Best Country Songs of All Time

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1. 1
   JC
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   Folsom Prison Blues

   Johnny Cash · from At Folsom Prison (1968) · Album scores 85/99

   Recorded live to a roar of inmates.

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2. 2
   WN
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   Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain

   Willie Nelson · from Red Headed Stranger (1975) · Album scores 92/99

   Spare, haunting outlaw country.

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3. 3
   DP
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   Jolene

   Dolly Parton · from Jolene (1974) · Album scores 93/99

   A breathless plea built on one of country's best riffs.

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4. 4
   MH
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   Mama Tried

   Merle Haggard · from Mama Tried (1968) · Album scores 90/99

   Bakersfield country at its most direct.

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5. 5
   LL
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   Coal Miner's Daughter

   Loretta Lynn · from Coal Miner's Daughter (1971) · Album scores 83/99

   A plain-spoken autobiography in song.

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6. 6
   GC
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   Wichita Lineman

   Glen Campbell · from Wichita Lineman (1968) · Album scores 78/99

   A perfect Jimmy Webb melody, beautifully sung.

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7. 7
   KR
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   The Gambler

   Kenny Rogers · from The Gambler (1978) · Album scores 84/99

   Narrative country-pop everyone can sing.

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8. 8
   MR
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   El Paso

   Marty Robbins · from Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs (1959) · Album scores 78/99

   A cinematic Western ballad.

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9. 9
   TW
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   Stand by Your Man

   Tammy Wynette · from Stand by Your Man (1969) · Album scores 88/99

   A towering, much-debated country standard.

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10. 10
    CH
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    Goodbye Earl

    The Chicks · from Fly (1999) · Album scores 83/99

    A dark comedy delivered with a grin.

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11. 11
    KM
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    Rainbow

    Kacey Musgraves · from Golden Hour (2018) · Album scores 96/99

    A tender piano hymn of reassurance.

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12. 12
    GJ
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    He Stopped Loving Her Today

    George Jones · from I Am What I Am (1980) · Album scores 90/99

    Often called the greatest country song ever.

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13. 13
    HW
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    Your Cheatin' Heart

    Hank Williams · from Your Cheatin' Heart (1953) · Album scores 78/99

    The defining Nashville lyric — grief and accusation in equal measure.

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14. 14
    DP
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    I Will Always Love You

    Dolly Parton · from Jolene (1974) · Album scores 93/99

    The version that pre-dates Whitney by fifteen years and is still better.

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15. 15
    MH
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    Mama Tried

    Merle Haggard · from Mama Tried (1968) · Album scores 90/99

    Three chords and the truth — the Bakersfield sound in miniature.

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16. 16
    WN
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    Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain

    Willie Nelson · from Red Headed Stranger (1975) · Album scores 92/99

    The Fred Rose song, stripped to voice and guitar: devastating.

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17. 17
    KK
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    Help Me Make It Through the Night

    Kris Kristofferson · from Kristofferson (1970) · Album scores 84/99

    Country music's most honest lyric about loneliness.

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18. 18
    LL
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    Coal Miner's Daughter

    Loretta Lynn · from Coal Miner's Daughter (1971) · Album scores 83/99

    The autobiography in four minutes — proud, specific and inimitable.

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19. 19
    EH
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    Boulder to Birmingham

    Emmylou Harris · from Pieces of the Sky (1975) · Album scores 84/99

    The Gram Parsons elegy that established Harris as a singular artist.

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20. 20
    GB
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    Friends in Low Places

    Garth Brooks · from No Fences (1990) · Album scores 90/99

    The crowd-singalong that defined 90s country's ambition.

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21. 21
    ST
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    Man! I Feel Like a Woman!

    Shania Twain · from Come On Over (1997) · Album scores 90/99

    Country-pop at its most joyful and unapologetic.

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22. 22
    SS
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    Turtles All the Way Down

    Sturgill Simpson · from Metamodern Sounds in Country Music (2014) · Album scores 81/99

    Psychedelic country that made no compromises and found its audience anyway.

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23. 23
    TC
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    Feathered Indians

    Tyler Childers · from Purgatory (2017) · Album scores 78/99

    Appalachian love song with the most cinematic imagery in new country.

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24. 24
    CS
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    Tennessee Whiskey

    Chris Stapleton · from Traveller (2015) · Album scores 80/99

    The George Jones song redone with the most powerful voice in modern country.

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