Country music loves to tug on the heartstrings. The genre for decades has been releasing songs that can evoke tears in even the most hardened listener. While countless songs can cause the watershed, we picked four of the biggest tearjerker songs in country music about death and dying.
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1. "Whiskey Lullaby"
Brad Paisley's "Whiskey Lullaby" is one of the more tragic tales told in country music. Written by Bill Anderson and Jon Randall, Alison Krauss joins Paisley on the heartbreaking tune. The video achingly tells the story of a man who comes home from war to find the woman he loved with someone else.
According to Songfacts, the line "He put that bottle to his head and pulled the trigger" was inspired by Randall's divorce from Lorrie Morgan.
2. "He Stopped Loving Her Today"
It's impossible to have a list of sad songs in country music and not include this George Jones classic. One of Jones' most notable hits of his career, "He Stopped Loving Her Today" was written by Bobby Braddock and Curly Putman. Jones released it in 1980, on his I Am What I Am record. The song became Jones' first No. 1 hit in six years, giving him a much-needed career resurgence.
The song, about a man who loved a woman until he died, was a challenge for Jones. The singer, who battled addictions for years, slurred his words in the spoken part, requiring producer Billy Sherrill to splice together several recordings for the finished product.
3. "Chiseled in Stone"
There aren't many songs that are as sad as Vern Gosdin's "Chiseled in Stone." Written by Gosdin, along with Max D. Barnes, Gosdin was inspired to write the song after Barnes' son was tragically killed in a car accident.
Later, Barnes' song, Max T. Barnes, reveals how the song came to be.
"I remember the night my dad woke me and told me about my brother," he tells American Songwriter. "Life goes on, but losing a child is deep. Although the story [in the song] is not specific, my dad was always able to draw from that well of pain. He had a great diverse background as well to pull from. Trucker, carpenter, biker, tuna boat fisherman, he had a lot of colors at his disposal."
4. "I Drive Your Truck"
It's hard to imagine a sadder song than Lee Brice's "I Drive Your Truck," especially in written years. Written by Jessi Alexander, Connie Harrington and Jimmy Yeary, the song was released by Lee Brice in 2012. In "I Drive Your Truck," Brice sings from the perspective of someone who is mourning the loss of his brother.
Harrington's inspiration for the song comes from an interview with a man whose son was killed in Afghanistan trying to save another soldier.
"I went around town and listened to a lot of songs, and one of the publishers said, 'I know you're looking for some lighter stuff, but I've got a song that we feel is the song of the year,'" Brice recalls. "They played it, and I started losing it in front of everybody. It just killed me. It made me think about my granddaddy, and everybody I'd lost."
