Greatest Country Songs Ever Written

[televillian]

almost anything from Kris Kristofferson but Johnny Cash and I like

 

[dougstrum]

Great thread, after six pages how could anyone pick one as the greatest?

 

[Dostradamas]

The Good Ol', Blues, Brothers Boys, Band from Chicago

 

[Rustbucket]

Mel Tillis wrote this one, but I’m partial to this version by Jamey Johnson:


Best lyric:
We’ll I hope that the train,
from Caraboue, Maine,
Runs over your new love affair

 

[tery]

Diggin' Up Bones ~ Tony Jackson

 

[buster poser]

"Blue Eyes Cryin' in the Rain" is way up there. The Acuff original, the Williams version for it's 'hauntingness,' and the Willie version for reaching back ~25 years and bringing forward its rawness into a little epoch when it was lacking in the genre (imo).

"Heartaches by the Number" (Ray), "If You've Got the Money" (Lefty), "He'll Have to Go" (Jim Reeves), "How's the World Treating You" (Eddy's version) and "Six Pack to Go" (Hank Thompson) would be way up there for me personally, but probably not all-timers for most people. All of Marty's corridos are unassailable too. Big Iron, El Paso, et al

My selection for a modern classic would be "Thunderstorms & Neon Signs" by Wayne Hancock (and Hank III). Few folks do it like Mr. The Train here.

 

[Stringbanger]

You beat me to it! I just started covering it. Love it.

I was at a jam session at a neighbor’s place about 10 years ago, and this one guy played it. I had never heard it before, but I wasn’t into country as much back then.

I have been playing it ever since.

 

[ZackyDog]

 

[BrazHog]

Great topic! Some of my favorites:

Jimmie Rodgers - Waiting for a Train
Hank Williams - Jambalaya (a self-contained universe in 2 chords)
Red Simpson - Nitro Express
Junior Brown - My Baby Don't Dance to Nothing but
Ernest Tubb - Waltz Across Texas
Jimmy Bryant & Speedy West - Stratosphere Boogie

...and so many others!

 

[old soul]

Every fool has a rainbow- haggard
That's the way love goes- haggard
Angel flying too close to the ground- Willie
To name a few. Each one are really nice to play

 

[Spox]

This is a great thread.

 

[Spox]

When her voice rises the hairs on the back of my neck still go up.

 

[Dave W]

A couple more of my all time favorites

 

[elihu]

I think "Single Again" and "She's Actin' Single (I'm Drinkin' Doubles)" by Gary Stewart are great songs.

My favorite Gary Stewart song is An Empty Glass. It’s like a serious version of Willie’s I Gotta Get Drunk (and I sure do dread it). But I think it's one of his best... melody/changes/lyrics are really good.

 

[Wyzsard]

I don't know what the best one is but this is my favorite...

 

[Harry Styron]

Blue Kentucky Girl was Loretta’s first big hit, later recorded by Emmy Lou and many others. It’s a perfect vehicle for Loretta’s sincere delivery. Melinda Mullins, the daughter of the writer, does an act featuring this and her father’s other songs, several recorded by Porter Wagoner, including “Company’s Comin’.”

 

[Wyzsard]

Roger Miller wrote a good one.

 

[Toto'sDad]

I know something about everything Merle had to say in this song, boy and man, I lived some of it. Maybe more than some of it. This song always reminds me of the time up north when I got out of jail in Alturas California. I was standing out there on the highway, everything I owned in a paper bag, trying to catch a ride in either direction, just wanting to be anywhere but where I was.

 

[ZackyDog]

Something about this song has always resonated with me. Maybe it's the vocal delivery and/or "synchopation"?

 

[ndcaster]

Marty Robbins is absurdly underrated. For story songs, he has few if any peers.