There might not be a more nostalgic era in country music than the 1980s. The decade saw the rise of some of country music’s biggest superstars, and was the beginning of a new sound, one that is still being heard today.
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Fortunately, those songs also stand the test of time. We found three country songs from the 1980s that are still relevant today.
“Girls Night Out” by The Judds
Who doesn’t love a girls’ night out? Naomi and Wynonna Judd sure did, which is why The Judds released “Girls Night Out” as a single in 1985. The song, written by Brent Maher and Jeffrey Bullock, is the second single from the duo’s Why Not Me album.
“Girls Night Out” says, “Well, it’s a girls’ night out / Honey, there ain’t no doubt / I’m gonna dance every dance ’til the boys go home / Well, it’s my night to rock / No watchin’ that ol’ clock / Oh, ain’t no doubt, Lordy, it’s a girls’ night out.”
“There are a lot of women who don’t have a date on Friday night,” Wynonna says (via Songfacts). “I’ve been there. So what do you do? You get together with your girlfriends. You sit and talk about how ornery and trouble-making men are, and you forget about your troubles, and you go out and you have a ball.”
Sure, times have changed in the four decades since then, but the song still works today.
“You Look So Good In Love” by George Strait
Songs about lost love are a tale as old as time, which is why George Strait’s “You Look So Good In Love” is so relevant, 42 years after Strait released it in 1983.
Written by Glen Ballard, Rory Bourke, and Kerry Chater, “You Look So Good In Love” says, “You look so good in love / You want him / That’s easy to see / You look so good in love / I wish you still wanted me.” The song is the first release from Strait’s third album, Right or Wrong.
Strait was right in recording “You Look So Good In Love.” The song became a No. 1, platinum-selling hit for Strait. He also included it on his 2004 50 Number Ones album.
“When You Say Nothing At All” by Keith Whitley
Who doesn’t love a sweet love song, especially one sung by Keith Whitley? Whitley released “When You Say Nothing At All” in 1988. The song, written by Don Schlitz and Paul Overstreet, is from Whitley’s sophomore Don’t Close Your Eyes record.
The sweet love song says, “The smile on your face lets me know that you need me / There’s a truth in your eyes saying you’ll never leave me / The touch of your hand says you’ll catch me wherever I fall / You say it best, when you say nothing at all.”
“Don Schlitz had a dream about it,” Overstreet recalls to Songfacts. “We wrote on Monday and Tuesday of every week. We went in to write, and he told me about the idea. We started writing it right then.”
Photo by Ebet Roberts/Getty Images
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