Best Country Singles of 2012 (#40-31)

My 40 favorite country singles of the year include a few guilty pleasures (beginning right off the bat with #40), a couple smash hits, and whole lot of good songs that received little to absolutely zero radio play. If you've ever just grazed by the country station while station-surfing in your car and left it on there for even just a few seconds, you've got a pretty good idea about the state of mainstream country music. Chances are whatever song you might have heard, radio programmers would rather play that same song over and over again or another song just like it than play 20 to 30 songs that appear on this list. There were a few breakthroughs, though, and by "few" I mean two or three. 

I've included in parentheses the month each single was released followed by its chart position reached on both the Billboard Country Songs Chart and the (new) Country Airplay Charts. If you do not know, the original country chart used to essentially only be a radio airplay chart, but a couple months ago Billboard changed its criterion to include online downloads and streams in addition to spins at radio. Subsequently, Taylor Swift's "We Are..blah blah blah" has been #1 on the country chart for God knows how many weeks in a row now... and it BOMBED at country radio. All that to say, I've included both chart numbers because I think including only one would be confusing for both me and you. That is, if I haven't confused you enough already. (More confusion: some songs charted when the Airplay chart wasn't around yet. Those songs only have one number listed.)

Anyway, I hope you find a few songs on this list that you like and a few that you've never heard before. Enjoy.

40) Florida Georgie Line - "Cruise" (Released in August, peaked at #2 in November on Country Songs Chart, currently at #1 on Country Airplay Music Chart)
Songwriters: Brian Kelley, Tyler Hubbard, Joey Moi, Chase Rice, Jesse Rice 
I pray to the music gods that Florida Georgia Line is a one hit wonder -- it would be awful (though absolutely unsurprising) for a bunch of similar songs to get popular on country radio -- but I can't help but bob my head and sing along every time I hear this. It's a "Pontoon"-level smash on the airwaves. The lyrics are terrible, make no mistake about it, but the chorus is sickeningly catchy, especially the part that goes, "This suped-up Chevy with a lift kit/ would look a hell of a lot better with you up in it" part. I know and, yes, I'm ashamed, and even more so for the fact that it took five damn people to write the guilty pleasure of the year.

39) Brad Paisley - "Southern Comfort Zone" (September, peaked at #17 in December, currently number #12 and climbing)
Songwriters: Brad Paisley, Kelly Lovelace, Chris DuBois
From reviews and comments I've read about this song, this has to be the most misunderstood single of the year. Unfairly labeled as Paisley regurgitating another "I'm so country" laundry list song for the masses, it, if anything, is calling out the insane amount of those kinds of songs infiltrating radio waves. It's about getting out of your comfort zone and realizing that not everyone is like you, and that perhaps to really know yourself and really appreciate where you were born and raised, you may have to leave it for a little while. The only thing keeping this from being higher on my list is the production, which is far too overdone and honestly a little bizarre. I'm not sure what Paisley was thinking there.

38) Randy Rogers Band - "One More Sad Song" (July, peaked at #38 in September, #37 in November)
Songwriters: Randy Rogers, Sean McConnell
If you look past all the bells and whistles, this is a really good song. I'm not one to accuse Randy Rogers and company of trying to become Nashville sellouts; after all, this is only one song from their upcoming record called Trouble, to be released February of next year. But I have to admit that they've never sounded quite so produced before. You only have to see who produced it to find out why: Jay Joyce, who was at the helm of Eric Church and Little Big Town's most recent albums, which are both good, especially Church's. But adding those production elements to RRB (and even to LBT to a certain extent) seems a bit like fiddling (no pun intended) too much with a great thing. For "One More Sad Song," Joyce even puts some kind of effect on Rogers' vocal, completely unnecessary for one of the most unique voices in modern country music. With all that said, the chorus is catchy, the lyrics are thoughtful, and it's still Randy Rogers Band. It grows on you after a few spins.

37) Randy Houser - "How Country Feels" (May, currently at #14 & #10 and climbing)
Songwriters: Vickey McGehee, Wendell Mobley, Neil Thrasher
Hollers and hills, pick-up trucks, and cornfields all make appearances here, but it's truly amazing how a classically excellent vocalist like Houser can effortlessly elevate a song. He makes what would come off as cliche in lesser hands (read: Luke Bryan) actually stand out. But the song is also unique in that the narrator isn't bragging about how proud he is that he's from the country (because that means he's probably cooler than you), he's just trying to show a woman he likes (who was raised on an "asphalt farm") some of the great things he's been able to experience growing up and living away from the bright lights of the city. It's essentially a song about how peaceful, pastoral, and romantic the countryside can be. And he seems to take pride in those qualities in and of themselves and not because he thinks that ladies love country boys.

36) Eli Young Band - "Even If It Breaks Your Heart" (January, peaked at #1 in July)
Songwriters: Will Hoge, Eric Paslay
Country radio has a tendency to overplay a song when they fall in love with it. The song has a great message -- "keep on dreaming even if it breaks your heart" -- but this version has just about wore on me. It's still one of the best singles of the year. I wrote some more about it back in July here.

35) Josh Turner - "Find Me A Baby" (October, has not charted yet, currently #51 airplay)
Songwriters: Josh Turner, Frank Rogers
I thought "Time Is Love" was rather boring. "Find Me A Baby" is nothing but light fun, but it's light fun done right, with banjo, pedal steel, and fiddle providing the instrumentation, while rounding everything out is Turner's distinct deep voice, which honestly gives him an advantage over everyone else on just about anything he puts out. Give me this on the radio over faux frat-bag cock-rock any day of the week.

34) Carrie Underwood - "Two Black Cadillacs" (November, currently at #32 & #27 and climbing)
Songwriters: Carrie Underwood, Hillary Lindsey, Josh Kear
Musically, this is an unabashed pop song; lyrically, this song takes pride in fitting firmly within country music's long history of obsession with the theme of murder. And despite some unnecessary background vocals, it all works quite well. It's no secret that Carrie Underwood can sing, and can sing a damn fine sounding country tune when she wants to, but she has more often than not opted to take the pop route. It's the eerie, nuanced, just-detailed-enough storytelling on "Two Black Cadillacs" that makes this one of the best singles she's ever released. With more releases like this, she could really start to carve out her own unique sound at radio.

33) Gwen Sebastian - "Met Him In A Motel Room" (May, peaked at #58 in September)
Songwriters: Rory Feek, Jamie Teachenor
I am a sucker for a song like this, even more so when it's this clever and well done. If you are anything like me, when you saw the title you didn't think "Him" referred to a Jewish carpenter from 2,000 years ago. Up until the end of the first verse when Sebastian sings, "She whispered I ain't ever prayed to you before," it seems pretty obvious that it's going to be a dark and perhaps regretful song about a one night stand or cheating, what with the "curtains drawn" and a "Do Not Disturb sign on the door." But the twist is a good one, and it doesn't wait until the end to reveal itself. Ultimately, it's a song about the dark places we human beings can sometimes find ourselves in. But more than that, it's a song about the strange and funny ways redemption makes itself available to us. Oh, and it is actually country. Thomas Rhett and "Beer With Jesus," eat your heart out. (No wonder it's a good song; it was co-written by Rory Feek of Joey + Rory fame.)

32) The Dirt Drifters - "There She Goes" (February, did not chart)
Songwriters: Jeff Middleton, Matt Fleener, Ryan Fleener, Levi Fleener, Blue Foley
In May The Dirt Drifters posted on their website that they would be not be going on the road in the summer due to some personal issues within the band; all shows were cancelled. I'm not sure if that meant they were taking a short hiatus or breaking up, but hopefully it's the former, because this is a band with real artistic merit that has a great amount of potential for mainstream success. Take "There She Goes" for example: it's catchy, well-produced but not overproduced, sung and played beautifully and in tune (with nary a hint of Autotune), and it's about a heartache. That's really about all I can ask for when it comes to listening to the radio. Hopefully whatever was or is going on within the group can be worked out. I wish them the best. (It apparently took five people to write, but it's still good.)

31) Little Big Town - "Pontoon" (April, peaked at #1 in September)
Songwriters: Natalie Hemby, Luke Laird, Barry Dean
I'd probably put this song higher if I wasn't just about sick of it. Certainly the song of last summer and maybe the song of the year, radio play for "Pontoon" has been ubiquitous in 2012, and Little Big Town seemingly perform it at every awards show they're invited too. There's nothing necessarily wrong with that -- I mean, it's the biggest hit of their career -- but it's time to move on. I hope the other singles from Tornado won't be overshadowed by it, and hopefully the single released after "Tornado" will be "Sober." I wrote a full review for "Pontoon" around the time it was released here. (As you can tell, I was a little more appreciative of the song back then.)

Best Singles of 2012 So Far (that actually had/have a chance at radio)

There are bright spots to be found on country radio; songs that don't name check trucks, songs trying to keep traditional country alive to the small degree that it can be done in the Clear Channel era, and even a few pop-country guilty pleasures. The following is a list of my favorite songs released to country radio this year that radio actually gave, or is giving, a chance to succeed, slight chance though it may be for some of them. They are in no particular order except for the top five at the bottom.

Greg Bates - "Did It For the Girl" - I just heard this song the other day and was immediately impressed with it. Sure, it's nothing new, but it sounds good and is so damn catchy. It's about as neo-traditional as country radio gets these days. We'll see what his album sounds like, but with the sound of this new single, Greg Bates has a chance at becoming the new Easton Corbin.

Big & Rich - "That's Why I Pray" - Call me crazy, but I think the new one from Big & Rich sounds unique in the mainstream country landscape, partly for the unmistakeable harmonies and a verse style that makes the song stand out. Big & Rich display here an ability to write and sing positively about personal faith without pandering or putting down those who don't believe.

Eli Young Band - "Even If It Breaks Your Heart" - Another song with a positive message, this is one that begs the listener to keep on dreaming no matter what. Failure is not only an option, it's a guarantee. But you keep doing whatever it takes no matter how many times the odds reload against you. Veterans of the Texas music scene, Eli Young Band have taken country radio by storm. Here's hoping they stick to their Texas roots and don't go too corporate Nashville on us.

Easton Corbin - "Lovin' You Is Fun" - His upcoming album is one of my most anticipated of the year. "Roll With It" and "Leaving a Lonely Town" from his impressive debut were both stunning songs. "Lovin' You Is Fun" is, well, a fun song about being in love, and probably a good choice for a first single off the new album. It's catchy, light-hearted, and confessional, and every Easton Corbin song already starts out with one advantage: his voice.

Gloriana - "Kissed You (Goodnight)" - I check the singles charts every Thursday. I kept seeing this song for a few weeks without ever hearing it, thinking, "Dear Lord, what have they come out with this time?" But much to my surprise, when I heard it for the first time I was already singing the chorus before the song was over. It tells a pretty good story, simple though it may be, that we can all relate to. Call it a guilty pleasure if you must, but this is one of the most infectious singles of the year.


Lady Antebellum - "Dancin' Away With My Heart" - Okay. I would totally get it if you stopped reading right now. Gloriana and Lady Antebellum back to back on a 'best of' country radio list? Well... oh well. This one sells nostalgia beautifully, and the group's best asset, their harmonies, really shine on this one. For me, it joins the company of "Lookin' For a Good Time" and "American Honey" as one of their best singles.

Little Big Town - "Pontoon" - Without a doubt, the song of the summer in my opinion. I'm honestly surprised at how slow it's rising on the country charts (currently it sits at number 15, but it's at number 13 on the all-genre iTunes singles chart). I wouldn't be surprised in the least if it becomes their first number one, but I also wouldn't be surprised if radio programmers shaft them yet again. Somehow they always seem to find a way. (My earlier review of "Pontoon" can be found HERE.)

Tim McGraw - "Better Than I Used To Be" - One of his best singles in years, especially coming after the lazy unabashedly aiming-for-the-soccer-mom-deomagraphic "Felt Good On My Lips," which is one of the worst of his career. "Better Than I Used To Be," with its poignant self-reflective lyrics, conjures up similar feelings to past McGraw singles "My Next Thirty Years" and "Angry All the Time." I only wish we were going to get more like this from the singer after his departure from Curb Records, rather than embarrassing, pathetically bad songs like "Truck Yeah." (Do yourself a favor and check out Sammy Kershaw's excellent take on the song as well.)


Zac Brown Band - "The Wind" - ZBB have only had two singles not reach the number one position ("Whatever It Is" and "Keep Me In Mind" only reached number two) on the charts. "The Wind" really shows the band at its bluegrassy best: they are ferocious pickers and players of their respective instruments. The song moves at such blistering speed that the lyrics at first seem unimportant. But after you hear it a few times, you realize the lyrical depth is there, which is rare for a such an up-tempo single. Try sitting still and not singing along or tapping your toe when this one comes on (careful if driving).

Chris Young - "Neon" - The best song on his most recent album of the same name, this neo-traditional classic is--to the surprise of no one-- very slowly making its way up the charts. If I were less cynical about country radio, I would blame the director and whomever else was responsible for the atrocious video for "Neon." But I am indeed quite cynical when it comes to country radio; simply put, they rarely know a good country song when they hear one anymore. If they did, this would be the fastest rising single of Young's career. (My review of "Neon" from earlier this year can be found HERE.)

Eric Church - "Springsteen" - Church's second straight number one is a piano-laced affair driven by steady drums, crisp production, and non-pandering nostalgia. It's a song that, despite desperate wishes to the contrary by some, proves Eric Church isn't going anywhere anytime soon. (More thoughts on "Springsteen" can be found HERE.)

Alan Jackson - "So You Don't Have To Love Me Anymore" - One of the best singles of Jackson's storied career, this song was all over the video countdowns on CMT and GAC, but of course failed to strike much of a chord at radio. It's only on the "singles that radio actually gave a chance" list because it at least cracked the top 30. Depressingly, Jackson hasn't had a song reach the top ten since 2009's "Sissy's Song," (number nine) and I'm not sure which song on his latest album, Thirty Miles West, would have the best chance at breaking that streak. Another duet with Zac Brown would be helpful, but unfortunately not one that's seven minutes long (see "Dixie Highway" from Thirty Miles West). Perhaps "Talk Is Cheap"? (My earlier review of "So You Don't Have To Love Me Anymore" can be found HERE.)

Some Songs About Fathers on Father's Day

 Merle Haggard - "Hungry Eyes"

 A simple song about a hard-working father trying, and often struggling, to make a living and provide for his family. Written by Haggard himself, the song reached number one on the country charts in 1969. This video is a great classic performance.

 The Avett Brothers - "St. Joseph's"

The Brothers write and sing about the many blessings of becoming a new father and how it can change a man. Namely, make him a more grateful and devoted person. This video is an all-time favorite.

Drive-By Truckers - "Where the Devil Don't Stay"

Mike Cooley wrote this song based off a poem written by his uncle. In it the narrator recalls stories of his father's moonshining back in the 1930s. A ferocious rocker of a song (the opening is chill-inducing) with excellent lyrics and a dab of social commentary, done as only DBT can, thrown in as well.

Eli Young Band - "My Old Man's Son"

The title of this one pretty much says it all. It's about a son growing into a man and realizing how much he is truly like his father, from the way he holds the steering wheel to the way he holds a woman's hand. To all the sons out there who are like me, this one's easy to relate to. (I have no idea about the slideshow in the video, but it's the only normal version of the song I could find on Youtube.)

Gary Allan - "Tough Little Boys"

A sentimental song about fatherhood from one of country music's most underrated male artists. It all rides on the line: "When tough little boys grow up to be dads, they turn into big babies again." A little cheesy? Sure. But Mr. Allan sells it well. I imagine this as the anthem for many father/daughter duos out there.

Randy Travis - "He Walked On Water"

Grandfathers and great-grandfathers are (obviously) fathers too, and this classic Travis tune pays great tribute to the larger-than-life status children often give them. Classic country production compliments detail-oriented lyrics that are often chill-inducing because we recognize the man in the song from our own lives.

Loretta Lynn - "Coal Miner's Daughter"

 

 Similar in theme to Haggard's "Hungry Eyes," Lynn's tribute to her coal-mining father is a well-known classic. The voice of Butcher Holler in Van Lear, Kentucky sings about how her daddy worked hard to support the family, and when mining coal wasn't enough, he'd always manage find something else to do for money. And even then it might have been just barely enough to scrape by.

My Favorite Songs of 2011 -- #25-12

25) "The Scientist" - Willie Nelson - (written by Coldplay) - (Nobody said it was easy, no one ever said it would be so hard, oh take me back to the start) - Dare I say that I like Willie's version even better than Coldplay's? Well, I do. Maybe because it really does seem like a fresh take on the song, what with the understated strums of acoustic guitar and the beautiful brushes of steel guitar. It doesn't hurt that Willie had a catchy and gorgeous melody to start with thanks to Chris Martin and company, but Nelson's voice takes the song to another level altogether. This cover really showcases his genius at vocal phrasing. Also, his version was recorded for a collaboration with Chipotle to make consumers more aware of the importance, necessity, and overall healthiness of food that comes from local and organic farms compared to mass factory-farm produced crap that's become so convenient and addictive to me and everyone else. Add to that the continual rising number of suicides among farmers due in part to corporate takeover and exploitation, and I'd say this is a great song for a great cause.

24) "If It Hadn't Been For You" - Foster & Lloyd - (written by Radney Foster and Bill Lloyd) - (Baby I know that I am a lucky soul and a better man, I wouldn't know love the way I do, if it hadn't been for you) - One of the more serious songs on their highly anticipated comeback record (It's Already Tomorrow) after a twenty year hiatus, "If It Hadn't Been For You" is a genuine and earnest song about a woman who inspires a man to not give up on his dreams, to stop worrying, and to let their love sustain them. I think we've all met "that person" before, but for many of us the feeling just never lasted either because it wasn't meant to or both parties (or just one; unrequited love and all that) simply didn't want to put in the effort to keep at least a little flame lit in the lantern. This is how a straightforward love song should be written and delivered; well enough to make the listener believe it could actually happen.

23) "All The Shine" - Childish Gambino - (written by Donald Glover) - (I'd get you MTV if I could man, but Pitchfork only like rappers who crazy or hood man) I am a fan of rap (let me clarify: thoughtful rap) because an intelligent rapper can turn a witty phrase and strike and emotional cord within the same song. I'm a fan of clever wordplay, poetry, and connecting emotionally to songs. On the whole, rap as a genre doesn't speak the most to me, but artists like Common, Mars Ill, and Childish Gambino can be so poetic and emotionally fulfilling that even a hater of rap at least has to respect them. I first heard of Donald Glover when the television show Community first started airing. Never would I have expected him to adopt a rap persona that seems to be the complete opposite of his Troy character on the show. And maybe that's why I like and appreciate it so much. The standard rhymes about money and girls are here (it's honestly hard to tell whether or not he lives this life or if it's just easier for him to come up with funny lines about those hip hop cliches, and to Glover's credit he openly admits rapping about that stuff is stupid), but there is also something deeper and more human going on here, something at times that's brutally honest. The linked live version above is fantastic -- that guitar lick is sweet.

22) "Pumped Up Kicks" - Foster The People - (written by Mark Foster) - (All the other kids with the pumped up kicks, you better run better run faster than my bullet) - I'll be honest, I don't know all the lyrics to this song and have no idea what the song could be about. The ubiquitous song of 2011 is quite simply one of the catchiest of the year and I can't help busting a move every time I hear it...and I don't dance. It's one of those rare overplayed songs that I never got tired of. It does, however, bring new meaning to the song when you do a Google search and discover the songwriter, Mark Foster, wrote the song about isolated youth and getting into the mind of a killer. Talk about your disparity between a happy melody (one of the happiest of all time?) and bleak lyrical content. I guess it kind of makes sense, though, seeing as how the song talks about outrunning guns and bullets and what not. But honestly it will never be about that for me. For me, it's just fun.

21) "The Fight" - Eli Young Band - (written by Natalie Hemby and Tim Putnam) - (You gotta fail before you see it through, you gotta spend your last dime before you ever make a million, you gotta know what brought you here, you gotta lose to persevere, but it's the way the sun will rise through the darkest night, yea it's always been worth the fight) I got into Eli Young Band courtesy of listening to Randy Rogers Band on Pandora, before their mainstream hit "Crazy Girl" ever hit the country charts. I'm glad these guys from Texas are getting some wider recognition, and I can only hope the same for RRB's album due to be released the first half of next year. "The Fight," from Eli Young Band's 2011 release Life At Best (love that title), is my favorite song on that album. It's got a feel-good melody with an ever-so-slight hint of darkness present, and realistic yet hopeful lyrics about the road your life can take, one that often seems anything but narrow. But maybe the narrow road is a metaphor; it is hope itself, so easily let go of (sometimes without us even realizing it) and so hard to maintain. Few seem to have it, fewer seem to keep it. This song wants to change that. And it succeeds, at least for four and a half minutes. I'm rooting for this one to be the third single.

20) "A Man Don't Have To Die" - Brad Paisley - (written by Rivers Rutherford, George Teren, and Josh Thompson) - (It's a place out by the airport where the girls dance just for you, and all you feel is drunk and broke and lonely when they're through) - I have to admit that my eyes watered the very first time I heard this song. Well written and well produced, it strikes an emotional cord that is hard for your bones to resist. It is without a doubt the best and most poignant song on Paisley's latest release This Is Country Music, and if it doesn't see the light of day at country radio after the enjoyable but ultimately meaningless "Camouflage," it will be an absolute shame. Country radio needs more songs like this. It hits on the economic woes Americans have been experiencing the past few years, the reality of broken families and broken homes and how that affects the lives of all parties concerned for the foreseeable future, and it wraps itself in religious/church imagery by illustrating the desire, especially in hard times, of human beings to hear sermons at about the goodness of God and the forgiveness of Jesus rather than the guilt-whip of hellfire and brimstone, the positive over the negative, the hope over the doom, because there is enough Hell on Earth to go around...thus the crux of the song: "A man don't have to die to go to hell." I have already quoted above what is to me the song's most poignant lyric. It's a heavy dose of reality about how sometimes we often glorify things in life to the detriment of realizing that some of those very things are only serving to deepen our pain. That kind of honesty is what country music is all about.

19) "Cartoon Gold" - Drive-By Truckers - (written by Mike Cooley) - Cooley is my favorite songwriter in the Truckers, and this song is a humorously poetic beast. I don't think I'd do it any justice by saying something about it so I'll just share the lyrics with you; they're all gold, so to speak:

I'm not good with numbers
I just count on knowing when I'm high enough
A mule with only two legs counting steps toward dangling carrots don't add up
I think about you when I can and even sometimes when I can't I do
Once the driver knows you got good sense he takes away the carrots too
Getting all excited finding nothing that was never there before
Is like bringing flowers to your Mama and tracking dog shit all over the floor
Jesus made the flowers but it took a dog to make the story good
I think about you when I can and sometime when I don't I probably should
Tending bar in LA after dark must be like mining cartoon gold
Rocks that won't cooperate and tools that drive you crazy must get old
I think about you when I can and sometimes when I do I still get caught
sitting in a bar in LA after dark with my sunglasses on

Dang. Dude knows how to turn phrases, come up with creative metaphors, and be dryly hilarious all at once, all the while making it all mean something, and that something is usually profound. I read online where someone called Cooley something like the "crazy, cool uncle" of the Truckers. Yup. I love this guy. Also, the studio version has some sweet rollicking banjo in it -- check it out.

18) "Hard Out Here" - Hayes Carll - (written by Hayes Carll) - (It gets hard out here, I know it don't look it, I used to have heart but the highway took it, the game was right but the deal was crooked, oh god we're all outta beer, it gets hard out here) - I discovered this singer/songwriter from Texas this year with his latest release Kmag Yoyo (and Other American Stories) (Kmag Yoyo is a military acronym for "Kiss my ass guys, you're on your own). I actually just purchased the album recently, so I haven't given it a proper listen all the way through, but this song and lead-off track "Stomp and Holler" are stellar. There are some pretty clever lines here; Carll has a great sense of humor about life on the road. In the live version he makes it clear that he indeed does have the best job in the world, but there are certain nights that leave him wondering, perhaps, what kind of life he has chosen, and on those nights running out of beer is probably a perfectly good reason to panic. Well, running out of beer would be a good reason to panic on any night, but I digress. Another favorite line of mine: "Everybody's talkin' 'bout the shape I'm in, they say boy you ain't a poet just a drunk with a pen". I can honestly say it is an utter lie that I have never felt that way before. Oh, and if you have a sense of humor, you have GOT to check out this song and video.

17) "Barton Hollow" - The Civil Wars - (written by John Paul White and Joy Williams) - (Ain't goin' back to Barton Hollow, the devil gonna follow me where'er I go, won't do no good washin' in the water, can't no preacher man save my soul) - Oh, that the rest of the album Barton Hollow sounded like this. Not that the album is bad, I was just a little disappointed because there is nothing as upbeat as this song, and more importantly none of the other songs are as evocative and reliant as "Barton Hollow" is on the imagery of the beautifully dirty South. It's without a doubt the standout track on the record, and while I do enjoy a few of the other songs on it, none of them approach the gloriously rustic and dark majesty of this one. Comprised of John Paul White (a dead ringer for Johnny Depp) and Joy Williams (former contemporary Christian singer), The Civil Wars formed when the two met at a Nashville songwriting session and hit it off, creatively speaking. And obviously the chemistry is there. The harmonies in this song are near perfect, soaring to heights that can make a tingle run down your spine and chills rise up from your skin; it went down South to take a bath and emerged pure and organic and clean as crystal, dripping its sultry waters still. I just wish the rest of the album was.

16) "Bastard Child" - Hellbound Glory - (written by Leroy Virgil) - (Coulda done worse, shoulda done better, Mama woulda tried if the bottle ever let her, I ain't prince or a pile, ain't doin' bad for a bastard child) - I discovered this band literally within the past month, and I think they're great. Their latest album Damaged Goods is crisply produced stone-cold country without being too polished; it actually contains just enough of that rough-around-the-edges sound. The songwriting is stellar, and lead singer Leroy Virgil has a hell of a unique voice, genuine and raspy yet absolutely capable of belting it out. "Bastard Child" is the lead-off track and one of the many standouts on this short 30-minute, 10-song album. What I really love about this song is the narrator is admitting that his childhood was far from perfect, but he's certainly not one to sit around and whine and complain about it. Life's not been easy for him, but nobody said it would be (he's heard "The Scientist" before); he just lives it as it comes, appreciating the foundation the past (good and bad) has left for him, learning all the while. He takes the "credit and the blame" for all the right and wrong he's done, with no shame. And, hey, though his family life seems to have been less than ideal growing up, he still sings: I'm just thankful for my birth and for my family, or else I wouldn't be me. So it ain't all bad. If those in the world that this song describes are grateful just to be alive, those of us who grew up pretty well-off could probably learn a little something from them. We all bring damaged goods to the table.

15) "Ray's Automatic Weapon" - Drive-By Truckers (written by Patterson Hood) - (Don't want to hurt nobody, but I keep on aiming closer, don't think that I can keep it feeling like I feel) - Mike Cooley may be my favorite songwriter in Drive-By Truckers, but I think Patterson Hood is one of the finest songwriters working today, so that says a lot about what I think of this band. Hood's always been the ringleader of sorts and always brings the most songs to each album, and something about "Ray's Automatic Weapon" stands out on the Truckers latest release Go-Go Boots. The song is essentially about a man, a Vietnam veteran, who offers to watch his friend Ray's gun for him. But the darkness in him from the war is still there, and the general darkness that is part of all of our natures starts trying to overtake him, and he begins to not trust himself with the gun anymore. These things that I been shooting at are getting all too real, the narrator tells Ray. Taken from the Drive-By Truckers website, Hood says of the song, "It was inspired by a visit from a friend that day who told me a chilling tale about a couple of Vietnam vets and a very powerful gun." In this informative Youtube video Hood goes on to say that the friend, a Vietnam vet himself, "nonchalantly" and "un-dramatically" told him the story about this guy's friend who had just bought a huge gun and had showed it to him; Hood's friend became concerned about his friend having such large weaponry around the house. Hood's friend convinced the guy to let him keep it at his house, on terms that it would still be his gun, he would let him come over and get it whenever he wanted. But Hood's friend "found himself out one afternoon, kind of on ridge overlooking a highway, seeing how close he could get to cars that would go by without hitting anybody. And it kind of dawned on him that maybe he didn't need to have the gun either. So he went home and he called his friend and told him to come get the gun back." Who in the world would think of putting such a story to song but Patterson Hood. I love it.

14) "Fire and Dynamite" - Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors - (written by Drew Holcomb) - (Some people talk to angels, some people people talk to themselves, well I don't know who you're talking to, but everything you say makes me want you) - I discovered this song watching Wide Open Country on CMT one night, which is weird considering I could go as wide open as I wanted to and I still wouldn't consider this a country song. But I'm thankful I found it. It's a great rock 'n' roll love song about finding that someone you can't live without (a husband and wife duo are two members of the band, see above), and it has some killer fuzzy electric guitar work in it. It also contains one of my favorite lines in a song this year: You are a novel in a sea of magazines. It's such a simple statement that says so much. The video is also really well done; it makes the song feel like a celebration.

13) "Million Dollar Bill" - Dawes - (written by Taylor Goldsmith) - (When it hits me that she's gone, I think I'll run for president, get my face put on the million dollar bill; so when these rich men that she wants show her ways they can take care of her, I'll have found a way to be there with her still) - Dawes is yet another band I discovered this past year. Their sound is modern and vintage at the same time, reminding me most of The Band, which is a heavy comparison. This was the song that convinced me to buy their latest album Nothing Is Wrong, and when I did I don't think I even listened to the rest of the CD before listening to this one about twenty times. Essentially, the song is about a girl who has moved on from her guy, but he still loves her (and maybe always will). He is simply not the man, or the "type" of man (she's a little shallow), she wants anymore, and though she has run off, she still possesses something in her essence that makes it impossible for him to hate her. It very well could be the thought of what they had they he is still in love with. The lyrics are what stand out on the track, each verse painting an achingly hyperbolic image of what the guy will do to somehow still see her face, somehow keep him close to her: put his face on a million dollar bill, live on the moon, become a movie star. These all make sense when you listen to the song, trust me. The melody is sweet yet evokes real pain and lead singer Tayler Goldsmith's vocal may just break your heart without the help of a cold-hearted woman. And with all that said, this isn't the only song I have from Dawes on this list.

12) "I'm Gettin' Stoned" - Eric Church - (written by Eric Church, Jeff Hyde, Casey Beathard, & Jeremy Crady) - (Here's to happy ever after and here's to balls and chains, here's to all those haters of old lovers new last names, here's to holin' up and getting right where I belong, she got a rock and I'm gettin' stoned) - I didn't get Eric Church at first. It seemed he was just another wannabe outlaw blowhard proclaiming to bring back "real country music" in the vein of Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings. I listened to a song here and a song there and I just didn't get it; it all seemed like it was just more country rock. Then "Smoke A Little Smoke" came out and he used freaking Autotune, or at least some variation of it. But my "come to Jesus" turnaround came when I heard the first single from his latest release Chief earlier this year, "Homeboy" (don't worry, it'll be on on my favorite country singles list). I loved it the very first time I heard it; I thought the lyrics were clever and, strangely, for a bombastic country-rock song, it made me feel proud and even a little nostalgic. So I bought Chief, and much to my surprise I found the record to be top-notch from beginning to end; not a dud on the disc. The songwriting is humorous, clever, poignant, authentic, and poetic, and at the very heart of it, though the rock element is amped up quite a bit, it's stone-cold country music. I read some interviews with Mr. Church and began to understand what he meant; he's not trying to be Jennings or Cash, he's trying to write music closer to the spirit of the music they made and not cater to what some radio programmer thinks he wants to hear. But anyway, about the song: it's a humorous cut about a guy who hears that the girl he always thought he'd end up with got hitched. She got a rock and he's getting, well... It contains what might be my favorite line on Chief: Here's to all those haters of old lovers new last names. Clever stuff, deserving of a raised glass and a hearty AMEN, and it just sort of rolls off the tongue. There's some great acoustic and electric guitar work and the drums sound phenomenal, as they do on the entire album. Perhaps the best thing about the song is that Church sounds like he is having a blast recording it, like he, now happily married, may have some girl from the past who's bringing it out of him. There's only one thing left to say: To hell with her and him and that white horse they rode out on...

Be sure to check back in the next day or two for my top 11 of '11. I'm so clever.