1. "I Walk the Line" - Johnny Cash
   "Jolene" - Dolly Parton
2. "All My Ex's Live in Texas" - George Strait
   "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" - Willie Nelson

You'll find all of these amazing songs on the Rolling Stone list of top country songs from history, but "I Walk the Line" by Johnny Cash is right at the top. No wonder there's an entire museum dedicated to him in the heart of Nashville!

1. "All to Myself" - Dan + Shay
   "Amazed" - Lone Star
2. "Miss Me More" - Kelsea Ballerini
   "Girl Crush" - Little Big Town

"I got a girl crush—hate to admit it but—I got a heart rush—Ain't slowing down." This 2014 release speaks of unrequited love and the pain of having an old partner move on to someone new. Like many country songs, the feeling is related.

1. "Beautiful wives and dangerous lies"
   "Diamond rings and football teams"
2. "Moms and dads and brother boys"
   "Bills and jobs"

One of the common themes in country music is the goodness of the simple things — like an ice-cold beer. In this hit from Luke Combs, an ice-cold beer is the only thing to rely on, even when "diamond rings and football teams tore this boy apart."

1. "Gunpowder and Lead"
   "We Should Be Friends"
2. "The House That Built Me"
   "Famous in a Small Town"

In Miranda Lambert's 2009 release, "The House That Built Me," she sings about returning to her childhood home and the memories that come along with the visit. It is sweet and nostalgic and can easily move the listener to tears.

1. Rolling Stones USA
   Springsteen
2. Frank Sinatra's Song
   Eagles-Eyed

Pull out your lighter and get ready to sing about nostalgia and first loves. Eric Church's "Springsteen" is about falling in love and listening to his favorite songs on the radio. This sure-classic will likely feature in many memories to come, just as Springsteen did for Church.

1. Blue
   Red
2. Black
   White

"Baby, blue ain't your color" — in this song Keith Urban is singing to a woman who has clearly had her heart broken and is looking lonely and blue at the bar, to which he sings that he will "light up your world."

1. "Mary Jane"
   "Mary Kay"
2. "Mary two doors down"
   "Mother Mary"

This 2013 release speaks to the universal fear of never moving away from home. The things keeping her family from moving away are makeup, drugs and affairs. Mother Mary isn't one of them.

1. "To see the Northern Lights"
   "Your hand in his hand"
2. "To build a mansion in Georgia"
   "To drive a sports car up the coast of California"

Country music is about the simple things — including love. In "Die a Happy Man" Thomas Rhett sings that he doesn't need fancy adventures or expensive things. All he needs is the love of the woman he loves.

1. "A love song"
   "God's love"
2. "Mother's prayers"
   "My girl's letters"

"Sink me in the river at dawn — send me away with the words of a love song." "If I Die Young" is a beautiful and emotional song by The Band Perry that focuses honestly on what happens when a young person passes away.

1. "My Church" - Maren Morris
   "Some of It" - Eric Church
2. "Speechless" - Dan + Shay
   "Strawberry Wine" - Deana Carter

In her song, "My Church," Maren Morris sings about what she worships, which is the radio on the open road. She references the classics with the line, "Hank brings the sermon — Cash leads the choir."

1. "Just a liar and a cheat"
   "Candy-coated misery"
2. "Never gonna set you free"
   "Not the man for me"

In Carrie Underwood's "Cowboy Casanova" she sings of a handsome cowboy who is sure to break your heart just as he broke hers. In addition to being candy-coated misery, he is also "the devil in disguise" and "a snake with blue eyes."

1. "Crazy One More Time"
   "Beer Money"
2. "That Was Us"
   "Wild Ones"

Many of Kip Moore's songs embrace living in the moment, whether that means time spent with the woman you love or a night out on the town. These particular lyrics are from "Wild Ones."

1. "Flaming locks of auburn hair"
   "Ivory skin"
2. "Lips like cherries"
   "Emerald green eyes"

One of Dolly Parton's most famous songs, "Jolene" is the plea of one woman to another to not steal her man, even though she is beautiful and lovely. Lips like cherries are not one of the attributes mentioned, however.

1. "Consider Me Gone"
   "Fancy"
2. "Going Out Like That"
   "The Heart Won't Lie"

In "Going Out Like That," Reba sings about a woman who refuses to be sad and lonely after a breakup. Instead, she gets dressed up and embraces her new life of freedom and independence.

1. "A House of Gold"
   "Understand Your Man"
2. "Flesh and Blood"
   "Sunday Morning Coming Down"

Johnny Cash is one of the highest-selling artists of all time, and his songs often talk of family, good folks and fighting for peace. The song, "A House of Gold," is by another country legend, Hank Williams.

1. "Somewhere on a beach"
   "Up the mountainside"
2. "Sitting in the yard"
   "Dockside, poolside"

In "Somewhere on a Beach," Dierks Bentley sings about getting over a bad breakup on a beach. Even though he gets news that his ex is still driving past his house and calling his phone, he's enjoying the sunshine.

1. "But let's find out together"
   "Don't you want to know?"
2. "Where is this story going?"
   "Check yes or no"

The song, "Check Yes or No," tells a story of love that starts way back as children. With the holding of hands and the passing of notes that literally say "check yes or no," these innocent love stories that become lifelong relationships show up often in country music.

1. "Fall in love with a girl whose eyes are like the sky"
   "Hold your baby just one time"
2. "See the world and all it has to offer"
   "Live like you were dying"

Tim McGraw's song, "Live Like You Were Dying," asks the difficult question: What do you do when you know there isn't much time? To name a few things, he sings of sky diving, Rocky Mountain climbing, bull riding, and forgiving.

1. "She's Country"
   "You Make it Easy"
2. "Drowns the Whiskey"
   "Dirt Road Anthem"

In "You Make it Easy," Jason Aldean sings about how easy it is to love the woman he is singing to. He sings about the beauty of simple mornings spent together and how she has him wrapped around her finger.

1. "Low places"
   "High places"
2. "Places you won't find good girls"
   "Where the good Lord don't go"

In "Friends in Low Places" Garth Brooks sings about humble upbringings and not knowing how to navigate high class society because that's not where he's from. He says, "where the whiskey drowns — and the beer chases my blues away".

1. "Life in the big city"
   "The land and the rain"
2. "Work and beer"
   "Girls and trucks"

In Blake Shelton's song "Boys 'Round Here," the chorus goes, "The boys 'round here — drinking that ice cold beer — talkin' 'bout girls — talkin' 'bout trucks — runnin' them red dirt roads out, kickin' up dust."

1. "Kerosene"
   "White Liar"
2. "Gunpowder and Lead"
   "Mama's Broken Heart"

"Kerosene" was released in 2005. "Gunpowder and Lead" was released in 2007. "White Liar" came out in 2009, and "Mama's Broken Heart" came out in 2011. Lambert is still producing great songs.

1. Kenny Chesney
   Luke Bryan
2. Jason Aldean
   Tim McGraw

"Country Girl (Shake it For Me)" is a Luke Bryan song that was released in 2011. The song includes the line "Shake it for the young bucks sittin' in the honky-tonk s— for the rednecks rockin' 'til the break of dawn."

1. "I can't stop thinking of you tonight"
   "It's dark and late and we're both alone"
2. "You're stuck in my head and you know it ain't fair"
   "Baby climbing the walls gets me nowhere"

"Come Over" is a song about a relationship where both people know better, but they just keep going out to see each other anyway because sitting around thinking about it (climbing the walls) doesn't help.

1. "Riding shotgun with her hair undone"
   "Down by the dock with her toes in the lake"
2. "On the bed of his truck, barefoot in the sun"
   "Out on the porch watching the sunset"

Taylor Swift has become known for writing across multiple genres, but she got her start in the country music world. "Our Song" came out in 2006 and began with the line, "I was riding shotgun with my hair undone in the front seat of his car".

1. "The prerogative to have a little fun"
   "The ability to dance whenever you want"
2. "To never have to make up your mind"
   "To find great friends"

Even people who don't love country music sing along to "Man! I Feel Like a Woman," a song about going out on the town with your best friends. It was first released in 1997 and features the line, "I want to be free, yeah, to feel the way I feel."

1. "Cruise"
   "Sippin' on Fire"
2. "Sun Daze"
   "God, Your Mama, and Me"

"Baby you a song — you make me wanna roll my windows and down and cruise" is the opening line of "Cruise," a Florida Georgia Line song that was released on the "Here's to the Good Times" Album in 2012.

1. "I met the girl of my dreams"
   "I went off to fight for my country"
2. "The real world started"
   "Daddy said goodbye for the last time"

"It was the summer before the real world started — and the deal was we could get to go if we — cleaned it up and got it running." Like many country songs, Talladega is filled with nostalgia and memories of youth.

1. "But she never got the chance"
   "But daddy won't let her now"
2. "But she don't want to marry me"
   "But times they go too fast"

"Marry Me" is a song about long-lasting unrequited love, featuring a man who attends the wedding of the woman he had once thought he was going to marry. It features the line, "But I ain't gonna mess it up, so I'll wish her the best now."

1. "A hundred bucks on a scratch-off ticket"
   "A four-day, three-night beach vacation"
2. "A four-wheeler"
   "Three free passes to play golf"

In "When it Rains, It Pours," Luke Combs' girlfriend has broken up with him. He is feeling down, when a wave of good luck hits, starting at the gas station and leading to vacations and prizes.

1. "Own the Night"
   "Golden"
2. "Ocean"
   "Heartbreak"

Lady Antebellum formed in 2006 and has been prolifically producing albums and songs since then, including "Be Patient With My Love" which was on their album ,"Ocean," released in 2019.

1. "Well I raised underneath the shade of a Georgia pine"
   "Cold beer on a Friday night"
2. "You know I like my chicken fried"
   "It's funny how it's the little things in life that mean the most"

As the title would indicate, the first line of this song is "you know I like my chicken fried." Like many country songs, "Chicken Fried" is an homage to southern living and identity.

1. "Cowboy Take Me Away"
   "There's Your Trouble"
2. "I Can Love You Better"
   "Cold Day in July"

The chorus for "Cowboy Take Me Away" goes: "Cowboy take me away — Fly this girl as high as you can into the wild blue." It is a song of independence, open spaces and the chance to find true love.

1. The Open Skies of Dixie
   The Little White Church
2. Mama's Old House
   Music City USA

"Little White Church" is a song about getting hitched, where the singer says she's no longer going to stand for what is being said. She wants the actions to back it up — and there won't be rewards until she gets the ring.

1. "Seven days"
   "One day"
2. "No days"
   "31 Days"

Patsy Cline's song, "Seven Lonely Days," is about crying after a breakup, but it ultimately ends with the statement, "last week was the last time I cried for you." Cline was a hugely popular country artist and influenced much of what is being produced today.