History AwesomeMusic / Country

* The very underrated Lee Clayton brings us [[https://youtu.be/dsanF9wZbn8 "I Ride Alone"]].
* [[https://youtu.be/sh7BZf7D5Bw "The Devil Went Down to Georgia"]]. It's about a man named Johnny [[MundaneMadeAwesome in a fiddle match with the devil.]] [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome And winning.]] [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu And Calling The Devil]] [[PrecisionFStrike a son of a bitch]]. Also [[EpicRocking epic fiddle]] [[PowerOfRock solos.]]
** To say nothing of the sequel, [[https://youtu.be/xwEqEBimjy8 "The Devil Comes Back To Georgia"]], featuring a picture perfect TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, one of the best violin solos, one [[{{Pun}} hell]] of a TruckDriversGearChange, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick and]] Music/JohnnyCash.
* Music/EricChurch has some good songs, including [[https://youtu.be/wx-dUsh6OT8 "Homeboy"]], [[https://youtu.be/usGv0gB2zEU "Drink in my Hand"]], and ''especially'' [[https://youtu.be/l2gGXlW6wSY "Springsteen"]].
** [[https://youtu.be/f59hjVW-fZI "Lightning".]] Awesome song and awesome vid, though it's definitely on the more emotional end of the spectrum.
%%* [[Music/KennyRogers "The Gambler"]], just, [[https://youtu.be/Tw5LaEzEcJw "The Gambler"]].
%%** By the same artist, "Coward Of The County".

* Hank Williams (September 17, 1923–January 1, 1953) has been called the "King of Country Music" for a reason.

** To say nothing of the sequel, [[https://youtu.be/xwEqEBimjy8 "The Devil Comes Back To Georgia"]], featuring a picture perfect TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, one of the best violin solos, one [[IncrediblyLamePun hell]] of a TruckDriversGearChange, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick and]] Music/JohnnyCash.

%%** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7i6i2AndvTI "Happy Girl"]].

* Music/RebaMcEntire's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw_L8HdoYgo "Consider Me Gone"]] is BAMF in an Awesome sandwich.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-y8sy5r82iE When it rains, I don't mind being lonely...]]
%%* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQYNM6SjD_o "The House that Built Me"]].
%%* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2klh2cTa_Q "Ghost Riders In The Sky".]] No seriously, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fdCuRKatjs "Ghost]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BnhbPJGKPI Riders]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IULOpC3d5t4 In]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2OL3kfuL68 The]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvUpxZajw8Y Sky"]].
* Pretty much all of Johnny Reid's stuff, but especially [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WurYgWKLuww "Let's Go Higher"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7kncrA6hhU "Old Flame"]].
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_Ec_li8n9M "Riding With Private Malone"]] by Wood Newton and Thom Shepherd, and recorded by American country music artist David Ball.
%%* [[Music/ZacBrownBand "He said, 'I wanna see you again...But I'm stuck in]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oouFE51HcqM colder weather...'"]]
* Did anyone else know Music/JennetteMcCurdy could sing? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTeG_I_Hu4Q "Not That Far Away"]] Is a hell of a lot better than anything else any Disney or Nickelodeon stars have ever put out.
** Her [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVnj5Y8Ahx8 vibrant, hopeful defiance]] of the common stereotypes of young people today, concluding with, "...or maybe they'll call us [[TitleDrop Generation Love]]."

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIH8ev8x8PA "Till Summer Comes Around"]] by Keith Urban. It's more country/pop, but it's definitely heartwarming and maybe a bit of a TearJerker.
* The very underrated Lee Clayton brings us [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsanF9wZbn8 "I Ride Alone"]].

** To say nothing of the sequel, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwEqEBimjy8 "The Devil Comes Back To Georgia"]], featuring a picture perfect TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, one of the best violin solos, one [[IncrediblyLamePun hell]] of a TruckDriversGearChange, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick and]] Music/JohnnyCash.
* Music/EricChurch has some good songs, including [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx-dUsh6OT8 "Homeboy"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usGv0gB2zEU "Drink in my Hand"]], and ''especially'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2gGXlW6wSY "Springsteen"]].
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f59hjVW-fZI "Lightning".]] Awesome song and awesome vid, though it's definitely on the more emotional end of the spectrum.
%%* [[Music/KennyRogers "The Gambler"]], just, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tw5LaEzEcJw "The Gambler"]].

* Corb Lund's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiMUOuYUy1w "Horse Soldier, Horse Soldier"]] is pretty damned cool, as is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1V3JW4HeBs "I Wanna Be In The Cavalry"]].
* Johnny Paycheck popularized [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzGoDtmTllg "Take This Job and Shove it!"]]
* Thomas Rhett's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dphMriny1Js Beer with Jesus]]" may have the most country title ever, but it's a very poignant ballad.
* Music/JohnnyHorton's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KecIdlEAKhU Sink the Bismarck]]", legendary and rightly so. Just as legendary is "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL7XS_8qgXM The Battle of New Orleans]]".
* Juice Newton's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTzGMEfbnAw Angel of the Morning]]" has to be heard to be believed.
* The Turnpike Troubadours, a prime example of Oklahoma's [[AlternativeCountry "Red Dirt"]] subgenre, are well known for their instrumental work and skilled storytelling--two traits that are exemplified in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsL6Zof7WyE "The Bird Hunters."]]

** Williams' first released single in his discography, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JPzNzE8cOM Never Again (Will I Knock On Your Door)]]", has a waltz-like rhythm underlining the narrator having to come to terms with the fact that their marriage is over, [[YouCantGoHomeAgain leaving them with no choice but to leave and never return]].
** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDQJMtg6Hh0 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 TearJerker ones.
** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBN4tttmKBY I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry]]" was once described by none other than Music/ElvisPresley 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).
** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-BQpRqmwM0 Jambalaya (On the Bayou)]]" stands out among Williams' output as a fun song [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment 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'').

** Released in 1972, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOB4VdlkzO4 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 TheSeventies 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.

** Pretty much anything sung by George Strait is SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic. There are very few exceptions and even those exceptions are somewhat awesome.

* Speaking of Georges, there's also "He Stopped Loving Her Today" by Music/GeorgeJones, which often tops polls as the best country song ever.
* Music/JohnnyCash. "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.

* 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 [[{{Determinator}} refusing to give up]] even when on the verge of losing everything.
-->''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''
** [[RealitySubtext Performing it at Farm Aid]] only dialed up the awesome.
* Music/MartinaMcBride's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7i6i2AndvTI "Happy Girl"]]. Actually pretty much anything by Martina [=McBride=] up to her ''Emotion'' album.
** Special mention needs to go to 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."

* Music/MartinaMcBride's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7i6i2AndvTI "Happy Girl"]]. Actually pretty much anything by Martina [=McBride=] up to her ''Emotion'' album.
** Special mention needs to go to 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 SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome, especially live.

** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-BQpRqmwM0 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'').

* [[https://youtu.be/sh7BZf7D5Bw "The Devil Went Down to Georgia"]]. It's about a man named Johnny [[MundaneMadeAwesome in a fiddle match with the devil.]] [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome And winning.]] [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu And Calling The Devil]] [[PrecisionFStrike a son of a bitch]]. Also [[EpicRocking epic]] [[CrazyAwesome fiddle]] [[PowerOfRock solos.]]

%%* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOB4VdlkzO4 "Rocky Mountain High" by John Denver]].

** Released in 1972, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOB4VdlkzO4 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 TheSeventies when some radio stations censored the song, believing it to condone drug use (the song isn't even about drugs), probably in part to said ambiguity, but nevertheless the song is beautiful and poetic.

** Released in 1972, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOB4VdlkzO4 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 WorthIt, 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 TheSeventies when some radio stations censored the song, believing it to condone drug use (the song isn't even about drugs), probably in part to said ambiguity, but nevertheless the song is beautiful and poetic.

** Released in 1972, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOB4VdlkzO4 Rocky Mountain High]]" was inspired by Denver and his friends witnessing the Perseid Meteor Shower in a clear night sky during a summer camp the previous year, but it took Denver nine months to complete the song, an unusually long time for him. It was WorthIt, 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 TheSeventies when some radio stations censored the song, believing it to condone drug use (the song isn't even about drugs), probably in part to said ambiguity, but nevertheless the song is beautiful and poetic.