A great song is a great song, regardless of when it came out. These three country music songs came out in 2006, but are so timeless that we want to keep listening to them in 2025.
Videos by American Songwriter
“Before He Cheats” by Carrie Underwood
Of all of Carrie Underwood’s numerous hit singles, few are as well-known as “Before He Cheats“. On her debut Some Hearts album, the song is written by Josh Kear and Chris Tompkins.
“Before He Cheats” is from the perspective of a girlfriend who goes to extremes when she realizes her boyfriend is cheating on her. The song says, “I dug my key into the side / Of his pretty little souped-up four-wheel drive / Carved my name into his leather seats / I took a Louisville slugger to both headlights / Slashed a hole in all four tires / Maybe next time, he’ll think before he cheats.“
Although the song seems tailor-made for Underwood, the writers actually had another artist in mind for the song first.
“At the time, Gretchen Wilson was going in to record,” Tompkins tells The Boot. “After her first record, everybody wanted to have a song on that second record. I was trying to think of edgy stuff. I never would’ve thought that Carrie Underwood would record it.”
“Good Directions” by Billy Currington
“Good Directions” became a three-week, multi-platinum hit for Billy Currington. Written by Luke Bryan and Rachel Thibodeau, the song is on Currington’s sophomore Doin’ Somethin’ Right record.
“Good Directions” is a light-hearted love story about a couple that falls in love after a woman stops to ask for directions. The song says, “I told her, ‘Way up yonder past the caution light / There’s a little country store with an old Coke sign / You got to stop in and ask Miss Bell for some of her sweet tea / Then a left will take you to the interstate / But a right will bring you right back here to me.“
“Give It Away” by George Strait
Truth be told, almost all of George Strait’s songs could be listened to over and over again. But “Give It Away” remains one of his most timeless hits. On Strait’s Just Comes Natural album, the song is written by Jamey Johnson, Bill Anderson, and Buddy Cannon. “Give It Away” is about a man who discovers too late that his relationship is over.
The lyrics say, “That picture from our honeymoon / That night in Frisco Bay / Just give it away / She said, give it away / And that big four-poster king-size bed / Where so much love was made / Just give it away / She said, just give it away.”
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