The year 1988 is a pretty important one in country music. In 1988, some of the very best country songs were released, including these three. They are all so good, it’s likely that every 80s kid still knows them by heart today.
“If It Don’t Come Easy” by Tanya Tucker
“If It Don’t Come Easy” is on Love Me Like You Used To, Tanya Tucker’s 16th studio album. The song was written by Dave Gibson and Craig Karp.
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A cautionary tale, “If It Don’t Come Easy” says, “If it don’t come easy, you better let it go / ‘Cause when it don’t come easy, there’s no natural flow / Don’t make it hard on your heart, you might be better off alone / If it don’t come easy, you better let it go.”
“If It Don’t Come Easy” wasn’t the only successful single from Love Me Like You Used To. Other hits from the record include the title track and “I Won’t Take Less Than Your Love”, the latter a song Tucker sang with Paul Davis and Paul Overstreet.
“Don’t Close Your Eyes” by Keith Whitley
“Don’t Close Your Eyes” is the title track of Keith Whitley’s sophomore record. Bob McDill is the sole writer of the song, which is a sad song about a man in love with a woman who is in love with someone else.
McDill was inspired to write “Don’t Close Your Eyes” after seeing the 1978 film, California Suite.
The chorus begins with, “Don’t close your eyes / Let it be me / Don’t pretend it’s him / In some fantasy.”
Don’t Close Your Eyes is a pivotal album for Whitley. After releasing the title track, he released “When You Say Nothing At All”, followed by “I’m No Stranger To The Rain”, all important songs for Whitley.
“Song Of The South” by Alabama
One of Alabama’s most popular songs throughout their historic career is “Song Of The South”. A multi-platinum hit, “Song Of The South” is part of their Southern Star record. McDill is also the only writer on “Song Of The South”.
An ode to the Southern way of life, “Song Of The South” begins with, “Song, song of the south / Sweet potato pie, and I shut my mouth / Gone, gone with the wind / There ain’t nobody looking back again.”
A multi-platinum hit for Alabama, they are not the first act to record “Song Of The South”. In 1980, Bobby Bare included this song on Drunk & Crazy, a record he released in 1980. Johnny Russell also recorded a version of this song, as did Tom T. Hall, who sang it as a collaboration with Earl Scruggs.
Photo by Beth Gwinn/Redferns
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