3 Country Songs From the 90s That Took a Surprisingly Dark Turn

Country music loves a good story song. The genre has plenty of feel-good, happy songs, but that’s not all that country music is known for. For decades, artists have been singing songs that have an unexpected ending. It’s just part of what makes country music so popular. We found three country songs from the. 90s that took a surprisingly dark turn.

Videos by American Songwriter

“Walkaway Joe” by Trisha Yearwood

Trisha Yearwood had a Top 5 hit in 1992 with “Walkaway Joe”, from her sophomore Hearts In Armor record. The song begins with what seems like a story about young love. As the song goes on, Yearwood reveals that the girlfriend is unexpectedly left behind in a small town.

“Somewhere in a roadside motel room / Alone in the silence she wakes up too soon and reaches for his arms,” Yearwood sings. “But she’ll just keep reaching on / ‘Cause the cold hard truth revealed what it had known / That boy was just a walkaway Joe / Born to be a leaver, tell you from the word go / Destined to deceive her, he’s the wrong kind of paradise / But it was just another lesson in life / That boy was a walkaway Joe.”

Don Henley sings on the song with Yearwood. The video also stars then-newcomer, Matthew McConaughey. According to Taste of Country, the song was originally supposed to go to The Judds. When they disbanded due to Naomi Judd’s Hepatitis C diagnosis, Yearwood was able to record the song instead.

“The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia”

Reba McEntire released “The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia” in 1992, on her For My Broken Heart album. The song, written by Bobby Russell, was first released by his wife, Vicky Lawrence, in 1972, before McEntire took it to the top of the charts 20 years later.

“The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia” is a sordid tale of adultery, false accusation, murder, and the death penalty.

“That’s the night that the lights went out in Georgia,” McEntire sings. “That’s the night that they hung an innocent man / Well, don’t trust your soul to no backwoods Southern lawyer / ‘Cause the judge in the town’s got bloodstains on his hands.”

McEntire stars as the guilty sister in the video.

“Papa Loved Mama” by Garth Brooks

Brooks wrote “Papa Loved Mama” with Kim Williams, which Brooks released in 1992. The song is told from the perspective of the son of a father who killed his mother due to his insatiable jealousy.

In “Papa Loved Mama”, Brooks sings, “Mama was a looker, Lord, how she shined / Papa was a good one, but the jealous kind / Papa loved Mama, Mama loved men / Mama’s in the graveyard, Papa’s in the pen.”

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