Sometimes songs, especially songs in country music, have an impact that goes far beyond a year or two. Some songs in country music are so good, their impact lasts years, even decades longer.
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These three country music songs came out in 1967. They remain just as important 58 years later, in 2025, as they were when they were released.
“Jackson” by Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash
Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash include “Jackson” on Johnny Cash’s Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 album. Written by Billy Edd Wheeler and Jerry Leiber, the song came out one year before the two got married in 1968.
The song is about Jackson, Tennessee. It was inspired by Wheeler wanting to write about a city, with Jackson being the one that fit the song best.
“I needed a town, and I tried Nashville and some others, and that was too soft,” Wheeler recalls (via Wide Open Country). “I wanted something that really got you, so I finally got Jackson. Of course, that was my most successful song and still is.”
“Jackson” begins with, “We got married in a fever, hotter than a pepper sprout, / We’ve been talkin’ ’bout Jackson, ever since the fire went out / I’m goin’ to Jackson, I’m gonna mess around / Yeah, I’m goin’ to Jackson, / Look out Jackson town.”
“Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On Your Mind)” by Loretta Lynn
By the time Loretta Lynn released “Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On Your Mind)“, she had already released well over a dozen singles. But it’s “Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On Your Mind)” that is the first Lynn song to become a No. 1 hit.
Lynn wrote “Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On Your Mind)” with her sister, Peggy Sue Wells. The song is the title track of her ninth studio album. Inspired by her husband Oliver “Doolittle” Lynn, the song says, “No, don’t come home a drinkin’ with lovin’ on your mind / Just stay out there on the town and see what you can find / Cause if you want that kind of love, well, you don’t need none of mine / So don’t come home a drinkin’ with lovin’ on your mind.“
“Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On Your Mind)” remains one of Lynn’s most popular songs, even after all these years.
“Lonely Again” by Eddy Arnold
Jean Chapel is the writer of Eddy Arnold’s “Lonely Again”. “Lonely Again” is the title track of his record, also out in 1967. It became a two-week No. 1 hit for Arnold.
The sad song says, “Just when I’m sure / That my heart is secure And my teardrops are dry / With a warm glow inside / And this love of mine / Till the end of the line / That’s always the time / That I’m lonely again.”
“Lonely Again” was a big hit for Arnold. He was also on a big streak of hits with “Lonely Again”, a streak that ended one year later. The final No. 1 single of Arnold’s career came in 1968, with “Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye”.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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