3 Country Songs From the 90s With Stunning Lyrics

The 90s remain one of the most pivotal decades in country music. Some of country music’s biggest hits from that era are still revered today. We found three country songs from the 90s that are still beloved today, likely because they each have stunning lyrics.

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“How Can I Help You Say Goodbye” by Patty Loveless

Patty Loveless pulls on the heartstrings in “How Can I Help You Say Goodbye“. Out in 1994 on her Only What I Feel album, the song is written by Karen Taylor-Good and Burton Banks Collins. “How Can I Help You Say Goodbye” is a story about learning to say goodbye, from the perspective of a mother, first to her child as a young girl, then to a wife leaving her husband, and ending with the mother on her deathbed.

The song says, “Mama whispered softly / ‘Time will ease your pain / Life’s about changin’ / Nothin’ ever stays the same’ / And she said, ‘How can I help you / To say goodbye? / It’s okay to hurt, and it’s okay to cry / Come let me hold you, and I will try / How can I help you to say goodbye?’”

One year before Loveless released her version, pop star Laura Branigan included it on her 1993 Over My Heart album.

“Something In Red” by Lorrie Morgan

Lorrie Morgan released “Something In Red” in 1992, as the title track of her sophomore album. Written by Angela Kaset, it was Kaset who first released it as a single. The multi-verse song goes through the stages of a woman’s life, with different colors representing different eras in her life, both starting and ending with red.

“Something In Red” begins with, “I’m looking for something in red / Something that’s shocking to turn someone’s head / Strapless and sequined and cut down to there / Stockings and garters and lace underwear / The guaranteed number to knock the man dead / I’m looking for something in red.”

According to Classic Country Music Stories, Kaset pitched the song to Morgan through her producer, Richard Landis. Morgan passed on it, but Landis believed in the song, so he suggested she listen again. The second time, Morgan liked it enough to record it. “Something In Red” remains one of her biggest hits.

“To Make You Feel My Love” by Garth Brooks

Garth Brooks had a multi-platinum, No. 1 hit with “To Make You Feel My Love”. The song, released as a single in 1998, is from the soundtrack for the blockbuster film Hope Floats. Bob Dylan wrote the song, which he includes on his 1997 Time Out Of Mind album, the same year Billy Joel included it on his Greatest Hits Volume III record.

But it’s Brooks’ rendition that is best known, and with good reason. The song says, “When the evening shadows and the stars appear / And there is no one there to dry your tears / I could hold you for a million years / To make you feel my love / I know you haven’t made your mind up yet / But I would never do you wrong / I’ve known it from the moment that we met / No doubt in my mind where you belong / I’d go hungry, I’d go black and blue I’d go crawling down the avenue / There’s nothing that I wouldn’t do / To make you feel my love.”

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