The middle of the 1960s remains an important part of country music. The entire genre was evolving with new sounds and styles, while still sounding like the country music from eras past. Among the best country songs that came out in 1965 are these three tunes. They were all so popular, it’s likely that every 60s kid still knows them by heart today.
“Make The World Go Away” by Eddy Arnold
A three-week No. 1 hit, “Make The World Go Away” is on Arnold’s My World album. The song was written by Hank Cochran.
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“Make The World Go Away” starts with, “Make the world go away and get it off my shoulder / Say the things you used to say and make the world go away.”
Before Arnold had a hit single with “Make The World Go Away”, it was first released by Ray Price in 1963. Price had a Top 5 hit with this song.
“Make The World Go Away” is Arnold’s second single to reach the top of the charts in 1965. He also had a No. 1 hit that year with “What’s He Doing In My World”. “Make The World Go Away” is Arnold’s first and only song to reach the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
“Before You Go” by Buck Owens
One of Buck Owens’ biggest hits, “Before You Go” is the title track of a record that also came out in 1965. Owens wrote “Before You Go” with Don Rich.
A six-week No. 1 single, “Before You Go” says, “But darlin’ before you go be sure you know how much I love you / And that I’m sorry for the quarrels that we had / If you leave you’re gonna tear my world to pieces / So take it slow be sure you know before you go.”
This was the longest-running No. 1 hit of any country single in 1965. Interestingly, the second-longest-running country No. 1 single in 1965 is “I’ve Got A Tiger By The Tail”, also by Owens. That song stayed at the top of the charts for five weeks.
“Is It Really Over?” by Jim Reeves
Jim Reeves is the only writer of “Is It Really Over?”. The song is part of his Distant Drums record.
“Is It Really Over?” begins with, “Is it really over, is this the end of the line? / Don’t tell me I’m losing the love that was mine. / If you’re really leaving, take some part of me / So I’ll always remember how sweet love used to be.”
Reeves passed away in 1964. “Is It Really Over?” is one of several of his songs that reached the top of the charts after his death. In fact, after “Is It Really Over?”, four more songs by Reeves became posthumous No. 1 songs for him.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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