Garth Brooks' 25 Greatest Songs

by Julian Spivey & Aprille Hanson
1. The Thunder Rolls
Choosing the greatest Garth Brooks song of all-time is certainly no easy task. Fans of Brooks are likely to have any one of a dozen songs listed as their favorite. Many would say that his signature tunes are “The Dance” and “Friends in Low Places,” but when Aprille Hanson and myself divvied up our favorite Brooks tunes (her favorite is “Friends in Low Places” and mine is “Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)” the one that ended up averaging out to being his greatest song (using our formula of combining our lists together) was “The Thunder Rolls” (which we both listed as number two behind our personal favorites). “The Thunder Rolls” is one of the most interesting songs in the history of country music for many reasons. One, it’s just an all-around great song. Two, it’s one of the most censored songs in country music history due to its subject matter which was considered highly controversial when it was released in 1991. The song is about a man who’s cheating on his wife on a stormy night while she waits at home worried about him. When she realizes the bastard has been cheating again she decides it’s the last time he’s going to do it to her and she kills him. Now, those who’ve only heard the radio single may not even realize this, because the final verse of the song in which the wife shoots her husband was omitted from the final cut. The “lost verse” is frequently performed by Brooks in concert and on his live albums. In my opinion, the radio version without this final verse is severely castrated so you can bet the version that ranks number one on our list is the way the song was intended to be. The decision by Brooks and co-writer Pat Alger to place the man’s transgressions on a stormy night and equate his infidelity to it was supreme genius on their part. – JS

2. Friends in Low Places
Just a few strums from a guitar and people know — they’re about to hear Garth Brooks’ biggest hit, “Friends in Low Places.” It’s not his best song, but it’s one of the best in the genre’s history and that’s saying something in the sea of traditional heartbreak and drinking songs. What makes ‘Friends’ stand out so much is Brooks’ performance. The song, written by Earl Bud Lee and Dewayne Blackwell (on a napkin during a party – couldn’t be more appropriate), was released by artist Mark Chesnutt a month after the song appeared on Brooks’ “No Fences” album in 1990. It wasn’t a single for Chesnutt, but even if it had been, it wouldn’t be a hit. Not a slam on the talent that is Chesnutt, but Brooks brings the grit. You can imagine this man walking into his ex’s engagement party and just letting it rip, with a little boozy stammer and grabbing that glass of champagne from her new love. It’s the ultimate “screw you” song with the best third, only-heard-live verse you’ll hear. Brooks wrote the third verse because it’s more realistic and how a scene like that would unfold: “Just wait til I finish this glass / Then sweet little lady, I’ll head back to the bar / And you can kiss my ass.” - AH

3. Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)
Sometimes an artist gets something so right the first time out that nothing he ever does can be comparable. I know that Garth Brooks has had songs comparable to his debut single “Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)” from 1989, but in my opinion this is and has always been his very best song. ‘Much Too Young’ is, in my opinion, the traditionally countriest sounding song that Brooks ever did and I think that plays a factor into my love of it, but it’s also a song that speaks to me on an emotional level. There’s times where I’m the narrator of the song feeling much older than I should for my age. I think that’s the genius of this song, co-written by Brooks and Randy Taylor, in that even though it’s about a rodeo cowboy whose life is so hectic that he has absolutely no time for anything else it literally can be about anybody who feels the pain of a life passing them by way too fast. Not only is this my favorite lyric of Brooks’ career, but I’d say the music that backs it up, particularly that screeching fiddle and whining steel guitar, is the best of any that Brooks has ever recorded. The music just fits the lyrics like a glove. - JS

4. The Beaches of Cheyenne
The history of country music is filled with countless story songs that stand the test of time like Johnny Cash’s “A Boy Named Sue,” Marty Robbins’ “El Paso” and nearly anything written by the terrific Tom T. Hall … and I think Garth Brooks’ “The Beaches of Cheyenne” should been mentioned in the same breath as those and the many others. It might, in fact, be Brooks’ best story song. The number one hit from 1996 tells the story of a woman who’s driven to suicide after the death of her lover in a rodeo mishap. She feels guilty for his death because when he chose the rodeo over her one last time she told him “I don’t give a damn if you never come back from Cheyenne.” In addition to being a great story song it’s also one of the best rodeo songs in country music history, something that artists like Brooks and one of his heroes George Strait have in common. The song’s fascinating lyrics are matched beautifully by the crying fiddle in the background. This is definitely one of Brooks’ saddest songs and one of his most beautiful performances all at the same time.  - JS

5. That Summer
Simply put “That Summer,” Garth’s number one hit in 1993 from his album The Chase, is one of the sexiest country songs of all-time. Brooks really channeled Conway Twitty on the ballad of a teenage boy losing his virginity to a “lonely widowed woman” one summer while he worked as a farmhand for her. It’s one of the truly great “coming of age” songs in any musical genre and has one of the best choruses in Brooks’ iconic discography with the perfectly written: “She had a need to feel the thunder/To chase the lightning from the sky/To watch a storm with all its wonder/Raging in her lover's eyes/She had to ride the heat of passion/Like a comet burning bright/Rushing headlong in the wind/Now where only dreams have been/Burning both ends of the night.” Interestingly enough Brooks’ wife at the time Sandy Mahl helped co-write the tune with him and Pat Alger. I believe “That Summer” is really one of the most underrated classics in Brooks’ repertoire that is right up there with stuff like “The Thunder Rolls” and “The Dance.” - JS

6. The Dance
I believe if you polled many people on their all-time favorite Garth Brooks song that the most common answer might actually be “The Dance” – even ahead of “Friends in Low Places” and “The Thunder Rolls.” In fact, we might be slightly discounting it with the number six position on our list, but the song like many other ballads of its ilk (Tim McGraw’s “Live Like You Were Dying” comes to mind) actually gets slightly old once you hit so many listens. That’s not to take away from the beauty of the track, which became Brooks’ second career number one single from his debut album. The song, written by Tony Arata, has a dual meaning according to Brooks’ introduction of his music video, which has become one of the most famous in country music, as a song that can stand for the end of a great relationship or somebody dying after living their dream. The video goes on to show many legendary Americans who lived triumphantly before dying young like rodeo star Lane Frost, country music legend Keith Whitley, actor John Wayne, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and President John F. Kennedy. The additions of Frost and Whitley were especially touching as both died less than a year before this video was released. - JS

7. If Tomorrow Never Comes
“If Tomorrow Never Comes” off of Garth Brooks’ debut, self-titled album has the great honor of being the first number one in Brooks’ career and the first of many great love songs in his discography. Written by Brooks and Kent Blazy the song is a beautiful reminder to tell the ones you love that you love them every single day because you never know when you’re going to see them for the final time. The narrator of the song comes to this realization late one night while watching his wife sleeping when the thought of how much he loves her and how rarely he tells her this comes across his mind. Brooks said in the liner notes to his compilation The Hits that “If Tomorrow Never Comes” is his “signature song” and while that’s debatable no one can debate the power of Brooks’ vocal right from the start as he captures you from the first line “Sometimes late at night …” and doesn’t let go until the song finishes.  - JS

8. Papa Loved Mama
For as jovial and upbeat as Garth Brooks is, his ability to perform a dark song with such passion to rip at the listeners soul rather than just their heart is a testament to him as a performer. His fast-paced, bouncy melody in “Papa Loved Mama” that is ultimately about a trucker killing his wife for sleeping around is testament to this.

It was only his fourth single, released in 1992 on his album Ropin’ the Wind, and according to Brooks’ commentary on his 1994 album The Hits, it was a last minute add on. ‘Papa’ is sung from the perspective of the kids, starting out with Brooks’ low voice in the opening line: “Papa drove a truck nearly all his life / you know it drove Mama crazy being a trucker’s wife …” and it’s on from there. Papa comes home one night to find his kids alone and his wife gone. He finds her at a motel and here comes the real punch in the song, “The desk clerk said he saw it all real clear / he never hit the brakes and he was shifting gears.” And as we find out in the chorus, “Papa loved Mama / Mama loved men / Mama’s in the graveyard / Papa’s in the pen.” It could be considered Brooks’ most sinister song, written by Brooks and Kim Williams, because you can jam out to it, sing along happily and then you realize – wow, this is about a man ramming into a hotel with his rig, killing his cheating wife. It’s twisted stuff because it’s so fun. - AH

9. Callin’ Baton Rouge
If a young person today hears Garth Brooks’ 1994 hit “Callin’ Baton Rouge,” they’ll be scratching their head – why would he be stopping every hundred miles and what is with the dimes just to make a call? An operator? For the generation without cell phones and even the 20-somethings out there, this song is pure fun. While it’s not totally clear, most people can assume it’s a truck driver who is stopping to call the love of his life, a woman he just met named Samantha in Baton Rouge. With Brooks’ signature energy and shouting “here we go,” the song has an uptempo, almost auctioneer feel to it. The anticipation builds until the trucker sings, “Hello Samantha dear I hope you’re feeling fine …” and you know that he’s got her on the line … finally! It’s a very simple concept song, originally sung by the Oak Ridge Boys, but it’s Brooks’ style that makes it truly catchy. - AH

10. Rodeo
True fans of Garth Brooks know his unfailing respect for rodeos and the whole culture that surrounds this dangerous sport. “Rodeo,” the first single off his 1991 album Ropin’ the Wind, would be one of the many times he’d make reference to the sport – think “Beaches of Cheyenne” and “Wild Horses.” But it’s “Rodeo” that truly encapsulates what a rodeo is, from “bulls and blood” to the “dust and mud and the roar of a Sunday crowd,” as the chorus points out. This song is so Garth and it’s hard to imagine he spent so much time and energy trying to get a female artist to sing it.  Larry Bastian wrote the tune originally called “Miss Rodeo” but after years of trying to market it and begging his now wife Trisha Yearwood to sing it, she helped him see the light – he was born in Oklahoma and the rodeo culture was familiar to him, he should sing it. Even if you don’t get excited about rodeos, it’s hard not to want to go check one out after hearing the dirty grit of Brooks’ song. - AH

11. Unanswered Prayers
Christians thank God for answered prayers. Songs about blessings and miracles are a dime a dozen in gospel and country music, but what about the prayers that go unanswered? It’s Garth Brooks that helped us see how much better we are for some unanswered prayers in his 1990 single of the same name. It’s such a purely relatable song for anyone who has had a young love, in this case a high school sweetheart that just didn’t work out. The song follows a man who runs into his “old high school flame” at a football game with his wife. Nostalgia comes back, as he remembers how much he wanted to marry and be with this woman for the rest of his life. But obviously, God had other plans. Time changes people and the two former flames realize just how different they are now. Looking at his wife, he thanks God for unanswered prayers. The song is such a powerful reminder that just because life doesn’t grant you what you’ve wished, hoped and prayed for, doesn’t mean there isn’t something better waiting just around the corner. It’s easily one of his most poignant, heartfelt songs.  - AH

12. Wild Horses
I believe my favorite type of Garth Brooks song is his rodeo songs. A good rodeo song is something country music is desperately missing these days, but I guess rodeos just aren’t that cool among the young country music demographic anymore. Garth has a bucket full of great rodeo songs. One of the saddest is “Wild Horses,” written by Bill Shore and David Wills, about a man struggling to keep up between his love for a woman and his love for the rodeo. It’s a common theme in a rodeo song; Garth even revisits it in “The Beaches of Cheyenne,” but it works for me every single time and every time the rodeo seems to win out. Even if you don’t know much about a rodeo the song can still hit you in the heart if you’ve ever been forced to choose between a good woman and a life’s dream. “Wild Horses” is an interesting song for Brooks in that it was featured on his breakthrough 1990 album No Fences, his second album, but wasn’t released as a single until a decade later in 2000. The song went to number seven on the chart in 2000, but I think it could’ve been a number one had it been released earlier.  - JS

13. Longneck Bottle
As far as toe-tapping songs go, Garth Brooks’ “Longneck Bottle” from his 1997 album Sevens is high on the list. It’s a fun little ditty about that longneck bottle that just won’t “let go” of this man’s hand. The jukebox is playing that song again and here is this man glued to the seat of his barstool instead of home with the girl who loves him and “she won’t understand.” The best line of the song: “I oughta waltz right out of them swingin’ doors / But that’s a step I just can’t learn.” It’s upbeat and while simple in theme, lyrically creative for the short song that it is. - AH

14. Ain't Going Down (Til The Sun Comes Up)
If you’ve ever seen Garth Brooks perform live there’s no denying – the man is seriously hyper. He’s all over the stage, sweating, giving it his all. If there was ever a song that really captures what he truly is as a performer it’s 1993’s “Ain’t Going Down (Til The Sun Comes Up).” The song is about two young lovers out for a night of honky tonks, line dancing and a little back seat dancing. It’s performed at lightning fast speed and suddenly as the listener you’re hanging on for the ride. Brooks co-wrote the song and explained it was just a song about fun. Party songs nowadays can’t compare to this wild ride of a song. - AH

15.  Standing Outside The Fire
Garth Brooks’ 1993 album In Pieces featured some of his best work including the powerful “Standing Outside the Fire.” ‘Fire’ was released in 1993 and its lyrical brilliance thanks to Brooks and Jenny Yates, who wrote it in about an hour and a half. At its core, it’s about striving to shoot for the stars in life, take chances and above all, has this universal truth in the chorus: “Life is not tried it is merely survived if you’re standing outside the fire.” On its own, the song is great, but cue up the music video and it’s pure magic. The video centers around a Down Syndrome athlete named Brandon who instead of entering the Special Olympics race at his high school, decides to enter the regular running event. His mother is supportive, but his father does not want him to do it, causing a rift with the parents. The song plays as Brandon trains hard and finally culminates at the competition. As he’s running down the track, he trips and falls hard. Instead of giving up, his father is there cheering him on to continue. Brooks has said the most letters he receives about the song are from parents with children who participate in Special Olympics. He made a powerful song into an anthem to never, ever give up. - AH

16.  What She’s Doing Now
I can’t believe this one somehow slipped past me; after all, it was a number one hit in 1992. But, until rather recently I had never heard Garth Brooks’ “What She’s Doing Now.” I guess it was because my only Garth Brooks album was basically the greatest hits recorded on his excellent Double Live album and this wasn’t one of the songs recorded on that album. But, one day I was listening to the local classic country station and this came on. Imagine how excited I was to hear a Garth song I’d never heard before – and it was terrific. “What She’s Doing Now,” written by Brooks and Pat Alger, is a simple heartbreaker about a man wondering where his former lover was and what she’s been up to since they broke up. But, just because the topic is simple doesn’t mean this song doesn’t pack a wallop. It bowled me over the first time I heard it and I haven’t even been in a similar situation to the narrator. For those who have they must understand this feeling all too well. - JS

17.  Whatcha Gonna Do With a Cowboy
It must have been such an honor for Garth Brooks to record a duet with his hero Chris LeDoux. On the other hand it might have been a way for LeDoux to thank Brooks for bringing his career to the forefront of the country music industry. LeDoux was a little known rodeo cowboy/singer whose name Brooks dropped in his first ever single “Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old),” which helped to gain him notoriety. Their 1992 duet about what happens when a woman wants a one-night stand with a cowboy, but he doesn’t ride away in the morning would become LeDoux’s biggest career hit and only top 10 single. The song was actually co-written by Brooks along with Mark D. Sanders and is the perfect tune for these two country legends to duet on. “Whatcha Gonna Do With a Cowboy” is pure fun and you can tell these two friends are having an absolute blast performing it together. It’s just a shame the two only recorded this one duet. - JS

18.  Good Ride Cowboy
Garth Brooks’ hero Chris LeDoux died on March 9, 2005 after a battle with liver cancer. LeDoux had been diagnosed with liver disease five years earlier and needed a transplant. Brooks actually offered part of his liver, but he wasn’t compatible. After LeDoux’s death Brooks briefly came out of retirement, he had retired in 2001, to pay tribute to his hero a few months later in song with “Good Ride Cowboy.” Most song tributes are soft, sad ballads. “Good Ride Cowboy” was a raucous, three and a half minutes of pure fun. Just the way LeDoux would’ve wanted it. Brooks told CMT of the song: “I knew if I ever recorded any kind of tribute to Chris, it would have to be up-tempo, happy ... a song like him ... not some slow, mournful song. He wasn't like that. Chris was exactly what our heroes are supposed to be. He was a man's man. A good friend.” In addition to being a fantastic tribute to his friend the song skyrocketed to the top five on the Billboard country charts and proved that Brooks still had it sparking fan interest that he would one day return to recording music. - JS

19.  Beer Run
In 1992 Garth Brooks got the honor to perform with his hero Chris LeDoux on the duet “Whatcha Gonna Do With a Cowboy,” but in 2001 came the opportunity of a lifetime to perform a duet with everybody in country music’s hero … George Jones. The song is “Beer Run” and it’s an absolute riot from beginning to end. The song has become a modern classic, but believe it or not wasn’t a huge hit when released to country radio failing to crack the top 20 on the charts. That was dumbfounding considering Brooks and Jones are two of the 10 greatest, maybe even five greatest recording artists in the history of country music. The song is the tale of a group of friends making a run to the nearest wet county for their weekend’s supply of alcohol. It’s simplistic, which is why it’s amazing it took five people to write it, but it’s one of the most fun tracks in both Brooks’ and Jones’ discographies. - JS

20.  Two of a Kind, Working On a Full House
Garth Brooks has a way of singing cover songs and making them massive hits. Remember “Friends in Low Places”? Mark Chesnutt recorded it first. Then you have “Two of a Kind, Working On a Full House,” originally recorded in 1987 by artist Dennis Robbins, who co-wrote the song. In a repertoire of love songs, this one will always stand out for Brooks because it’s fun at its finest. Unlike the pop-catchy tunes on country radio today, it’s creative in that it’s a bit of a double entendre about this Southern couple living this fun hard-working country life while wanting to expand the cards they were dealt – i.e., add some children to the mix. If you’re a fan of Blake Shelton’s “Honey Bee,” this was the original … and it was better with lyrics like: “Lord I need that little woman / Like the crops need the rain / She's my honeycomb and I'm her sugar cane / We really fit together / If you know what I'm talkin' about / Yea, we're two of a kind / Workin' on a full house.” Just like with “American Honky-Tonk Bar Association,” it’s a perfect example of Brooks knowing his down-to-earth audience and never becoming too big in his stardom to be disconnected from reality. It’s a song you could easily envision Brooks singing to his extremely talented country singer/wife Trisha Yearwood. - AH

21.  Two Pina Coladas
Garth Brooks is best known for his drinking/“screw-you” song “Friends in Low Places,” where the narrator crashes his former love’s engagement party, but you could classify “Two Pina Coladas” as the follow-up to ‘Friends.’ It’s doubtful it was intended to be a continued storyline, but it’s fun to ponder after the man gets his anger out that he finds some peace with his Pina Coladas. Released in 1998 off Sevens, the song, on its surface, is about a man who is “feelin’ the blues” and wants to leave his heartache behind. Luckily, while watching the news, learns that “heartaches are healed by the sea.” It was the boost he needed to head out on the town and sail away with Captain Morgan despite never leaving “dry land.” It’s as beachy as you’ll ever hear from Brooks, but it’s more than just a fun drinking song — it’s an escape … that made it all the way to No. 1 on the Billboard Country Charts. The song was written by Shawn Camp, Benita Hill and Sandy Manson and made it to No. 29 on CMT’s “40 Greatest Drinking Songs: Morning After.” - AH

22.  Wrapped Up In You
When Garth Brooks’ eighth studio album Scarecrow, the last before his retirement, came along, he already cemented his place in country music history. Here’s a man with hits like “The Thunder Rolls,” “Friends in Low Places” and “The Dance” under his belt. You’d think his career would cool off at some point right? Well, it sort of did — the 2001 album singles didn’t gain much traction when you compare them to his repertoire, except for “Wrapped Up in You.” The song is cutesy but manly — something that few male artists can achieve well and Brooks is certainly one of them. He can sing lines like, “How do I love you? / Well let me see / I love you like a lyric love a melody / Baby, completely wrapped up in you,” and sounds actually wrapped up — not cheesy or whipped as they say — in the love of his life. Though the song is almost five minutes long, lyrically it’s very short; first verse, chorus, a few more lines, chorus, few more lines. When you see the words laid out, you might be shocked at how short it is because as a listener, you don’t even notice. It’s bouncy beat and manly sweetness makes it so catchy, you’re just, well … wrapped up in it. - AH

23.  To Make You Feel My Love
It’s kind of unbelievable to think that Garth Brooks could outdo the legendary Bob Dylan and Billy Joel at something, but he did. All three performers released the Dylan written “To Make You Feel My Love” within a year of each other and I believe Brooks’ version, which was recorded for the 1998 “Hope Floats” movie soundtrack, to be the best version. Interestingly enough Brooks’ future wife Trisha Yearwood, whom he would marry in 2005, also recorded a version of the song for that soundtrack. The song is easily one of Brooks’ sweetest tracks and one of his best vocals, in my opinion. It shows that Brooks has a crooner quality about him that doesn’t come through in much of his countrier songs. The backing music is far from country-esque, with its beautiful piano accompaniment, but that actually helps set the song apart from others in his catalogue. “To Make You Feel My Love” had pop crossover written all over it and actually became a top 10 hit on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. It was number one on the country chart. - JS

24.  The River
One of Garth Brooks’ music idols has always been the introspective, mellow James Taylor. So it’s easy to see where Brooks gained stylistic inspiration for “The River,” his fifth single from Ropin’ the Wind. Co-written with Victoria Shaw, the song is symbolism at its finest, comparing a dream to a river. It was this song along with other later inspirational tunes like “Standing Outside the Fire” that really made Brooks more than just a cowboy — he was ready to show the world he was a philosopher with a Southern accent, who wanted to inspire people. - AH

25.  American Honky Tonk Bar Association
Throughout his career, Garth Brooks broke the mold on how he chose to sing about common country themes like heartache, love and when love goes wrong. But, that doesn’t mean he couldn’t go all-out country boy and did so with “American Honky-Tonk Bar Association.” The song, written by Bryan Kennedy and Jim Rushing, was released in 1993 as the second single from In Pieces. It was originally titled the “American Redneck Bar Association” and if it was released today, you can bet that would be the title. But if you notice, it doesn’t include a single reference to dirt roads, pickup trucks, tailgates or girls in cut-offs, so it’d never get on country radio. But what it did include was hard work and that’s country for many people. At the time when honky tonks still dotted the streets of little towns where communities worked from sun up to sun down, the song celebrated Southern culture while throwing in a fun ditty for the working man and woman. When Brooks sings about the “hardhat, Gunrack, achin'-back / Over taxed, flag-wavin', fun-lovin' crowd” it just shows how in tune he was with the way country fans in the ‘90s were. If you look at his repertoire, it’s one of his weakest classics in terms of content, but a perfect example of a catchy, fun country song. - AH

---