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by Julian Spivey
10. "Highway 46" by Tom Russell
Tom Russell’s “Highway 46” is a tribute to the legendary Bakersfield Sound and the great musical heroes that came out of it like Merle Haggard and Buck Owens. Russell says on his website: “I heard Bob Dylan on the radio in 1962 the same night I heard Buck Owens. I thought it was all the same; hillbilly/folk music with voice that cut through the fog.” The song is essentially Russell driving down Highway 46 from the California coast to the San Joaquin Valley and remembering all these musical heroes and their songs. I particularly love the second verse paying tribute to my hero Merle Haggard.
9. "Cobra" by Rod Melancon
Rod Melancon’s “Cobra,” off his album Pinkville, is simply the most badass song of 2019. It’s a roadhouse roots-rocker of a story about two bank robbers and their downfall with Melancon’s gruff, gritty vocals highlighting the sung portions of the song with spoken word serving as the storyteller. There’s a bluesy, almost Doors-esque sound to the track that gives the entire thing an ominous feel to it.
8. "Seneca Creek" by Charles Wesley Godwin
Good lord Charles Wesley Godwin had an incredibly debut with Seneca this year. It’s an album full of terrific and realistically written stories about life in rural America and one of the very best is “Seneca Creek.” The song tells the entire story of a couple from beginning to end and really tugs on your heartstrings in doing so. Godwin is from West Virginia and you can just feel his home state in the sinew of these Appalachian tales like “Seneca Creek.”
7. "Nobody's Perfect" by Bruce Robison & Kelly Willis
For my money Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis are the most talented couple in country music, even if many who just listen to mainstream might not know either of them by name. The couple that has been married for more than 20 years released their third collaborative album this year and their voices meld together beautifully. The album’s best track is the Willis-led “Nobody’s Perfect,” about a jilted lover who swears off the dating life until she can find someone who’s worth the potential pain of another heartbreak. The song is brilliantly written by Adam Wright.
6. "William and Wanda" by Cody Jinks
If this song doesn’t make you tear up you might not be human. Cody Jinks co-wrote “William and Wanda” with his wife Rebecca shortly after the death of his grandfather that envisions him reuniting with Jinks’ grandmother in heaven to continue their love story. It’s a beautiful sentiment and performed in a raw acoustic style – I truly couldn’t imagine it performed any other way. It’s an absolutely stunning song and the way Jinks kinda wraps a mystery of what it’s about until the end makes it all the more interesting.
5. "Ground Don't Want Me" by Josh Ritter
Josh Ritter’s “Ground Don’t Want Me” is such an incredibly written song. It probably has the best chorus of any song this year with: “What is the body when the soul is flown?/Has it only been forgotten?/I want to lay down in a field of bone/But an angel guards the garden.” The song is a ballad of an outlaw who’s done so much killing and shed so much blood during his life and he’s frankly tired of it, but something just won’t let him die and get away from all this pain. Essentially the men he killed are better off than him in the end.
4. "American Dream" by Hayes Carll
“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 lose, and quests for glory and love are as well. They are engines that keep most people moving, and America personifies that.”
3. "Western Stars" by Bruce Springsteen
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.
2. "Hardwood Floors" by Charles Wesley Godwin
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.
1. "Irene (Ravin' Bomb)" by Ian Noe
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.
What was your favorite Americana or Country song of 2019?
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by Julian Spivey
20. "Good at Bad News" by Tylor & the Train Robbers
Since the very first time I heard “Good at Bad News” by Idaho’s Tylor & the Train Robbers this year it reminded me of early, Guitar Town era Steve Earle, and that ladies and gentleman is about as high of a compliment as I could pay a band. It’s a tale of a down on their luck couple who’ve learned to live with being broke and love each other through all the bad. The chorus “It’ll work out fine or it won’t we can’t choose/but me and my baby can handle the blues/she deserves to win, but I’ve been known to lose/me and my baby are good at bad news” is one of my absolute favorite of the year.
19. "House Fire" by Tyler Childers
There isn’t a whole lot lyrically to “House Fire” by Tyler Childers, but musically it’s one of the most infectious tunes of the year with squealing fiddle and an incredible mingling of mandolin, banjo, organ and guitar that works itself into a driving boogie that makes you want to bob your head and slap your knee. Childers’ Kentucky drawl, especially as he enters that much repeated chorus for the final time, is just as infectious. “House Fire” has a helluva lot of replay factor in it.
18. "Troubled Times in a Tribal Town" by Ben Jarrell
Country music and murder songs go back a long way and one of the finest combinations of the two in recent years is Ben Jarrell’s “Troubled Times in a Tribal Town” off his debut Troubled Times this year. The song tells of an outsider named Billy who’s unlike anybody else in his neck of the woods and when he gets bored of having nothing better to do takes a girl out on a date and kills her. It’s not exactly a fun-loving song, but an interesting tale of the dark side that can overtake someone. “Troubled Times in a Tribal Town” is a good sign that the future of “outlaw country” is in good hands. If you don’t yet know the name Ben Jarrell you likely soon will.
17. "Jingle and Go" by Ryan Bingham
There’s a propulsive jingle jangle to Ryan Bingham’s “Jingle and Go” that just makes you want to be inside an old-fashioned bluesy roadhouse while jamming along to it. There’s a special kind of swagger to this song about a musician gigging around small venues just looking for a little money to be thrown his way that few artists could do as convincingly as Bingham. It’s a riot and shows Bingham is at home as much with bluesy-rock as he is country, folk, Americana or what have you.
16. "After You" by Joseph Huber
Joseph Huber’s Moondog is one of the underrated gems of the year – and it’s not the first time Huber has had an underrated gem. My favorite track on the album is the beautifully written and sung love song “After You.” I love the first verse of this song that tells of a man at a bar one night and watching all the other men inside drooling over a woman and how he swoops in to be the knight and shining armor and falls for her just as quickly as they hoped to. The song goes from that first meeting between the two through their entire romance and love all the way until the very end in four riveting minutes.
15. "Country Radio" by Aaron Watson
Aaron Watson’s “Country Radio” is the kind of beautifully written, heartfelt story we once heard on mainstream country radio and wish to hell we still did. The song tells the story about how once a child is put to bed he can hear and see his parents swaying in the living room to the sound of the Grand Ole Opry on the radio and the memories it fills him with. It’s a lovely love song told from the perspective of a child who grows up to experience similar feelings with his own family. It’s a beautiful sentiment.
14. "Be There" by Hayes Carll
I absolutely love the melody to the chorus of Hayes Carell’s “Be There.” It’s a rather simple sounding song of a man who puts more into a relationship than his partner is willing to put in. He continues to hold onto the hope that she might someday give the relationship as much effort as he does, despite the fact he knows that it’s never going to happen. It’s one of those cases where something so sad lyrically just sounds so beautiful musically.
13. "Numbers on the Cars" by Riley Green
Few things in this world seem more devastating than watching a loved one go through Alzheimer’s, as it not only affects the person who has it, but has a horrible impact on all the loved one surrounding them. Riley Green’s “Numbers on the Cars” tackles the issue of watching a loved one living with Alzheimer’s and is potentially the most devastating listen of 2019. The song is inspired by the real-life journey Green watched his great uncle go through in dealing with the disease as it tells the story of a man who’s forgotten his wife has passed away or that the Vietnam War is long over, but can still recall which drivers drive which car numbers when watching races on television.
12. "Tammy Wynette Kind of Pain" by Reba McEntire
I’ll confess something very controversial. I’ve never been the biggest fan of Reba McEntire. Sure, she has songs I love like “Whoever’s in New England” and her cover of “Fancy,” but I can do without the bulk of her discography. That being said, she absolutely knocked me down with her latest album Stronger Than the Truth and especially the song “Tammy Wynette Kind of Pain” with its throwback style that makes it one of McEntire’s strongest releases. I’ve also never really been a fan of Tammy Wynette’s “Stand By Your Man,” not really believing it to be a healthy attitude to have. “Tammy Wynette Kind of Pain,” though I know no disrespect was meant toward the late Wynette, kind of gets at that fact too … sometimes, to quote another Reba classic, somebody should leave.
11. "Highwomen" by The Highwomen
It takes a lot of guts to name your supergroup after The Highwaymen, which included a veritable Mount Rushmore of country music legends in Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson. It takes even more guts to take what’s essentially their theme song and recast it through the eyes of heroic everyday women, but that’s exactly what The Highwomen (Brandi Carlile, Amanda Shires, Maren Morris and Natalie Hemby) did with the help of Jimmy Webb, the original songwriter of “Highwayman.” It works incredibly well in telling the stories of a Honduran immigrant mother, a persecuted doctor and preacher and a freedom rider, in a great guest verse from Yola. It’s a song that could easily bring a tear to your eye upon your first list, but left a smile on my face the first time I heard it because these ladies took something sacred and knocked it out of the park with their take.
by Julian Spivey
30. "Letter to Madeline" by Ian Noe
Ian Noe’s debut Between the Country was truly one of the shining moments of 2019 in country and Americana music and shows a singer-songwriter already in firm command of his pen. There are some story songs on this album like “Letter to Madeline,” about a bank robber being tracked down by a posse and trying to get a letter out to his beloved before being captured or killed, that sound timeless, as if they could’ve been written and recorded many decades ago by legends like Woody Guthrie or Bob Dylan – yes, I’m that impressed by Noe’s debut work.
29. "The Wheels of Laredo" by Tanya Tucker/The Highwaymen
We were blessed this year with not one, but two terrific takes on “The Wheels of Laredo,” written by the threesome of Brandi Carlile, Phil Hanseroth and Tim Hanseroth, a track rich in imagery of the Southwestern border of Texas and Mexico and a relationship that’s kept apart due to that border and immigration laws. Both performances of the song are incredibly whether you prefer Tanya Tucker’s gritty vocal from her comeback While I’m Living or Carlile’s soaring vocal that ends The Highwomen album
28. "Stones" by Bruce Springsteen
From the very start of listening to Bruce Springsteen’s most recent release Western Stars the track “Stones” felt like the most Springsteen-esque song on that terrific album to me, even if it does begin with a swell of strings that’s inspired, like much of the album, by the great Glen Campbell/Jimmy Webb collaborations of the late ‘60s. It’s not Springsteen-esque in that it’s an epic story song or a heartland rocker, but just the only thing from the album that may have appeared on a previous album of his – perhaps his 1987 breakup album Tunnel of Love – as it’s a dive into the end of a relationship filled with lies.
27. "Some Nights" by George Strait
At 67, George Strait is still as smooth as ever and he proves that with his signature, flawless vocals on “Some Nights” from his 2019 release Honky Tonk Time Machine. The ballad about trying to move on from a heartbreak is rather simple, but so are many of Strait’s biggest and best hits, and this feels like one that’s squarely in his wheelhouse and would’ve been one of his 60-something No. 1 hits had it been released 15 years ago. For the life of me I can’t understand why this hasn’t been released as a single yet (if mainstream country radio would even play it), instead the pandering “The Weight of the Badge” was released.
26. "Mr. Lonely" by Midland
Midland’s “Mr. Lonely” has the swagger of George Strait’s 1984 hit “The Fireman” (it’s truly like the son of that song) mixed with anything ever performed by Dwight Yoakam. In fact, this could’ve easily been a Yoakam hit at some point in the ‘90s in my mind. The song is about a guy who is known as the “rebound guy,” the one you can always go to for a good time when your hearts been broken and you’re looking for a fast way to get over it. Midland has found a way to some of the traditional country song back into the mainstream and many of us are here for that.
25. "Last Night in Denver" by The Lowdown Drifters
One of the most kickass songs of 2019 is easily “Last Night in Denver” by The Lowdown Drifters, which takes on the massive divide between hugely popular touring musicians and the kind who take a van from city to city and have to set up the stage on their own. I love the tongue in cheekiness of “Last Night in Denver” where the band takes on mainstream country music with lines like: “If I say ‘hell yeah’ will y’all sing along” and “if I lose some weight and wear tight T-shirts, will y’all stop by my table and buy up my merch.” The real heart of American music is the guys doing it the hard way on the road and this song and this band gets that.
24. "Times Like These" by Hayes Carll
Hayes Carll has never been afraid to say what’s on his mind in song and one of the best examples of this is his rocker “Times Like These,” the second track off his most recent album What It Is. “Times Like These” takes on the political landscape of the United States today with the divide between people that’s simply widening with each passing day and our President’s social media habits, “in times like these do I really need a billionaire/just takin’ all my time tryin’ to tell me I was treated unfair.” The narrator’s had it with all that crap and just wants to do his job, love his girl and help us a neighbor. The world would likely be a better place if we all focused on that.
23. "Little Bird" by Shane Smith & the Saints
I hadn’t spent much time with Shane Smith & the Saints prior to their recent release Hail Mary, but the song “Little Bird” absolutely blew me away from the first time I heard it. It’s a beautifully sung ballad of losing the perfect someone who you know you’ll never have another chance of finding someone like them ever again. “Little Bird” feels epic with its delicate vocal mixed with this beautiful swell of crying fiddle and electric guitar at its finish.
22. "If She Ever Leaves Me" by The Highwomen
Jason Isbell didn’t really set out to write a gay country love song, until he thought it would sound great coming from the mouth of gay country and Americana singer Brandi Carlile. He told Taste of Country: “It occurred to me that maybe, just maybe, Brandi Carlile would sing this song, and it could be a gay country song. So then we wrote it from that perspective.” Throughout the history of country music there certainly hasn’t been a lot of songs about openly gay relationships, so “If She Ever Leaves Me” instantly sky-rockets to the top – but even if there had been a ton – it still would have shot to the top of the list with Isbell’s songwriting and Carlile’s devastating vocals.
21. "The Dead Don't Die" by Sturgill Simpson
Sturgill Simpson released his fourth studio album in 2019, the amped-up rock of Sound & Fury, but the best song he released this year was a theme song for director Jim Jarmush’s little seen zombie flick “The Dead Don’t Die.” Simpson’s song, which shares its name with the film, harkens back to his earlier traditional country music sound that made many of us fall in love with his music to begin with. “The Dead Don’t Die,” a tear-in-you-beer ballad, features one of my favorite lyrics of the year with: “after life is over/the after life goes on.”
by Julian Spivey
40. "Mississippi Nuthin'" by Shovels & Rope
Shovels & Rope, the married duo of Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent, are at their very best when they just let loose with rip-roaring, fast paced snarling lyrics with their voices intertwined effortlessly. “Mississippi Nuthin’” is my favorite track by the two since I first got to know them with “Birmingham” almost a decade ago. The track sees an old pair of friends from high school who’ve undergone a reversal of fortunes since the good ol’ days and the former football star comes to less popular acquaintance with a get rich scheme.
39. "What Gave Me Away" by Trisha Yearwood
This was a year where I was blown away by songs from female vocalists who seemed long past their time (Reba McEntire, Tanya Tucker) and one of the highlights was “What Gave Me Away” by Trisha Yearwood. It’s certainly Yearwood at her sexiest as she sings about a spark of attraction, she finds with another while out on the town – a feeling anybody who’s had an immediate connection with another can identify with. The track is particularly intimate as backing vocals are supplied by Yearwood’s superstar Garth Brooks who doesn’t overdo them, which is somewhat surprising for Brooks, but I’m sure he realized this was Yearwood’s shining moment.
38. "Gloria" by The Lumineers
It was incredibly hard to pick the “greatest tracks” from The Lumineers 2019 album III, as it’s a concept album telling the story of a family through three characters and multiple generations. If there’s one album you should absolutely listen to from start-to-finish without skipping around this year, it’s III. There are some tracks on the album that work well as stand alones and “Gloria” (have you realized how many Lumineers songs are named after women?) is one of them. The track is about an addict who just couldn’t be saved and was inspired by a family member of band member Wesley Schultz who told Paste Magazine, “Loving an addict is like standing among the crashing waves, trying to bend the will of the sea.”
37. "Delta Line" by Emily Scott Robinson
“Sounds Like: Country-folk songs about America in all its pain and glory with the literate, Southern gothic sensibility of Flannery O’Connor” … that how Billboard described Emily Scott Robinson’s album Traveling Mercies and I also believe it to be an apt description of my favorite track on the album – “Delta Line.” It’s a somber song in which all of its characters are going through something of their own personal Hell, which seems to be commonplace in a poor, rural delta town. The acoustic guitar and crying fiddle throughout really nail the bleak sound the song is going for.
36. "Chasin' Wild Horses" by Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen has always been great at coming up with these story songs of masculine loners striking out on their own and the cowboy in “Chasin’ Wild Horses” fits right in with this long-running theme. Springsteen’s narrator compares his attitude and personality to that of his actual job in that it’s all just “chasin’ wild horses.” The soaring orchestra strings that accompany all of Springsteen’s Western Stars album really helps to create the image of wild horses running along the Montana plains.
35. "If You Don't Love Me" by Leo Rondeau
I love the songwriting on Leo Rondeau’s “If You Don’t Love Me” and how he spins everything together as if he’s just now understanding he’s in a one-sided relationship. Rondeau told Wide Open Country: “The subject matter is about someone who runs from a good thing because they’re afraid of being tied down.” The song has a fun country-funk groove to it that really moves the song along that Rondeau credited drummer Aaron Shafer-Haiss with coming up with.
34. "All Your'n" by Tyler Childers
Tyler Childers’ “All Your’n” was recently nominated for a Grammy for Best Country Solo Performance and that right there shows you how the Grammys actually get country music award nominations better than the award ceremonies dedicated solely to country music. “All Your’n” is a laid back love song but isn’t your typical hollow lyrics – this is one of the most fleshed out with characteristics and unique flourishes love song you’re likely to ever here.
33. "Barbara's Song" by Ian Noe
This sounds like it should’ve been recorded by the Grateful Dead in their heyday. Ian Noe’s “Barbara’s Song” is an old-timey sounding folk song about a train crash and what goes on with the passengers come the end. The last thing on our narrator’s mind before he perishes is that he wants someone to tell Barbara Brown how much he loves her. Like much of Noe’s impressive debut Between the Country this tracks sound timeless as if it could’ve been written all the way back in 1904 when it’s set.
32. "What Whiskey Does" by Randy Houser
I had written Randy Houser off. I was a big fan of the very first single, “Anything Goes,” that he released in 2008, but hadn’t been into anything of his since. But I remembered how great he sounded on his debut single and read some of the rave reviews of his new album Magnolia and how he’d left the mainstream to record what he wanted and checked it out. The album is impressive, and my favorite track was “What Whiskey Does,” a drinking song about taking to a bottle to drown the pain of a lost love. Houser sounds as good as ever here.
31. "Jesus & Elvis" by Hayes Carll
“Jesus and Elvis” is quite the story song from Hayes Carll about a woman whose son went off to fight in the Vietnam War on Christmas Eve and never made it back home, so she decorates her bar in his two favorite things: Jesus and Elvis. There’s at least some truth behind the song as Carll remembered an old dive bar he knew of “where it was always Christmas and there was nothing on the jukebox past 1968,” according to an interview with American Songwriter. 
by Julian Spivey
With the decade coming to an end we got to wondering what the best song of each year this decade was. Ten songs from each year were compiled based on things like time spent atop Billboard, Grammy nominations, general popularity and placement on year-end lists. Those who’ve worked on The Word or have been affiliated in some way with it were asked to rank these 10 songs for each year from best-to-worst and then those numbers were averaged to find out what we as a unit felt the best song of each year was. These are the results … 2010: "Teenage Dream" by Katy PerryAccolades:
At the beginning of the decade everybody couldn’t get enough of Katy Perry’s bubblegum pop and one of her career-bests was her 2010 No. 1 single “Teenage Dream.” For her album of the same name Perry wanted songs about the euphoric feeling of being in love as a teenager and this song really gets that feeling down pat.
2010 Runner-Up: "The Cave" by Mumford & Sons
2011: "Rolling in the Deep" by AdeleAccolades:
It only seems to happen like twice a decade or so, but when Adele releases an album, she’s going to dominate the pop world for the entire year of its release. Her 2011 album 21 instantly became one of the most iconic modern albums of our time and the lead single “Rolling in the Deep” a powerhouse vocal from maybe the best vocalist of our time.
2011 Runner-Up: "Firework" by Katy Perry
2012: "Wrecking Ball" by Bruce SpringsteenAccolades:
This feels like a mistake, honestly. My all-time favorite artist is Bruce Springsteen and I loved the non-single, title track from his 2012 critically-acclaimed album Wrecking Ball that I tossed it in the running of 10 best songs of 2012. It averaged out to the top spot. My theory is some voters didn’t notice Springsteen’s name and instead thought this was Miley Cyrus’s 2013 hit of the same name. Either way, I’m happy that Springsteen’s anthem to never backing down in the face of destruction found its way here.
2012 Runner-Up: "Over You" by Miranda Lambert
2013: "Royals" by LordeAccolades:
Lorde burst upon the scene at just 16-years old with “Royals,” a new sounding pop hit that was described as “art pop” that drew on influences from alternative music, and it stayed at No. 1 at Billboard for nine straight weeks. It was certainly the most unique sounding pop hit of the decade and also meant something with it taking own consumer society and ridiculous luxury items that many in the music industry brag about in their hits.
2013 Runner-Up: "Roar" by Katy Perry
2014: "Follow Your Arrow" by Kacey MusgravesAccolades:
“Follow Your Arrow” by Kacey Musgraves was a massively important song for country music, even if many radio stations within the genre wouldn’t play it. Musgraves’s anthem to being who you are no matter what contained potentially the first pro-gay message in mainstream country music history, and it helped Musgraves expand her fan-base into the pop realm, as well.
2014 Runner-Up: "All of Me" by John Legend
2015: "Thinking Out Loud" by Ed SheeranAccolades:
Ed Sheeran is a bit of mystery in that he’s written some of the best pop songs of the last decade, while also writing some of the worst (I’m looking right at you “Shape of You”). “Thinking of You,” which peaked at No. 1 in late 2014 and continued to dominate in 2015, is Sheeran’s career shining moment. The romantic ballad with influences of soul – like Sheeran’s home country hero Van Morrison – reflects on everlasting love and has become a staple at weddings worldwide since its release.
2015 Runner-Up: "Girl Crush" by Little Big Town
2016: "Love Yourself" by Justin BieberAccolades:
Justin Bieber seemingly grew from teen pop sensation to adult pop sensation before our eyes in 2016 with his No. 1 hit “Love Yourself.” The song, a kiss-off to an ex-lover who had done the narrator wrong, showed some maturation for Bieber and even gained the artist some love from people who had once made fun of the artist as a teeny-bop idol providing little-to-no substance in his music.
2016 Runner-Up: "Humble & Kind" by Tim McGraw
2017: "24K Magic" by Bruno MarsAccolades:
I’m shocked that it’s Bruno Mars’s 2017 hit “24K Magic” that was the Mars song to top one of our yearly votes and not his funky infectious 2015 Mark Ronson collaboration “Uptown Funk.” “24K Magic” kind of took off where “Uptown Funk” began with its funk groove, but with a more hip-hop influence involved. Mars’s vocals reminded some of James Brown, and the artists moves when performing are definitely patterned after the soul legend.
2017 Runner-Up: "Better Man" by Little Big Town
2018: "Shallow" by Lady Gaga & Bradley CooperAccolades:
Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s collaboration “Shallow” from the Oscar-nominated “A Star is Born” from 2018 was everywhere after the release of the film in 2018 and into the early parts of 2019. “Shallow” instantly became one of the all-time great movie songs (and won the Oscar for Best Original Song) with its soaring vocal from Lady Gaga and its dedication to acting from Bradley Cooper (doing a bit of a Kris Kristofferson imitation). It’ll live on for many years for sure.
2018 Runner-Up: "This Is America" by Childish Gambino
2019: "Truth Hurts" by LizzoAccolades:
2019 was the year of Lizzo. She burst upon the scene with a vengeance this year and has taken the entire world by storm. The interesting thing about her hit “Truth Hurts” is that while it topped the charts this year it was actually released two years ago and didn’t chart. It was the video sharing app TikTok that truly propelled the song about romantic problems and addressing an ex to superstardom and wound up seeing “Truth Hurts” added on to the deluxe version of Lizzo’s Cuz I Love You.
2019 Runner-Up: "Me!" by Taylor Swift feat. Brandon Urie
by Julian Spivey
60. "Cheap Silver" by Mike & the Moonpies59. "Put the Hurt On Me" by Midland58. "The Dumb Song" by Dale Watson57. "Redemption Day" by Sheryl Crow & Johnny Cash56. "Loretta" by Zane Williams55. "This Land" by Gary Clark Jr.54. "Lonely Alone" by Sheryl Crow & Willie Nelson53."Drive Fast (The Stuntman)" by Bruce Springsteen52. "Cocktail & a Song" by The Highwomen51. "Cigarettes in the Rain" by Vandoliers50. "Understand Why" by Cody Johnson49. "Tucson Train" by Bruce Springsteen48. "Beautiful Lie" by Bruce Robison & Kelly Willis47. "Ain't Got No Money" by Justin Townes Earle46. "Whiskey in Your Water" by Evan Felker & Carrie Rodriguez45. "A Good Look" by Sturgill Simpson44. "Willie Nelson's Wall" by Vincent Neil Emerson43. "Who Knows" by Kieran Kane & Rayna Gellert42. "Donna" by The Lumineers41. "Think Like You Think" by Cody Jinks
by Julian Spivey
80. "If I Had a Rose" by Bruce Robison & Kelly Willis79. "If I Could" by The Shootouts78. "Old Blood" by Nathan Seeckts77. "White Line" by Doug Seegers76. "Merle Haggard T-Shirt" by Buffalo Rogers75. "Just Like Overnight" by Todd Snider74. "Tequila Does" by Miranda Lambert73. "Evangeline" by Randy Houser72. "Rhinestones" by Charlie Marie71. "Dark Bars" by Miranda Lambert70. "Eveline" by Gabe Lee69. "Cocaine Country Dancing" by Paul Cauthen68. "Bad Case" by Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real67. "Jimmy Sparks" by The Lumineers66. "Locomotive" by Miranda Lambert65. "Miss Fortune" by Mike & the Moonpies64. "Redesigning Women" by The Highwomen63. "Country Squire" by Tyler Childers62. "Coal Country" by Charles Wesley Godwin61. "The One You Go Home To" by Chris Shiflett & Elizabeth Cook
by Julian Spivey
100. "Timeless Response to Current Events" by Todd Snider99. "Call Me Country" by Jon Pardi98. "Anna Lee" by The Steel Woods97. "If I Wanted Your Opinion" by Michaela Anne96. "Working Girl" by Joshua Ray Walker95. "Back to Me" by Flatland Cavalry94. "Sweet Emmylou" by Erin Enderlin93. "Good Old Fashioned Pain" by Taylor Alexander92. "The Saint of Lost Causes" by Justin Townes Earle91. "Faraway Look" by Yola90. "White River" by Kaitlin Butts89. "I Wish Grandpas Never Died" by Riley Green88. "Bury My Bones" by Whiskey Meyers87. "Fucking Crazy" by Robert Ellis86. "Borrowed Time" by Charley Crockett85. "You Look Good in Neon" by Mike & the Moonpies84. "South of Laredo" by Jimbo Mathus83. "Ghost in Every Town" by Emily Scott Robinson82. "Blue Water" by George Strait81. "One Love Song" by Michaela Anne & Sam Outlawby Julian Spivey  Note: portions of this article have previously been published on this site 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.” 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. 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. 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. 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 ... by Julian Spivey  Note: portions of this article have previously been published on this site 20. "Either Way" by Chris Stapleton (2017) “We can just go on like this/Say the word, we’ll call it quits/Baby, you can go or you can stay/But, I won’t love you either way” I doubt there’s a more devastating song to come out of 2017 than Chris Stapleton’s “Either Way.” It’s a heartbreaking fallen out of love track about a couple that still lives together, but can’t even consider each other friends, let alone lovers anymore. The brutality of the ballad really hits home with the stunningly vocalized chorus: “We can just go on like this/Say the word, we’ll call it quits/Baby, you can go or you can stay/But, I won’t love you either way.” If you’ve ever thought to yourself, “Why has Chris Stapleton won three consecutive CMA Awards for Male Vocalist of the Year?” you need look no farther than this song. The remarkable thing about “Either Way” is Stapleton wrote it (with Timothy Alan James and Kendell Marvel) more than a decade ago and even appeared on Lee Ann Womack’s 2008 album Call Me Crazy. It just kind of shows you how Stapleton was a hidden superstar in the waiting before breaking out a few years ago. 19. "Summer's End" by John Prine (2018) "Just like that old house we thought was haunted/Summer's end came faster than we wanted" John Prine is one of the greatest lyricists of all-time and songs like “Angel From Montgomery,” “Hello in There” and “Sam Stone” prove it. “Summer’s End,” from Prine’s first album of original material in more than a decade, is one of the 10 best songs he’s ever written. The song is simply devastating, while also being nostalgic. On its face it could be the telling of someone hoping to be reunited with a loved one – be it spouse, significant other, family member or friend – they haven’t seen in an awful long time. For someone who’s 72-years old like Prine summer could also be a stand-in for time and life passing by so quickly. The music video adds an even more devastating take to the song as it takes on America’s opioid crisis featuring a grandfather and his granddaughter who lost a child and mother to the epidemic. 18. "The Funeral" by Turnpike Troubadours (2010) "Coming home, coming home/There's nothing like a family to make you feel so damned alone" Evan Felker is the William Faulkner of Red Dirt Country. The way he captures small-town life and all of it intricacies makes him one of the greatest songwriters the Americana/Country world has ever seen. Even though “The Funeral,” off Turnpike Troubadours’ 2010 album Diamonds & Gasoline, is only ranked as the third best Troubadours song on this very list it may very well be the best written song Felker has ever had with its story of a James Dean-esque outcast coming home for the funeral of his father. Felker has been hailed as a very cinematic songwriter and this is a supreme example of that. 17. "Cover Me Up" by Jason Isbell (2013) "I sobered up/and swore off that stuff/forever this time" “Cover Me Up” has probably become Jason Isbell’s signature song in the years since it was first released on 2013’s Southeastern. The vocal is absolutely gut-wrenching and easily one of the best from anybody this decade. But, it’s also a deeply personal love story for Isbell and his wife Amanda Shires about how she helped to save him from the alcoholism and despair that had overtaken his life. The line: “I sobered up/and swore off that stuff/forever this time” garners huge applause every time Isbell performs the song live. 16. "Good Lord Lorrie" by Turnpike Troubadour (2012) "I've been learning that believing/And that barely breaking even/Is just a part of life for you and me" Evan Felker, the songwriter and frontman for Turnpike Troubadours, is such a visual lyricist that you can always see these terrific songs of his in your head. “Good Lord Lorrie,” off the group’s 2012 album Goodbye Normal Street, is one of the band’s absolute best as it tells the ups-and-downs of a relationship between the song’s narrator and Lorrie, this seemingly perfect dark-haired, green eyed beauty from Southwest Arkansas. It’s impossible for me to hear this song without placing myself in the narrator’s shoes – that’s how talented of a songwriter Felker is. Lorrie would pop up again in Troubadours songs like “The Mercury” and “The Housefire,” where she was explicitly name-dropped, and possibly others where she isn’t. She’s definitely the most intriguing character in the Troubadours songbook. 15. "The World's On Fire" by American Aquarium (2018) "She said, 'What are we gonna do? What's this world comin' to?'/For the first time in my whole life/I stood there speechless" I’m not sure there was a song in 2018 that I felt deep down in my core like American Aquarium’s “The World’s on Fire.” Songwriter B.J. Barham recounts how he and his partner felt in the direct aftermath of the election of President Donald Trump and how it seemingly turned American values upside down. My favorite moment in the song is how Barham sings with optimism about his soon-to-be-born daughter and how if anybody builds a wall in her journey to bust right through it. The world is on fire indeed, but I love the optimism of the song’s chorus about not giving up or giving in and seeing to it that one day the fire is put out. 14. "The Mother" by Brandi Carlile (2018) "You are not an accident where no one thought it through/The world had stood against us, made us mean to fight for you/And when we chose your name we knew that you'd fight the power too" Brandi Carlile’s “The Mother” was one of my favorite songs of 2018 from the first time I heard it. The track tells of how a child can completely change your life, even turn it upside down, but in the end just how rewarding it can be. Carlile wrote the song for her first daughter Evangeline, who’s now four-years old. The song is raw and honest and gets into the early stages of parenthood like most songs never could. It’s soul-baring if I’ve ever heard it and that’s the mark of a damn good artist. Few artists were as good as Carlile in 2018. 13. "Merry Go 'Round" by Kacey Musgraves (2012) "Jack and Jill went up the hill/Jack burned out on booze and pills/And Mary had a little lamb/Mary just don't give a damn no more" Kacey Musgraves’ first impression was probably the best of any artist of the decade with “Merry Go ‘Round.” We just weren’t getting shots of reality like this on mainstream country radio in 2012 (or since for that matter), but here she came with this cynical (and unfortunately realistic) look at small-town American life and all the darkness that can often live within it and she sets it to the style of a nursery rhyme. It was absolutely devastating and immediately shown that Musgraves would be a songwriter of stature. The song would become a top 10 hit on country radio, but mainstream country radio would never allow Musgraves to even sniff that kind of success again … oh well, she’s gone on to prove you can be a massive country star without the help of country radio. 12. "Outlaw Band" (LIVE) by Jason Boland & the Stragglers (2010) "They were an outlaw band from Oklahoma/Rolling through the night like a summer thunder/And the rain will wash us clean/Oh the rain will wash us clean" I’ve had the great privilege of seeing Jason Boland & the Stragglers, truly one of the unsung heroes of Red Dirt Country, perform live on four occasions now and they always end their show with “Outlaw Band,” which I’ve come to believe is maybe the most perfect show-ender I’ve ever seen. The song originally appeared on the group’s 2008 album Comal County Blue, which may make it a cheat to appear on this list, but it’s the live version I love so much and was the first one I heard from the group’s 2010 High in the Rockies, so it’s making the cut. The song was co-written by Bob Childers, one of Boland’s songwriting and performing heroes, with Randy Crouch and Layle Stagner and tells the story of a group of loners in the ‘60s who formed a band and did things just as they wanted – a dream for anyone who’s ever wanted to strike out and make a career of music. 11. "As She's Walking Away" by Zac Brown Band & Alan Jackson (2010) "I'm falling in love as she's walking away/And my heart won't tell my mind to tell my mouth what it should say" “As She’s Walking Away” was the perfect melding of old and new to form something amazing. The song, written by Zac Brown and Wyatt Durrette, tells of a younger man whose kind of stuck out at a bar with a girl he’s crushing on and gets advice from an older, wiser man about taking more of a chance and actually getting the girl. Brown does the vocal of the young man and the choice of country living legend Alan Jackson as the wise man is perfect casting. It’s this interplay between the two that really makes this 2010 No. 1 hit a modern classic. |