Joe Diffie's 10 Greatest Songs

by Julian Spivey
Joe Diffie, the affable blue collar ‘90s country music hitmaker that made us all feel like he was a buddy we could pull up a barstool next to and have a beer with, died at 61 on Sunday, March 29 after succumbing to Covid-19, a death that makes this pandemic hit home a little closer for those of us who haven’t known any loved ones who’ve contracted it.

Diffie was terrific at two kinds of country music – the kind of honky tonk that made you want to dance and the kind of honky tonk that made you want to cry in your beer.

Here are Diffie’s 10 best singles:

10. "Pickup Man"
In today’s country music songs about trucks have become nauseating, but it hadn’t yet gotten to that point when Diffie released “Pickup Man” in 1994. The fun romp, written by Howard Perdew and Kerry Kurt Phillips, about how women love a man in a pickup truck topped the Billboard country chart, one of Diffie’s five No. 1 hits and the longest charting one at four weeks. 

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9. Is It Cold In Here

It wasn’t that long ago that I was flipping around the radio dial and stopped on a song that immediately hit my ear. I wasn’t very familiar with it, but immediately knew it was Diffie. The song was the heartbreaking ballad “Is It Cold In Here” about a dying love. Despite owning “The Essential Joe Diffie” compilation it wasn’t one of his hits I was familiar with, but I immediately fell in love and wished for this era of country music to return. The song, which peaked on the country chart at no. 5 in 1992, was co-written by Diffie, Danny Morrison and Kerry Kurt Phillips. 

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8. New Way (To Light Up An Old Flame)

“New Way (To Light Up an Old Flame)” was the fourth and final single off Diffie’s debut albums A Thousand Winding Roads and peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard country chart. The song co-written by Diffie and Lonnie Wilson is a perfectly twanged honky-tonker about searching for a new way to bring the fire back in a relationship. It’s one of Diffie’s best vocals. 

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7. Ships That Don’t Come In

Joe Diffie’s no. 5 hit “Ships That Don’t Come In” from 1992 is potentially his most emotional single, at least the most emotional on this list. The ballad, co-written by Paul Nelson and Dave Gibson, tells the story of two men sitting at a bar having a conversation about life’s difficulties and how someone always has it worse off than you do. It’s a touching song that helps put life into perspective, especially in hard times like right now. 

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6. John Deere Green

It’s quite possible “John Deere Green” would be higher on this list had it not been for radio oversaturation. I don’t have exact numbers, but I’d be shocked if this wasn’t Diffie’s most played song of all-time. The story song, written by Dennis Linde, tells the story of small town love between Billy Bob and Charlene, a love so special he climbs the town’s water tower to write he loves her in John Deere Green. The No. 5 hit (really seems like it would’ve/should’ve charted higher) from late 1993 led to one of the most memorable online tributes to Diffie this weekend when the John Deere company tweeted: “Forever John Deere Green” with a broken heart emoji. 

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5. Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox (If I Die)
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“Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox (If I Die)” was a no. 3 hit for Diffie in 1993 and unfortunately became an immediate “too soon” joke upon his death Sunday. The single, written by Rick Blaylock, Howard Perdew and Kerry Kurt Phillips, begins as a slow piano ballad about not being afraid of death, but rather the thought of being dead and not being able to go to the local honky tonk on a Saturday night. When the narrator comes up with the way to handle his potential death the song becomes a fun honky tonker about all the good times his buddies could have with his corpse at their local haunt. 

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4. If The Devil Danced (In Empty Pockets)

Diffie’s third career single, and second career No. 1 hit, “If the Devil Danced (In Empty Pockets)” is one of the most unique sounding singles of his career with its bouncy, almost Western Swing themed music, which wasn’t common in the early ‘90s. It’s a breezy and humorous take on the old “devil-made-me-do-it” phrase about how the devil would have a ball in the narrator’s pockets because he always seems to find himself broke.  The song was co-written by Ken Spooner and Kim Williams. 

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3. So Help Me Girl

“So Help Me Girl” is both the best love song and best vocal of Diffie’s career. I could see how some might find the ballad of finding a girl that he never dreamed of being able to fall in love with as sappy, but Diffie’s sells it completely with those vocals. The song was written by frequent Diffie songwriters Howard Perdew and Andy Spooner and peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard country chart. 

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2. Third Rock from the Sun

Diffie’s 1994 No. 1 hit “Third Rock from the Sun” is probably his most fun release of his career. It tells the story of a cheating Chief of Police in a small town bar and the chain of chaos that ensues as a result of his extramarital affair. It’s a rip-roaring number that burns off a fast-paced, humorous story while barely giving those singing along at the top of their lungs the chance to breathe. The song was Diffie’s first No. 1 in three years. 

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1. Home

It’s funny how often I think a country star’s first single is their greatest: Garth Brooks’ “Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)” and Mark Chesnutt’s “Too Cold at Home” are two notable ones from Diffie’s era. I also find Diffie’s debut single “Home” off the album A Thousand Winding Roads to be the greatest single he ever released. Diffie took a long road to stardom working blue collar gigs and playing in honky tonk bands before his first hit in his 30s came along in 1990 with “Home.” I think it’s this hard earned, much traveled road that gives the heart in his vocals to the Fred Lehner and Andy Spooner written song about there always being a home at the end of the day one can return to. “Home” went to No. 1 and Diffie never looked back. 

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What was your favorite Joe Diffie song?