100 Best Americana & Country Songs of the Decade: Part 10 (#10-1)

by Julian Spivey

​Note: portions of this article have previously been published on this site

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10. "Fire Away" by Chris Stapleton (2015)

"Honey load up your questions/And pick out your sticks and your stones/And pretend I'm a shelter for heartaches/That don't have a home"

​I don’t think there’s anyone else in country music right now that has as clean and pure of a voice as Chris Stapleton. His voice has the ability to knock you off your seat, especially when it takes on a heartbreaker like “Fire Away.” The simple lyrics about a relationship coming to an end, mixed with Stapleton’s flawlessly bluesy voice lead to perfection. Check out the music video too – it’ll go down as an all-time country music video classic. 

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9. "A Little Bit of Everything" by Dawes (2011)

"I want a little bit of everything/The biscuits and the beans/Whatever helps me to forget about/The things that brought me to my knees/So pile on those mashed potatoes/And an extra chicken wing/I'm having a little bit of everything"

​I didn’t know what or who Dawes was prior to October of 2013. I went to a local show the group was headlining to see the opening act, Jason Isbell, and wound up becoming a fan of Dawes and the incredible songwriting of frontman Taylor Goldsmith immediately. The song that stood out the most was “A Little Bit of Everything” from the 2011 release Nothing Is Wrong. It starts out as a somber song about the little things in life that add up to create hardship and ends on a more hopeful note. But, the idea of how all these little things can build into something much bigger is such a realistic and striking one and that seems consistent with what makes Goldsmith such a talented songwriter. 

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8. "Heaven Sent" by Parker Millsap (2016)

"Daddy you're the one who claimed/That he loved me through the flame/Now why can't you do the same"

Parker Millsap’s “Heaven Sent” was the best country/Americana song of 2016. “Heaven Sent” is very atypical for country music in the theme that it takes on – a gay son of a preacher trying to understand why his father can’t be proud of him coming out, when he’s loved him his entire life. The eloquent lyrics matched with Millsap’s raw vocals provide a song that’s as stellar sonically as it is importantly thought-provoking. 

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7. "Springsteen" by Eric Church (2012)

"Funny how a melody sounds like a memory/Like a soundtrack to a July Saturday night"

​Eric Church’s 2012 no. 1 hit “Springsteen” is nostalgia at its finest. And, as a major Springsteen fan it played right into my heart. Had Church and co-writers Jeff Hyde and Ryan Tyndell titled it “Frampton” or something else it may have never connected the same. The feeling of the song was real for Church who had a memory of a girl with a song from another artist, but he turned that artist into Springsteen because he’s always admired “The Boss” and knew it might better connect with a larger group of people. I hope we all have the chance to file away a memory connected to a song that we can look back on with such fondness … I know I have. 

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6. "Wrecking Ball" by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band

"C’mon and take your best shot/let me see what you got/bring on your wrecking ball"

​Sure, Bruce Springsteen is rock ‘n’ roll, but Bruce Springsteen is also as Americana as it gets – just might be a bit louder than much of what’s considered to be Americana. “Wrecking Ball,” off Springsteen & the E Street Band’s 2012 album of the same name, is my favorite song of the decade by my all-time favorite artist. “Wrecking Ball” was originally written to commemorate Giants Stadium in New Jersey, where Springsteen and his band performed many times, before the stadium was set to be demolished. But, it’s lyrics like “c’mon and take your best shot/let me see what you got/bring on your wrecking ball” make it an anthem of defiance that’s sure to pump you up when you’re down. It’s also one of the very last recordings to feature great E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemens, who died less than a year before the album’s release, making it all the more important for E Street fans. 

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5. "The House That Built Me" by Miranda Lambert (2010)

"I thought if I could touch this place or feel it/This brokenness inside me might start healing"

​“The House That Built Me” by Miranda Lambert, which was the most recent song to make The Word's list of the 100 Greatest Country Songs of All-Time back in September, is an ode to remembering where you came from. "The House That Built Me" is both heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time and sees Lambert with the finest vocal of her already stellar career. The song, written by Tom Douglas and Allen Shamblin, would become the first No. 1 hit of Lambert’s career and go on to win Song of the Year at the CMA and ACM Awards, in addition to winning her a Grammy. The song was originally supposed to be recorded by Lambert’s then fiancé Blake Shelton, but when she heard it, she knew it had to be hers. It turns out it’s maybe the best thing she got out of that relationship. It’s a modern classic no doubt.

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4. "The Weary Kind" by Ryan Bingham (2010)

"Your heart's on the loose/You rolled them sevens with nothing to lose/And this ain't no place for the weary kind"

​“The Weary Kind” by Ryan Bingham is the only Oscar-winner on this list. That’s a bit of random trivia for ya. The song was written for the Scott Cooper-directed, Jeff Bridges-starring 2009 film “Crazy Heart,” in which Bridges played an alcoholic, beyond his stardom days country music singer. Bingham’s song fit the whole lonesome vibe and emotion of the excellent movie incredibly well and instantly became one of my modern country favorites. Though the song first appeared on the “Crazy Heart” soundtrack in 2009, Bingham would add it to his 2010 album Junky Star, which makes it eligible for this list and I damn sure wouldn’t have wanted a list without “The Weary Kind.”  

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3. "7 & 7" by Turnpike Troubadours (2010)

"I still do my share of sleepin' on the floor/Not sure if anybody knows me anymore"

​I realize this might be controversial, but I believe “7&7” is the best song by the Turnpike Troubadours. It’s certainly my favorite, at least. There’s just something about this song of young relationship that doesn’t work out that that just feels so real to me. It’s a perfect telling of young love and wanting so bad to feel that feeling again. The you have the incredible verse about bumping into your old flame at a supermarket and how she’s been able to mature and go on with life and you’re still the same old guy you always were. That’s devastating. The chorus of “I had no clue I’d be the boy who your mama warned you about” is so perfectly anthemic that you just want to scream it every time it comes around. 

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2. "Living the Dream" by Sturgill Simpson (2014)

"I don't have to do a goddamn thing but sit around and wait to die"

Sturgill Simpson’s “Living the Dream,” off his Grammy-winning 2014 album Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, was a really important song for me at a bad moment in my life. I was in a miserable work situation and finally was relieved of this situation and while waiting and “hoping those circles on the paper don’t call back telling me to start today” I’d listen to this song over and over. The line: “I don’t have to do a goddamn thing but sit around and wait to die” really spoke to me. It told me, “relax, everything is going to be alright” and after a while everything became alright and my life turned around. The defiance of this song really just pumps me up and energizes me and when a song can speak to you that directly you know it’s something truly special. 

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1. "Alabama Pines" by Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit (2012)

"The A.C. hasn’t worked in 20 years/Probably never made a single person cold/But I can’t say the same for me/I’ve done it many times"

​“Alabama Pines” by Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, off the band’s 2011 album Here We Rest, is my favorite song of the decade … and I believe it’s the greatest song of the many, many great songs that Isbell has ever written. There’s a loneliness in this song that just speaks to my soul and even when things are going well I can still connect with stunning lines like: “The A.C. hasn’t worked in 20 years/Probably never made a single person cold/But I can’t say the same for me/I’ve done it many times.” And, when Isbell sings: “No one gives a damn about the things I give a damn about,” boy do I often feel that sentiment. There just hasn’t been a song this decade that dug down deep and spoke to my inner soul and being as much as “Alabama Pines” has. That might make me a depressing bastard, but that’s where we are. 

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What do you think was the best Americana or Country song of the decade? What song did we snub that should've made the cut? What did we have ranked too high or too low? 

Let us know in the comments below ...