasted when I heard the song “Irene (Ravin’ Bomb)” from this Kentuckian, who I hope will see as much success as his fellow statesmen like Sturgill Simpson and Tyler Childers have. Seemingly one of the many Americana singers who looked up to John Prine this is an immediate classic about a strung out, down-on-her-luck woman who’s barely scraping by in life with her rotgut wine and “M*A*S*H re-runs (I truly love that bit of pop culture referencing). The titular Irene is the kind of woman you can see right before you thanks to Noe’s realistic songwriting, but the kind of woman you’re thankful isn’t in your life. Noe is only 29-years old, but there’s a maturity and literariness about his work that’s well above his years. by Julian Spivey Note: portions of this article have previously been published on this site 50. "My Favorite Picture of You" by Guy Clark (2013) "It's a thousand words/In the blink of an eye/The camera loves you and so do I/Click" Songwriting legend Guy Clark just had to show all them young guns one last time how it’s done before leaving this world behind. “My Favorite Picture of You” is the title track from Clark’s final album in 2013, before his death at 74 in 2016, and it’s one of the most stunning and beautiful pieces of work he’d ever written in such a glorious career. The beauty of the song is in its reality as you know this had to have been a tribute to his wife Susanna, who passed away the year before this album/song were released, and it’s hard not to shed a tear listening to the beauty of Clark recalling these moments captured in snapshots. 49. "I Gotta Go" by Robert Earl Keen (2011) "Wastin' time standin' here/I gotta go" Robert Earl Keen simply isn’t putting out enough original music these days. He hasn’t had an album of complete originals since 2011’s Ready for Confetti, which included the excellent “I Gotta Go,” which I’d put right up there with any of the Texas legend’s greatest hits. This funky little ditty tells the story of an orphan who grows up to be quite the gamble, but gets into trouble with the wrong crowd and, well, ends up dead. It’s the kind of quick little story song about a man of less than stellar morals that Keen revels in. 48. "All Around You" by Sturgill Simpson (2016) "Just know in your heart/That we're always together/And long after I'm gone/I'll still be around" Sturgill Simpson’s A Sailor’s Guide to Earth is a fairly bombastic album, especially considering what he’s recorded before, but the quietest song on the album “All Around You” is one of its best. The album is essentially Simpson’s letter to his newborn son about life and the soulful “All Around You” is about a father’s love – whether it’s a physical fatherly presence or a heavenly one. It’s simply beautiful. 47. "Birmingham" by Shovels & Rope (2013) "Making something out of nothing with a scratcher and our hope/With two old guitars like a shovel and a rope" There are some performances you see that absolutely floor you and you’ll never forget, and I’ll never forget the first time I saw Shovels & Rope. It was an early 2013 episode of “Late Show with David Letterman” and this husband-and-wife duo just dropped my jaw with their performance of “Birmingham,” with their raucous performing style and incredibly twangy harmonizing – both Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent singing full-throatily. “Birmingham” is a semi-autobiographical song about the duo’s story from childhood all the way through meeting and creating the group together, which is such a unique idea for a song 46. "Somewhere with You" by Kenny Chesney (2010) "I can go out every night of the week/Can go home with anybody I meet/But it's just a temporary high/'Cause when I close my eyes/I'm somewhere with you" Kenny Chesney has a knack for doing this sort of suave songs about a short-lived love that was never meant to be much more than short-lived, but something you’ll seemingly never be able to get out of your head. “Somewhere with You,” off Chesney’s 2010 album Hemingway’s Whiskey, is about a young love that burns fast and leaves a gaping hole that’s hard to recover from. The song was written by Shane McAnally and J.T. Harding and Chesney told CMT: “It’s so different but I still felt that it was really me. I felt melodically it was completely different and sexy.” Chesney is right and it just goes to show that sometimes “different” isn’t a bad thing in country music. 45. "Old Hickory" by Old Crow Medicine Show (2018) “Old hickory/shading the porch of a house that’s been torn down/there ain’t nothin’ that’s left but the memory/and that long tall, scraggily, bitternut old hickory” Every Old Crow Medicine Show album has at least one track that when you first hear it you know is immediately going to become one of the band’s greatest hits and for their latest album Volunteer that song is “Old Hickory.” “Old Hickory” tells the tale of a flatwoods boy named Virgil Lee, who was the greatest musician for miles around, but sees his flame burn out before he hits it big. “Old Hickory” contains one of my absolute favorite choruses of the year with: “Old hickory/shading the porch of a house that’s been torn down/there ain’t nothin’ that’s left but the memory/and that long tall, scraggily, bitternut old hickory.” “Old Hickory” proves that Ketch Secor and Critter Fuqua can write a story song with the best of them. 44. "Immortal Americans" by Austin Lucas (2018) "We sang the songs of our fathers/Sha-la-la, ooh-la-la-la/And all the prayers of our mothers/Dutiful daughters, dutiful sons/Sha-la-la, goes the rattle and hum/From the hearth of a Midwestern home/Sha-la-la that's the sound of immortal Americans" The first verse of “Immortal Americans” stopped me in my tracks the first time I heard it with its terrific imagery that is Springsteen-esque (and there’s no higher compliment in my opinion) of sitting on rooftops and listening to nearby stock car races and the humming of the engines. Lucas told American Songwriter of the song: “This song is dedicated to the outsiders and freaks who grew up in small towns and the rural countrysides of America, the folks who discovered themselves and suffered for it when their identities fell outside of the mainstream.” I feel like he’s singing straight to me. 43. "Every Time I Hear That Song" by Brandi Carlile (2018) "By the way, I forgive you/After all, maybe I should thank you/For giving me what I've found/'Cause without you around/I've been doing just fine/Except for any time I hear that song" Brandi Carlile’s By The Way, I Forgive You was without a doubt one of the finest Americana albums of 2018. The song that gives the album its title, “Every Time I Hear That Song” is one of the most beautiful melodies I heard all year. The track recounts a failed relationship and how the narrator has gotten over it and moved on with her life but is reminded of it every time she hearts a certain song. Carlile, who co-wrote the song with Phil and Tim Hanseroth, has gorgeous vocals to go along with the mellow melody. 42. "Another Like You" by Hayes Carll & Cary Ann Hearst (2011) "You're like a four-leaf clover/I just had to come on over/I have never seen a woman like you" “Another Like You” by Hayes Carll and Cary Ann Hearst (of Shovels & Rope) from Carll’s 2011 release KMAG YOYO (& other American Stories) is my absolute favorite duet of the decade and it’s a laugh-riot in the vein of great comedy duets like “You’re the Reason Our Kids Are Ugly” by Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty or “In Spite of Ourselves” by John Prine and Iris DeMent. Carll and Hearst play off each other perfectly as they throw zingers like, “you’re probably a Democrat” and “I bet you slept with half the South” at one another. It’s a helluva lot of fun. 41. "False Accuser's Lament" by Jason Boland & the Stragglers (2011) "Father, please forgive me for I've falsely testified/They had me swear upon a Bible and I lied" Jason Boland & the Stragglers’ “False Accuser’s Lament,” off the band’s 2011 release Rancho Alto, is the modern day “Long Black Veil.” It tells the story of a down-on-his luck farmer who lies before a jury about a murder and fingers the wrong man in the crime in order to receive payment and keep his farm going. The song tells of the night terrors the farmer has as he’s being haunted by the guilt of what he’s done. I think Lefty Frizzell would’ve been proud of Boland for this one. by Julian Spivey Note: portions of this article have previously been published on this site 60. "You and Tequila" by Kenny Chesney feat. Grace Potter (2011) "One is one too many, one more is never enough" Kenny Chesney gets made fun of a lot in some country music circles for his beach bum persona and songs. But when he does something a bit more singer-songwriter with this style it really fits his voice and vibe very well. “You & Tequila,” from Chesney’s 2010 album Hemingway’s Whiskey, is one of his career best. With smooth guest vocals provided by Grace Potter, Chesney sings this tender ballad of how his two loves – a woman and tequila – are both likely to be his undoing. After all, “it’s always your favorite sins that do you in.” This song written by Matraca Berg and Deana Carter was a top-five country hit for Chesney in 2011. 59. "Tennessee Whiskey" by Chris Stapleton (2015) "You rescued me from reachin' for the bottom/And brought me back from being too far gone" “Tennessee Whiskey” is the song that just keeps going and going. At the time of this writing (Nov. 22, 2019) it’s currently no. 30 on the iTunes Country Songs chart and the song was released on Chris Stapleton’s Traveller album more than four and a half years ago. Also, it was never released as a single by Stapleton, but it’s performance with pop sensation Justin Timberlake at the 2015 CMA Awards helped both the track and the album skyrocket. The song penned by Dean Dillon and Linda Hargrove dates back nearly 40 years when it was originally released by David Allen Coe in 1981 and made into a classic by George Jones in 1983. Stapleton’s bluesy take on the song gave it a new life and there’s no telling how long this one’s going to last. 58. "Senor" by Dierks Bentley with The Punch Brothers (2010) "This place don't make sense to me no more/Can you tell me what we're waiting for, senor?" I really, really wish this Dierks Bentley had stuck around. I was a fan of Dierks Bentley’s work in the decade prior to this one, but I felt his turn to a more bluegrass, old school sound on 2010’s Up on the Ridge was the best he’s ever been. After this album didn’t do so well commercials and, on the charts, Bentley turned to a more pop-country, or at least what was happening in the mainstream sound and, in my opinion, has never been the same. There were many highlights on Up on the Ridge, but my favorite was this cover with The Punch Brothers on this strange Bob Dylan song “Senor (Tales of Yankee Power).” The song is mysterious as hell – supposedly Dylan combined the characters of Billy the Kid and Jesus Christ – and the bluegrass interpretation that Bentley and The Punch Brothers give to it just magnifies this mysteriousness. I may not ever completely get this song, but I’ll always love the hell out of it. 57. "Talladega" by Eric Church (2015) "Most days in life don't stand out/But life's about those days that will" I’ll mention a few times on this list how Eric Church does nostalgia with the best of them. “Talladega,” off his 2014 album The Outsiders, is ample proof of this as it recalls a late teenage summer and a group of friends who roadtrip to Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama for one of the highlights on the NASCAR schedule. Even if you’re not a facing of auto racing I think you can understand the feeling of this song as most of us have that one final moment with our good buddies before the real world of adulthood gets started. “Talladega,” co-written by Church and Luke Laird, topped the country charts in 2015. 56. "I'm Not the Devil" by Cody Jinks (2016) "It ain't no excuse but I'm just a man/I slipped and I fell it got out of hand/but I'm not the devil you think that I am" Every ‘best of’ country song list needs a perfect heartbreak song and Cody Jinks gave us just that in 2016 with his superb “I’m Not the Devil.” The song sees Jinks recalling past mistakes in his life that caused him and a loved one to go their separate ways. It’s such a simple, but exquisite lyric sung by one of the most exciting new voices in the country music genre. 55. "Chemical Plant" by Robert Ellis (2014) "I was sure they would always be there/And then one day they were gone/The lights from the chemical plant" “Chemical Plant” by Robert Ellis is without a doubt one of the most heartbreaking songs of the decade. Just try to listen to it without tearing up. The song, off his 2014 release The Lights from the Chemical Plant, tells the story of life-long lovers who spend their entire life in a small town that lives and dies with the prosperity of the local chemical plant (the song is inspired by Ellis’ hometown of Lake Jackson, Texas). Ellis evocative songwriting at such a young age shows he could be destined to be one of the greats, it’s unbelievable one could write a story song this good in their mid-20s. 54. "Hurtin' (On the Bottle)" by Margo Price (2016) "I've been drinking whiskey like it's water/But that don't touch the pain you put on me" The first thing that came to mind when I heard Margo Price’s “Hurtin’ (On The Bottle)” was Loretta Lynn. That’s pretty much the highest praise you can give any up-and-coming country songstress. “Hurtin’ (On The Bottle)” is the very definition of a country drinking song, but not necessarily the tear in your beer kind. ‘Hurtin’’ has a rowdy jam feel to it, which has the ability to make you want to raise a little hell while listening along. 53. "Cheater's Game" by Bruce Robison & Kelly Willis (2013) "A cheater's game/Just breaking me down/When I'm broken in two/Is that so easy to do?" Sure, they’re not as high profile as Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood or Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, but the best country music couple for my money is Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis down in Texas. These two, who have been married nearly 25 years, released three albums together this decade and each one is flawless and beautifully melds their voices together. My favorite track off their albums this decade is “Cheater’s Game,” the title track of their 2013 release (their first non-holiday duets album), has this classic country sound to it that makes me believe it could’ve been an all-time great in a more friendly era to such a sound. Willis takes the lead on this track, but it’s pure musical magic when Robison joins her for the chorus. 52. "Hope the High Road" by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit (2017) "Wherever you are/I hope the high road leads you home again/To a world you want to live in” “Hope the High Road” was the first song I heard off Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit’s fantastic The Nashville Sound album early in the year and coming off the incredibly tough 2016 it was the most hopeful thing I could’ve heard. I’m not sure any other chorus spoke to me as much this year as: “I know you’re tired/And you ain’t sleeping well/Uninspired/And likely mad as hell/But wherever you are/I hope the high road leads you home again/To a world you want to live in.” Many people, including those considering themselves to be big fans of Isbell, were put off by the line “there can’t be more of them than us,” but they may be reading too much into the line. All it really means, in my opinion, is there are more good people in this world than bad. At times it doesn’t necessarily feel like it anymore, but if we can all take the high road, we’ll get there. 51. "Hold My Hand" by Brandy Clark (2013) "Let her know for sure/That I'm more than just a soft place to land/This'd be a real good time to hold my hand" One of my favorite live performances on television this decade was seeing Brandy Clark, a Grammy Best New Artist nominee despite being virtually ignored by her genre, perform “Hold My Hand” with backing vocals by Dwight Yoakam on the 2015 Grammys telecast. The song, from her 2013 debut 12 Stories, is an incredibly beautiful ballad about a woman needing some reassurance from her man that he’s still in love with her when the couple bumps into an ex flame of his. Clark’s vocal on this song is absolutely devastating. by Julian Spivey Note: portions of this article have previously been published on this site 70. "Hardwood Floors" by Charles Wesley Godwin (2019) "Take my hand, honey, let's just dance/And pretend there ain't nobody else in town" This year has been an amazing one for upcoming singer-songwriters bursting onto the scene with terrific debut albums and Charles Wesley Godwin’s Seneca is one of the year’s best (overall, not just by new musicians). It’s hard to pick a best song from his album, but I’m going to go with the foot-stomper “Hardwood Floors,” with a fiddle solo that makes you want to take part in a hoedown. Godwin’s talent as a songwriter is something I hope more listeners start to take note of, as I believe he could be one of the finest to come out of the Americana/country music genres going into the next decade. 69. "Drinkin' Problem" by Midland (2017) "People say I got a drinkin' problem/But I got no problem drinkin' at all" The biggest debate in country music in 2017 was over the authenticity of Midland. This evidently means that many of us music writers have too much time on our hands. I don’t care if one of these guys directed music videos for Bruno Mars and another one was a model as long as they perform songs as good as “Drinkin’ Problem,” which was the biggest breath of fresh air on country radio that entire year. Hearing Midland on mainstream radio was a shock to the system the first time I heard it. I felt like I was in the mid-‘90s again. It’s an old school drinkin’ song with the proper amount of twang and it’s well-written. Sure, co-writer Shane McAnally might be responsible for helping crap like Sam Hunt’s “Body Like a Back Road” into the world, but we forget he’s also co-written terrific stuff with likes of Miranda Lambert, Kacey Musgraves and Brandy Clark. We shouldn’t be running down music this good because we don’t like how these guys dress or where they came from. 68. "Long White Line" by Sturgill Simpson (2014) "If somebody wants to know what's become of this so and so/Tell 'em I'm somewhere looking for the end of that long white line" This decade has pretty much taught me that Sturgill Simpson can do anything and everything and do it well … and he just might do it all. Truck driving songs are certainly no exception, as one of the highlights off his sophomore solo release Metamodern Sounds of Country Music in 2014 was “Long White Line.” The song was written many years ago by Buford Abner of The Suwannee River Boys (I haven’t been able to find this version anywhere), but souped up by Simpson and super-producer Dave Cobb. Simpson’s thick Kentucky accent really makes this version a lot of fun. 67. "Hands Up" by Parker Millsap (2016) "And it's hard to keep a job when you just can't pretend/That you never heard a body bag zipping over your best friend" The intensity with which Oklahoman Parker Millsap sings is matched by very few. “Hands Up,” about an Iraq War veteran holding up a gas station because he can’t afford to feed his children, is proof of this. The vocal is stirring from start to finish and the lyrics show that Millsap can get into the heads of his characters and write fully-fledged story songs with the best of them. 66. "Vice" by Miranda Lambert (2016) "Steady as a needle dropping on a vinyl/Neon singer with a jukebox title full of heartbreak/33, 45, 78/When it hurts this good you gotta play it twice/Another vice" The entire fan-base of country music was waiting on pins and needles for the return of Miranda Lambert after her divorce from fellow country star Blake Shelton and what the response to that would be in song. “Vice” was that response, and it was very personal and revealing – even from a songwriter who isn’t afraid to be personal and revealing. The lyrics roll off of Lambert’s tongue so deliciously, proving why she won so many consecutive Female Vocalist of the Year awards from the CMAs. 65. "Ramon Casiano" by Drive-By Truckers (2016) "The killing's been the bullet's business/Since back in 1931/Someone killed Ramon Casiano/And Ramon still ain't dead enough" “Ramon Casiano” is hard-charging Southern Rock at its best and includes some important and pointed messages about gun culture and immigration within it. The song, off the Drive-By Truckers’ critically-acclaimed and politically-inspired 2016 release American Band, is a true tale about a Mexican teenager who was murdered in Texas near the Mexico border in 1931 and how the man who killed him would not only go on to serve no prison time, but lead the National Rifle Association. White privilege indeed. 64. "Kate McCannon" by Colter Wall (2017) "Well the raven is a wicked bird/His wings are black as sin/And he floats outside my prison window/Mocking those within/And he sing to me real love/It's Hell to where you go/For you did murder Kate McCannon" At one point the murder ballad was a staple of country and Appalachian music. It’s long since fallen by the wayside, probably because singing about murdering someone – often women – isn’t exactly PC. But Canadian throwback folkie Colter Wall brought the murder ballad back with a vengeance this year on his self-titled debut album with the story of “Kate McCannon,” a woman the narrator of the song dearly loved but caught cheating. We all know what must happen next and Wall’s baritone and sparse production perfectly captures the story. 63. "The Joke" by Brandi Carlile (2018) "Let 'em laugh while they can/Let 'em spin, let 'em scatter in the wind/I have been to the movies, I've seen how it ends/And the joke's on them" Brandi Carlile’s “The Joke” would make the perfect song for an anti-bullying campaign. The emotional song about being yourself and forgetting about and ignoring the haters is a soaring anthem with a powerhouse vocal by Carlile. It’s a perfect song for today’s world. Carlile told NPR: “There are so many people feeling misrepresented. So many people feeling unloved. Boys feeling marginalized and forced into this kind of awkward shapes or masculinity that they do or don’t belong in. Little girls who got so excited for the last election and are dealing with the fallout. The song is just for people that feel under-represented, unloved or illegal.” 62. "Cabinet Door" by Anderson East (2018) "Jason and Margaret they're expecting one more/You'd be happy to know I fixed that cabinet door" Anderson East’s “Cabinet Door” was the biggest tearjerker of 2018 and will rip your heart right out of your chest with its story of an elderly widowed man trying to adjust to life without his love of 52 years. Every single line of this song is devastating, but the one that truly gets me the most as a baseball fan is how he misses watching the Atlanta Braves (my favorite team) games with his wife. It’s one of the best representations of grief I’ve ever heard. 61. "Tough Folks" by American Aquarium (2018) “Life ain’t fair/saddle up, boy, and see it through/tough times don’t last/but tough folks do” “Tough Folks” is a political song, but it’s not one that points fingers at anybody or casts blame. American Aquarium’s B.J. Barham sings: “Last November I saw firsthand what desperation makes good people do,” referring to the 2016 election of President Donald Trump and how many believed or at least hoped the election of a “non-politician” would lead to some actual change. Barham sings: “Life ain’t fair/saddle up, boy, and see it through/tough times don’t last/but tough folks do.” That’s a modern day John Mellencamp sentiment if I’ve ever heard one. We’ll get through this. by Julian Spivey Note: portions of this article have previously been published on this site 80. "Feathered Indians" by Tyler Childers (2017) "If I'd known she was religious/Then I wouldn't have came stoned/To the house of such an angel/Too fucked up to get back home" Tyler Childers is the next big thing (or has been the next big thing) in the non-mainstream country music circles for the last little while. His breakthrough album Purgatory in 2017, which was produced by buddy Sturgill Simpson, featured the excellent ballad “Feathered Indians” about a troubled man falling for a good, religious woman and how that love just might be what it takes to save him. It quickly became a fan-favorite for many and includes such literary lyrics as, “Well, my buckle makes impressions on the inside of her thigh/there are little feathered Indians where we tussled through the night.” It didn’t take long at all for Childers to reach the upper-echelon among non-mainstream country heroes. 79. "Cost of Livin'" by Ronnie Dunn (2011) "Bank has started callin'/And the wolves are at my door/Three dollar and change at the pump/Cost of livin's high and goin' up" Ronnie Dunn’s “Cost of Livin’,” a top-20 country hit in 2011 (hard to believe a song like this was a top-20 country song in this decade) is the terrific ballad of a laid-off, hard-working American just looking for any work to help feed his family and it came just after the economic recession toward the end of the previous decade. It plays out like a job interview and was the song country music and its fans needed to hear at the time, and that’s something that just doesn’t seem possible at the decade’s end. We don’t really get songs in the mainstream with important topics anymore and that’s a damn shame. 78. "Kansas City" by The New Basement Tapes (2014) "You invite me into your house/Then you say you gotta pay for what you break" The New Basement Tapes was one of the more interesting musical moments of the decade, not to mention one of the big supergroups. Super producer T-Bone Burnett had taken the task of uniting a group of Americana’s finest artists: Elvis Costello, Marcus Mumford of Mumford & Sons, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes and Rhiannon Giddens and giving them a recently uncovered box of unfinished Bob Dylan lyrics from 1967. The superstars all banded together to finish these Dylan excerpts and released the 20-track album Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes. The finest track on this release was the Mumford and Goldsmith co-write “Kansas City,” which comes off as essentially sounding like a Mumford & Sons song about trying to escape a bad relationship. Trivia: actor Johnny Depp plays guitar on this track. 77. "Only Lies" by Robert Ellis (2014) "Just because a thing's convenient/Well, that doesn't make it true/Only lies can comfort you" One unforgettable performance this decade was seeing Robert Ellis perform “Only Lies” on the Americana Awards & Honors in 2014. I had never heard the name Robert Ellis before that night and was flabbergasted by how good his performance of this song about a friend coming to him for guidance on whether a not a loved one was cheating on them. Ellis has a knack for making simplicity sound so damn good and “Only Lies” is proof. 76. "Come Unto Me" by The Mavericks (2013) "And if there's no one there to see you through/I'll be there for you" Raul Malo’s vocal on “Come Unto Me,” from The Mavericks comeback 2013 album In Time, makes me want to hug a bull. That’s manlier than fighting them anyway. It’s such a bombastic, sexy vocal on this performance, with the typical Latin flavor from The Mavericks that makes you want to get up and dance along, as well as show off in other forms of bravado. 75. "The Real Me" by Shooter Jennings (2012) "I'm mean when I'm lonesome/I'm angry when I'm high/But I'll chase that nightmare until I die" Shooter Jennings comes from country music royalty being the son of Waylon Jennings and this has somewhat allowed him to be a maverick of his own when it comes to his music – recording everything from stone cold country to hard rock concept albums to music with an electronic flare. My favorite release of his this decade (and since his 2005 debut Put the ‘O’ Back in Country) is 2012’s Family Man, which saw him return to traditional country a bit. My favorite track off that record is “The Real Me,” with imagery that I absolutely love of what happens when people run into the real him and this perfect imagery is song at a breakneck speed that makes the whole thing fun as hell to listen and sing along with. 74. "Trailer for Rent" by Pistol Annies (2011) “Trailer for rent/no down payment/comes with some holes and dents where I got tired of his shit/call if you’re interested” The Pistol Annies were the most successful country music supergroup of the decade with three stellar albums showcasing the sisterhood spirit of spitfires Miranda Lambert, Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley. My favorite track from the Pistol Annies is “Trailer for Rent,” the Lambert penned and lead vocal off the Pistol Annies’ 2011 debut Hell on Heels. “Trailer for Rent” is right up there with the best of Lambert’s career work, as it tells the tale of a woman who’s had enough with her deadbeat husband and puts a simple ad in the local newspaper that reads: “Trailer for rent/no down payment/comes with some holes and dents where I got tired of his shit/call if you’re interested.” It’s probably the most country the Pistol Annies have been on any of their albums. 73. "Follow Your Arrow" by Kacey Musgraves (2013) "Kiss lots of boys/Or kiss lots of girls/If that's something you're into" Country radio has always been too conservative for its own good, so it was nice to see an artist like Kacey Musgraves challenge that, especially taking a risk of doing it so early in her career. Musgraves quickly became one of the most queer friendly artists in country with “Follow Your Arrow,” off her 2013 debut Same Trailer, Different Park, with its “kiss lots of boys/or kiss lots of girls/if that’s something you’re into” and “love who you love” lyrics. The song was a be-who-you-are-and-forget-the-haters anthem that was co-written by two of country’s best openly gay songwriters Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally. 72. "Like Jesus Does" by Eric Church (2013) “I’m a long gone Waylon song on vinyl” “I’m a long gone Waylon song on vinyl” is one of the greatest opening (and closing) lyrics of the decade from Eric Church’s 2013 top-10 single “Like Jesus Does,” from his 2011 album Chief, written by Casey Beathard and Monty Criswell. The tender love ballad about a rebel personality loved by a good Christian woman who accepts him for who he is is something that I think a lot of good ol’ boys can identify with. 71. "Fire Away" by Dawes "So if you finally wrote that heartbreak song/That the experts never could/Or if you just wanted someone to listen to you play/Then fire away" “Fire Away” was a good thing to title a song this decade as two different songs with that title make the cut on this list. “Fire Away,” off Dawes’ 2011 release Nothing is Wrong, is that good California folk-rock sound that harkens back to artists of the ‘70s like Jackson Browne. In fact, “Fire Away” sounds like it easily could’ve been on a Browne record … of course it helps that Browne provides backing vocals on the track. by Julian Spivey Note: portions of this article have previously been published on this site 90. "Barabbas" by Jason Eady (2017) "Well I know that I am free 'cause they did not like his kind/But the man who preaches peace is always looking for a fight" Barabbas is a unique figure in the Bible, as the man imprisoned alongside Jesus whose life is spared when Pontius Pilate offers the public the choice of pardoning a prisoner. Though guilty, Barabbas is chosen to be spared over that of Jesus Christ. He’s never heard from again in the Bible. Jason Eady decided to take this story and write the other side – Barabbas’ story. Eady does so brilliantly in a fashion that leads the song to not necessarily take a religious tone, but one of any guilty man given a second chance. The name Barabbas doesn’t appear in the song, at all, only as its title. It’s a redemption song at its finest. Eady explained to NPR: “To me this song is about the fact that you have two ways to react to guilt. You can ignore it and continue on the path you have been on or you can change your ways and try to redeem yourself. We hoped that Barabbas chose the second of those.” 89. "Dark & Dirty Mile" by Jason Boland & the Stragglers (2013) "It's a broken-hearted world that we inherit/All we're told to do is sin and bear it/For a little while/On the dark and dirty mile" “Dark and Dirty Mile” is the closest thing I think Jason Boland (and his co-writer Stoney LaRue) will ever get to writing a Kris Kristofferson song. It’s poetic and at times elegant, at times witty and other times dark and I’m not 100 percent sure what Boland means by all of it, but it sounds damn good. And, it certainly is “a broken-hearted world that we inherit.” “Dark and Dirty Mile” is also one of Boland’s best vocal performances of his career and this song contains exquisite fiddling playing from Nick Worley, who’s certainly one of the best at his instrument in the business. 88. "Cover Your Eyes" by Jamey Johnson (2010) "Cover your eyes/If you don't see me goin'/There's no way of knowin'/When it's time to cry" Jamey Johnson is one of the most talented songwriters country music has ever seen and he can do seemingly every emotion with the best of them, but when it comes to writing a sad song he can take it one step further. “Cover Your Eyes,” off 2010’s double-album The Guitar Song, was one of country music’s finest breakup songs of the decade. It’s simple, but the emotion of Johnson’s powerhouse vocal really hits home the message of how our narrator is trying to let down a loved one as easy as possible, while also breaking his own heart. 87. "Django & Jimmie" by Willie Nelson & Merle Haggard (2015) "Might not have been/A Merle or a Willie/If not for a Django and Jimmie" In 2015 Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard were the living legends of country music. So, when the good friends and songwriting kings got together for their second duet album, and first since 1983’s Pancho & Lefty, it instantly became one of the most anticipated albums of the year – and it didn’t disappoint. The truly standout track on the album is the title track “Django & Jimmie,” which takes its name from the heroes and musical inspirations of each of the legends – Willie’s hero Django Reinhardt and Merle’s inspiration Jimmie Rodgers. The song explains how a guitar picking gypsy and a blues singing railroad brakeman inspired the two to do what they’ve done for the majority of their lives. Shockingly something so autobiographical wasn’t written by either Willie or Merle, but rather Jimmy Melton and Jeff Prince who really got inside the heart and soul of the legends to craft such a fitting tribute to their heroes. 86. "Barton Hollow" by The Civil Wars (2011) "Ain't going back to Barton Hollow/Devil gonna find me e'er I go/Won't do me no good washing in the river/Can't no preacher man save my soul" The Civil Wars shone brightly and then extinguished in such a short amount of time but left some timeless music in their wake. The duo of John Paul White and Joy Williams released “Barton Hollow” in early 2011 and it didn’t take long to take the music world by storm – it was essentially loved by all music communities – pop, rock, folk, country. The two voices meld perfectly in this track about mysterious events happening underneath the water down in Barton Hollow in a continuance of the grand history of the country murder ballad. 85. "From a Table Away" by Sunny Sweeney (2011) "I heard you tell her you still love her/So it doesn't matter what you say/I saw it all/From a table away" There’s really no good reason why Sunny Sweeney shouldn’t have been a mainstream country hit. If mainstream country radio had bothered playing female artists during this decade she very likely could’ve been. “From a Table Away,” off her 2011 album Concrete, was her foray into the mainstream and peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard charts, but unfathomably was the only hit off an incredibly strong album. “From a Table Away,” co-written by Sweeney, Bob DiPiero and Karyn Rochelle, is the story of the narrator happening upon her still married love interest at a restaurant and realizing he’s still in love and that her relationship with him isn’t going to work out. The track has a lot of fiddle and steel guitar on it … that might be why Music Row jettisoned her back to Texas where she’s thrived on the Texas Country charts. 84. "Stripes" by Brandy Clark (2013) "There's no crime of passion worth a crime of fashion/The only thing savin' your life/Is that I don't look good in orange and I hate stripes" Murdering or thinking about murdering a cheating ex is a popular country music trope, especially among female performers, but few have ever taken the unique and creative route that Brandy Clark did with it on “Stripes.” The narrator of her song has the passion for ending her cheating partner, but because of her fashion sense (not looking good in orange or stripes) she decides to spare him. It’s hilarious and catchy and signified Clark’s turn from award-winning songwriter to award-winning singer-songwriter, and we’re all better off for that. 83. "Bible on the Dash" by Corb Lund & Hayes Carll (2013) "What kinda music you boys makin'?/We said Christian music, sir!" Canadians love their country music and one of the best Canadian country artists of all-time is Corb Lund. “Bible on the Dash,” off Lund’s 2013 album Cabin Fever, with his friend Hayes Carll (and was co-written by those two and Jason Boland) is a laugh riot. The song tells the story about how a traveling musician should always keep a Bible on the dash of their transportation just in case of being stopped by the law in hopes of it getting them out of trouble. It’s truly great advice and Lund and Carll have a helluva lot of fun on this performance. 82. "Guilty as Can Be" by Cody Johnson (2011) "I ain't the kind to hurt a woman and I hope you understand/Somebody's got to die today/Son, it looks like you're the man" Cody Johnson has just started to breakthrough into the mainstream a bit after a successful start to his career in Texas Country circles and was recently nominated for Best New Artist at the CMA Awards (even if he’s been around more than a decade), but my first foray into his music was “Guilty As Can Be,” off his 2011 album A Different Day. “Guilty As Can Be” is a song about coming home from a long day at work to find your woman with another man in your bed and getting your revenge and not having any remorse whatsoever. Johnson has certainly found more success since this release, but I’m not sure he’s recorded anything this good since. 81. "July in Cheyenne" by Aaron Watson (2012) "A little part of every heart or every rodeo fan/Died there in the rain and the mud in July in Cheyenne" Aaron Watson was one of the biggest and most successful non-mainstream country acts of the decade and was so successful he was able to even enter that mainstream a bit while sticking to his guns and who he is as an artist. His best song from the decade was 2012’s “July in Cheyenne,” a beautiful tribute to rodeo hero Lane Frost, who died in a rodeo event in Cheyenne, Wy. in 1989. The song was a bit more personal for Watson though, as he connected with Frost’s mother and her loss as he had experienced the recent loss of a child. The final verse gives hope of one day seeing Lane Frost again on high. by Julian Spivey Note: portions of this article have previously been published on this site 100. "American Dream" by Hayes Carll (2019) "I'll find an old friend in El Dorado/Like Harry Dean Stanton on a drive-in screen/A tumbleweed blowing through Paris, Texas/He fell down into the American Dream." “American Dream,” off singer-songwriter Hayes Carll’s 2019 release What It Is, is an incredibly written, picturesque song that mixes images of beautiful rural life with ones of more bleakness to truly capture the American image. Carll told Garden & Gun: “The American dream is different for different people, but there are some human emotions and traits that are, for better or worse, timeless. Greed is one of those, and quests for glory and love are as well. They are engines that keep most people moving, and America personifies that.” 99. "Western Stars" by Bruce Springsteen (2019) "Hell, these days there ain't no more/Now there's just again/Tonight the western stars are shining bright again." Bruce Springsteen had always loved the sound of Southern California pop music with a country influence like the kind Glen Campbell and Jimmy Webb collaborated on to great success in the ‘60s. His 2019 album Western Stars models itself after this sound and melds nicely with Springsteen’s specific, literary songwriting as The Boss has intricate characters living in a lonely West like the aging character actor in the album’s title cut who rides a familiar face from doing credit card commercials and once being shot on film by John Wayne into free drinks wherever he goes. 98. "Loud & Heavy" by Cody Jinks (2015) "It's a long, strange trip it's all insane/You ain't never gonna be the same." I didn’t know who Cody Jinks was going into 2015. Then I heard “Loud & Heavy” from his album Adobe Sessions and it immediately got stuck in my head. The song allows Jinks’ strong voice to really come to the forefront with sparse instrumentation, that in itself fits this song perfectly. I’m not sure exactly what was going through Jinks’ mind or life when writing this song, but the storm imagery and a line like “thin line between joy and pain” is the kind of stuff that most have felt a time or two in their lives. 97. "Dwight Yoakam" by Sarah Shook & the Disarmers (2017) "She said he likes to make love when he's smokin'/And he don't walk around like he's broken/And he sings just like Dwight Yoakam" I’ll admit it’s the title of Sarah Shook & the Disarmers’ “Dwight Yoakam” that caught my attention at first. Naming your song after one of my all-time favorite performers will do that. But, the song itself with its old-fashioned cry-in-your-beer heartbreak had me coming back time and time again throughout the year. Shook might not be Carrie Underwood, but I believe it’s one of the best vocal performances of the year. I absolute love the way her voice shakes and quivers when she enunciates certain words. It really gives the song the emotional weight that’s key to it being one of the best of the decade. 96. "Songs About Trucks" by Wade Bowen (2013) "It's all four wheel drive, and jacked up tires, and rolling out with them speakers/But for a trip down memory lane tonight, I need something a little deeper" Around 2013 it seemed every song on mainstream country radio was some dude singing about his truck or oftentimes just the tailgate of his truck. It usually revolved around what the dude wanted to do with a woman in that truck. Texas country singer-songwriter Wade Bowen poked fun at this quickly annoying cliché in his 2013 song “Songs About Trucks,” a cleverly-written song (though not by Bowen, but Shane McAnally and Brandy Clark) about how we’re all sick over these truck songs and when times are bad we need something of a bit more substance. It’s one of the more fun and easy-going protest songs you’ll ever hear. 95. "Good Luck and True Love" by Reckless Kelly (2011) There used to be a radio station in my neck of the woods around the turn of the decade that would mix in some Texas and Red Dirt Country – this is how I first became a fan of acts like Turnpike Troubadours, Jason Boland & the Stragglers and more. One of the songs that always played and stuck with me around that time was Reckless Kelly’s “Good Luck & True Love,” from the band’s 2011 album of the same name. It’s just an excellent example of how the best of Texas and Red Dirt Country can stand out from the tripe you’ll hear on mainstream radio. Had this song been released 10 or 20 years earlier it certainly would’ve been a hit. "Maybe it was just my time/Maybe she was sent from up above/Maybe it was just one night of good luck and true love" 94. "Bougainvillea, I Think" by Sam Outlaw (2017) "After all this time I can't recall her name/But if I try, I might recall the name of the flower on that wall/Shades of purple, red and pink/Bougainvillea, I think." Sam Outlaw’s “Bougainvillea, I Think” was probably the most beautifully sounding song of 2017. The melody and lyrics enraptured my ears the very first time I heard it. It’s a rather simple song about friendship between two unlikely characters. A man is reminiscing about an older Argentinian woman he used to live next to, but can’t remember her named after all the years, but can picture the flowers she had. The phrasing of “shades of yellow, red and pink/bougainvillea, I think” flow off Outlaw’s tongue so delightfully that you can’t help but instantly fall in love with this sweet song. 93. "Still a Southern Man" by Will Hoge (2015) "There's a flag flyin' overhead and I used to think it meant one thing/But now I've grown up and seen the world and I know what it really means" One of the hot button topics in this country in 2015 was the Confederate flag and whether or not it was time for it to come down over government properties and what the flag really meant and represents. Singer-songwriter Will Hoge was one of a few artists who decided to put their thoughts on the subject to music and came out with the rare for country music protest song “Still a Southern Man.” The song talks about how one can be proud with their Southern heritage without clinging to archaic symbols that few seem to really understand in 2015. I’m proud that there are Southerner singer-songwriters like Hoge speaking their minds through music, even when their opinions may easily cost them listeners. 92. "Lost Without You" by Randy Newman (2017) "Even if I knew which way the wind was blowin'/Even if I knew this road would lead me home/Even if I knew for once where I was goin'/I'm lost out here without you" Randy Newman is without a doubt one of the greatest songwriters to ever live. He can bring a tear to your eye by making you laugh or by breaking your heart and can do so in a mere four minutes. He managed to do both on 2017’s Dark Matter with a funny tune about Russian leader Vladimir Putin simply titled “Putin” and then likely the most heartbreaking song of the year in “Lost Without You.” It’s a beautiful tale of a husband and wife with the wife dying of a disease and leaving a man she’s loved and taken care of most of their lives alone. The truly devastating part is when the dying wife gathers her children around and tells them to take care of their father. It’s truly a fantastic piece of writing where Newman tells the story from both the husband and wife’s perspectives. 91. "People Get Old" by Lori McKenna (2018) "He shouldn't be shovelin' that first snow, but you know he won't take the help/Full of pride and love, he don't say too much, but hell, he never did/And you still think he's 45 and he still thinks that you're a kid" Lori McKenna’s “People Get Old” is one of the biggest tearjerkers of the decade, but also a tribute to those we love dearest. It’s about the cruelty of time and how you frequently don’t even see or feel those closest to you growing old until you wake up one day and they just are. It’s a track that’s going to make anyone with aged or aging parents choke up a bit. McKenna wrote it about her now 84-year old father and said to Rolling Stone: “In so many ways I still remember him as a younger man, doing family trips and all that. I love nostalgic songs, so this one let me start picking part the parts of my childhood I remembered and wanted to put in a song, like going down memory lane a bit.” |
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April 2024
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