"Ring of Fire" is his most well-known, but some other gems can be found: "The Man Comes Around" and his cover of "Sam Hall" from American IV are amongst the least tragic on the album, while his cover of "Danny Boy" can move you to tears.
When Johnny Cash covered NIN's "Hurt", Trent Reznor said this:
I pop the video in, and wow... Tears welling, silence, goose-bumps... Wow. [I felt like] I just lost my girlfriend, because that song isn't mine anymore.
Jason Isbell could probably fill up his own page in this category—especially if his work with the Drive-By Truckers is included—but "If We Were Vampires" quickly became one of his best-loved songs after its release, including among "non-country fans."
Chris Knight's music is largely about the struggles of rural, working-class life. His signature songs are "North Dakota," about a homesteader losing his wife in a blizzard, and "House and 90 Acres," about refusing to give up even when on the verge of losing everything. Performing it at Farm Aid only dialed up the awesome.
The children miss their mama, but there ain't nothing I can do If she was all I had to worry about, I guess I'd miss her too But I've watched my tools and my tractor leave in someone else's hands I grit my teeth, I let 'em go, but I won't give up my land
The sheer power and anger in "Independence Day", a song about a woman driven to the breaking point by her abusive husband, with lines like "Now I ain't sayin' it's right or it's wrong, but maybe it's the only way / Talk about your revolution - it's Independence Day," and "Let the whole world know that today is a day of reckoning / Let the weak be strong / Let the right be wrong / Roll the stone away, let the guilty pay / It's Independence Day."
"A Broken Wing." The last long note crosses over into a Moment of Awesome, especially live.
"Fancy" is a rare example of the artist, critics, and fanbase all agreeing pretty universally to a Signature Song.
James McMurtry is another songwriter with a reputation for capturing the lives of working men and women. His "We Can't Make It Here" has been called the single best protest song since Bob Dylan.
"And just when I thought it couldn't get no hotter...I caught a glimpse of the farmer's daughter!" (Rodney Atkins)
"Riding With Private Malone" by Wood Newton and Thom Shepherd, and recorded by American country music artist David Ball.
Did anyone else know Jennette McCurdy could sing? "Not That Far Away" Is a hell of a lot better than anything else any Disney or Nickelodeon stars have ever put out.
The Turnpike Troubadours, a prime example of Oklahoma's "Red Dirt" subgenre, are well known for their instrumental work and skilled storytelling—two traits that are exemplified in "The Bird Hunters."
Hank Williams has been called the "King of Country Music" for a reason.
"Move It On Over" became Williams' first hit. A song about a man being refused into his house by his own wife as punishment for arriving home late and having to sleep in the doghouse, it's one of Williams' rare comedic songs, and Williams shows he's completely capable of delivering a fun (and funny) song as well as his usual Tear Jerker ones.
"I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" was once described by none other than Elvis Presley as "Probably the saddest song I've ever heard" in 1973, nearly a quarter of a century after Williams wrote and recorded it in 1949. It's especially heart-breaking when you consider it was inspired by Williams' tumultuous relationship with his first wife, Audrey (although Hank's own alcoholism did contribute to the turmoil and eventually his early death at the age of 29).
"Jambalaya (On the Bayou)" stands out among Williams' output as a fun song about having fun, with drinking, good company, and plenty of food. It can even sound like a nonsense song at times (e.g. "Fontaineaux" isn't a standard word in the French language, but rather a combination of "Fontaine", meaning fountain, and "Eaux", meaning waters).
John Denver wrote beautiful, heartfelt music with common themes including his love of the countryside (complete with Take Thats at city life), love of music, and of course, romantic love. He was at his peak of popularity in The '70s, and while he never regained the same level in following decades before his untimely death in 1997 at the age of fifty-five, he retains a devoted fanbase to this day.
"Take Me Home, Country Roads" displays a passionate longing for home that Denver co-wrote with two friends, Billy Danoff and Taffy Nivert (you can hear them singing background vocals with Denver in the final iteration of the chorus). Denver being a relatively unknown artist at the song's release in April 1971 meant that it climbed up the charts at a rather slow pace, but ultimately peaked at #2 on the Billboard charts at the end of August that year, losing only to "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" by The Bee Gees.
Released in 1972, "Rocky Mountain High" was inspired by Denver and his friends witnessing the Perseid Meteor Shower in a clear night sky during a summer camping trip the previous year, but it took Denver nine months to complete the song, an unusually long time for him. It was worth it, though, and has become one of two official state songs for Colorado and an important piece in Colorado history. Its lyrics are rather ambiguous on first hearing (e.g. "He was born in the summer of his 27th year" is a reference to Denver being 27 years old the summer he witnessed the meteor shower) and came under controversy in The '70s when some radio stations censored the song, believing it to condone drug use (it isn't even about drugs), probably in part to said ambiguity, but nevertheless the song is beautiful and poetic.
Denver wrote "Annie's Song" in late-spring of 1974 as an ode to his then-wife, born as Annie Martell, after a very rocky period in their marriage that nearly ended it. With a beautiful melody and celebration of life with the one you love, the song manages to be both a Tear Jerker and Heartwarming at the same time. The best part? The lyrics never explicitly say the name "Annie" and aren't gender specific, meaning anybody can sing it as a tribute to their partner, which is Heartwarming in and of itself (although the song became Harsher in Hindsight for the Denvers specifically after they Divorced for Real in 1982, after John admitted to infedility).
is BAMF in an Awesome sandwich.