# Your Favorite All-Time Country Music Song **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 30, 2010, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-all-time-country-music-song/548583 "2010-07-30T15:02:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-all-time-country-music-song/548583/1 "2010-07-30T15:02:37Z")
For me, it’s [Hank Williams - I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkztDzpTHKA) BJ Thomas had a good version, but Hank’s is more direct and more effective for me. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-all-time-country-music-song/548583/2 "2010-07-30T15:22:36Z")
“Blue Eyes Cryin’ in the Rain” by Willie Nelson was the first thing I thought of. I suppose something by Patsy Cline (“She’s Got You” maybe) would have to be high on my list. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-all-time-country-music-song/548583/3 "2010-07-30T15:23:59Z")
**Boulder to Birmingham** by Emmylou Harris. I could list many, many more though. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-all-time-country-music-song/548583/4 "2010-07-30T15:26:08Z")
Oh, my, there are so _many_! If I had to pick just _one_, though, I believe I’d have to go with [“Sing Me Back Home”, by Merle Haggard](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zN5d4TY-wHM). ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-all-time-country-music-song/548583/5 "2010-07-30T15:28:30Z")
I only know relatively recent stuff, not classic country, but I can’t stop loving “Heads Carolina, Tails California” by Jo Dee Messina. It just totally makes me want to drop everything and hit the road for an adventurous, unplanned vacation. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-all-time-country-music-song/548583/6 "2010-07-30T15:29:07Z")
Either [Long Gone Lonesome Blues](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JczEyQHBLEw) or [I Gotta Get Drunk](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKD_o4gbcSE). ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-all-time-country-music-song/548583/7 "2010-07-30T15:30:51Z")
Johnny Cash’s [Ring of Fire](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IazV8jWjOE), though [El Paso](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgI5DMVegIk) by Marty Robbins gets honorable mention. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-all-time-country-music-song/548583/8 "2010-07-30T15:31:55Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > **Boulder to Birmingham** by Emmylou Harris. I could list many, many more though. Not a problem here. I almost used Top 5 or Top 10 in the title, but went with Favorite so as not to scare folks off! Other oldies I could list: San Antonio Rose Tennessee Stud Wildwood Flower Sixteen Tons Steel Guitar Rag ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-all-time-country-music-song/548583/9 "2010-07-30T15:35:51Z")
[You Never Even Called Me By My Name](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAOVRkSCWmg) David Alan Coe ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-all-time-country-music-song/548583/10 "2010-07-30T15:42:53Z")
_I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry_ is also the first song I thought of. But I’m sure there will be a dozen others suggested that I like about as well. _Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain_ is just about there. Yesterday I was listening to Elvis Costello do _Good Year for the Roses_ (most famously performed by George Jones). If the lyrics of the second verse were as good as the first, that might be my favorite. First verse and chorus excerpt: \*I can hardly bear the sight of lipstick on the cigarettes there in the ashtray, Lying cold the way you left them but at least your lips caressed them while you packed. And a lip-print on a half-filled cup of coffee that you poured and didn’t drink, but at least you thought you wanted it that’s so much more than I can say for me But what a good year for the roses… \* Another country song that revisits my mind every few months is Haggard’s “If We Can Make It Through December”. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-all-time-country-music-song/548583/11 "2010-07-30T15:46:17Z")
It’s always tough to pick a single favorite anything, but I’ve always thought (despite what David Allan Coe says) that [You’re The Reason God Made Oklahoma](http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/frizzell-david/youre-the-reason-god-made-oklahoma-12289.html) is just about the perfect Country song. (If you read the lyrics without knowing the song, it’s a duet. He’s in Tulsa and she’s in L.A. I can’t link to youtube from work, sorry.) ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-all-time-country-music-song/548583/12 "2010-07-30T15:53:54Z")
_Wichita Lineman_ sends shivers up my spine. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-all-time-country-music-song/548583/13 "2010-07-30T15:55:30Z")
[Seven Spanish Angels](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pnLnZo5aWM) is a favorite. I’m also a big fan of Lefty Frizzell - [I Love You A Thousand Ways](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJoWuVCYF0s&feature=related). ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-all-time-country-music-song/548583/14 "2010-07-30T15:56:44Z")
I don’t know if it qualifies, but the first song that came to mind was _Dead Flowers_. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-all-time-country-music-song/548583/15 "2010-07-30T15:58:57Z")
Oh oh oh I forgot Mary Chapin Carpenter’s [John Doe No. 24](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFyfY7D9LDE). The most moving thing I’ve ever heard. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-all-time-country-music-song/548583/16 "2010-07-30T16:04:03Z")
Well since I have permission to list a few, He Stopped Loving Her Today by George Jones has to be mentioned, in fact I’m surprised no one has so far. Others I love include Return of the Grievous Angel by Gram Parsons, Over Yonder (Jonathon’s Song) by Steve Earle, The Angel’s Rejoiced Last Night by The Louvin Brothers, and The Purgatory Line by Drive-By Truckers. I could go on for quite some time, as a youngish guy in England I don’t get much chance to go on about country music! ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-all-time-country-music-song/548583/17 "2010-07-30T16:08:07Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > Well since I have permission to list a few, > He Stopped Loving Her Today by George Jones has to be mentioned, in fact I’m surprised no one has so far. > Others I love include Return of the Grievous Angel by Gram Parsons, Over Yonder (Jonathon’s Song) by Steve Earle, The Angel’s Rejoiced Last Night by The Louvin Brothers, and The Purgatory Line by Drive-By Truckers. > I could go on for quite some time, as a youngish guy in England I don’t get much chance to go on about country music! Carry on, Friend! No reason not to explore this genre to its depths and boundaries – if they exist. I’m truly impressed with the seriousness this thread is greeted with. To see this many responses this quickly is amazing to me! More! ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-all-time-country-music-song/548583/18 "2010-07-30T16:19:49Z")
**Zoe** wanted to know if I was including “Western” in the “Country” classification, and I told her I hadn’t put any qualifications or limits on the idea of “Country” so she said hers would have to be Ghost Riders In The Sky My favorite version is by Vaughn Monroe because his was the first version I heard as a little kid. Maybe she’ll say whose version she prefers. Johnny Cash’s is famous, for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-all-time-country-music-song/548583/19 "2010-07-30T16:23:07Z")
One of the first songs I remember loving as a child was Johnny Cash’s version of The Long Black Veil, which probably tells you something about me… More folk than country perhaps, but in the same general area. Recently I’ve been listening to more bluegrass, and one song that comes to mind is Shady Grove by Bill Monroe. That’s one to play when friends of mine who’re into extreme metal think there’s no speed or technical playing in country music 🙂 One last one (for now), Ralph Stanley’s version of O Death from the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack, and especially the performance at the Grammy awards where it won so many awards. Spellbinding. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-all-time-country-music-song/548583/20 "2010-07-30T16:23:33Z")
Strange, but Cash’s version of NIN’s Hurt is one of my favorites. I also like the goofy country tunes, like Red Necks, White Socks and Blue Ribbon Beer. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-all-time-country-music-song/548583.md?page=2)