Nothing says fall better than football, and especially tailgating before the game. Fortunately, country music has plenty of songs that are perfect for a tailgating soundtrack. We picked three of our favorites.
Videos by American Songwriter
“Red Solo Cup” by Toby Keith
There likely isn’t a better tailgating song than “Red Solo Cup” by Toby Keith. The song, written by Brett Warren, Brad Warren, Brett Beavers, and Jim Beavers, is on Keith’s 2011 Clancy’s Tavern album, and is the only song on the record that Keith didn’t write or co-write.
For the rest of Keith’s career, the song remained one of his favorites.
“It is the stupidest song I ever heard in my life, but it’s so stupid it’s good. … ‘Red Solo Cup’ is like a squirrel loose in a church house,” Keith tells The Boot. “We can play it in an office and then play five other songs, give it an hour, walk out, and you’d hear the receptionist singing it. It’s like nursery rhyme stupid.”
“Here For The Party” by Gretchen Wilson
“Here For The Party” is the title track of Gretchen Wilson’s freshman album, released in 2004. The song is written by Wilson, along with John Rich and Big Kenny, and followed her massive “Redneck Woman” debut.
“You know I’m here for the party,” Wilson sings. “And I ain’t leaving till they throw me out / Gonna have a little fun, gonna get me some / You know I’m here / I’m here for the party.”
Interestingly enough, although the entire record is by all standards a commercial success, Wilson admits she wasn’t a fan of all of the songs on the project. Although she declines to say which ones.
“When I made that album, I was very frustrated with a couple of the songs that went on there,” she tells The Boot. “I felt like I had to bargain, and cut a couple of songs that I didn’t wanna cut in order to get a couple of mine on there.”
“Small Town Throwdown”
Brantley Gilbert sings “Small Town Throwdown” with Thomas Rhett and Justin Moore, two relative newcomers when the song came out in 2014. Written by Gilbert, along with Ben Hayslip, Rhett Akins, and Dallas Davidson, the song celebrates the best part about tailgating, especially in a small town.
“It’s a small town throwdown, it’s time to tallboy up” Gilbert sings. “Let them tailgates down / And man, it’s on tonight, ridin’ ’til the morning light / Crank that country up loud, it’s a small town throwdown.”
“It’s just a throwdown song, a party song…when we all get together out in the middle of nowhere,” Gilbert says (via Songfacts). “We don’t need a club, a cover charge, or nothing. Most of the time, you charge somebody three dollars for a Dixie cup, and let them drink a keg all night.”
Photo by Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
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