Some country songs create a ripple effect throughout the genre for decades. Their message is so powerful and succinct that it resounds from one year to the next undiminished. These songs, the singers who performed and recorded them, and the songwriters who wrote them deserve a tribute and our thanks. These artists' boundary-busting bravery set the tone and opened a door for all the vocalists who came after them. So let's give a hearty shout-out of gratitude to Kacey Musgraves, Alan Jackson, Gretchen Wilson, and Patsy Cline.
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'Follow Your Arrow' by Kacey Musgraves
This bold 2013 paean to individualism that Musgraves co-wrote still retains its tremendous potency 12 years after it first dropped. The theme is simple and straightforward. Be who you are. Carve your own path in life. Ignore what people say. Love yourself. Realize you can't please everyone. It's all good. And so are you. In our fraught, fractured, fierce culture, that message is more important than ever. The lyric "Love who you love" must have had a volcanic impact at that time - and still does.
'Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)' by Alan Jackson
Heartfelt and raw, this song written by Jackson himself brims with emotion. Many songs emerged from the tragedy of September 11. This one is, in many people's minds, the forerunner of them all. It dropped just a year after that terrible national catastrophe. Jackson's lyrics perfectly captured so much - the surge of patriotic pride, shock at the magnitude of the disaster, and overwhelming grief for the victims and our own lost innocence.
'Crazy' by Patsy Cline
This track written by Willie Nelson became synonymous with the legendary Patsy Cline. She nailed it in one take, per an NPR article titled Patsy Cline's 'Crazy' Changed The Sound Of Country Music. The way it was written was revolutionary too. Per the outlet, "If you count the chords, there are about seven chords in 'Crazy,' very different for a country song at the time. And also Willie wrote some great lyrics," said Paul Kingsbury of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. But it was Patsy herself who took center stage. The aching sadness in her voice permeates the song. Anyone who has painfully lost at love will understand all too well.
'Redneck Woman' by Gretchen Wilson
Wilson's 2004 song, "Redneck Woman," was a game-changer. Per Taste Of Country, it "inspired a whole new generation of tough-minded, female country vocalists." The traditional female country singer playbook went out the window, never to be revisited. Instead, the public got gutsy spin-offs such as mad-as-hell tracks. Think Carrie Underwood's Louisville slugger-wielding narrator in "Before He Cheats." Wilson also made it cool to embrace the Walmart zeitgeist. You go, girl!
