1999 was an epic year in country music. Veteran hitmakers were still releasing music, arguably some of the best of their career, while relative newcomers were beginning to make their mark in the genre. These are three of the best country songs from 1999 that everyone should know.
Videos by American Songwriter
“Please Remember Me” by Tim McGraw
“Please Remember Me” is Tim McGraw’s debut single from A Place In The Sun, McGraw’s fifth studio album. Five years earlier, McGraw had his first No. 1 hit with “Don’t Take The Girl”. So by the time “Please Remember Me”, written by Rodney Crowell and Will Jennings, was released, McGraw was establishing himself as a superstar, a title he still holds 26 years later.
An aching song about saying goodbye, “Please Remember Me” says, “You’ll find better love / Strong as it ever was / Deep as the river runs / Warm as the morning sun / Please remember me.”
Although McGraw had success with his wife, Faith Hill, on the pop charts, “Please Remember Me” is McGraw’s highest-charting single on the Hot 100 chart, coming in at No. 10.
“Write This Down” by George Strait
George Strait has had plenty of No. 1 hits… 60 to be exact. But “Write This Down” might be among his best. Written by Dana Hunt Black and Kent Robbins, the song is on Strait’s Always Never The Same album.
“Write This Down” says, “Baby, write this down / Take a little note to remind you in case you didn’t know / Tell yourself I love you and I don’t want you to go / Write this down / Take my words and read ’em every day, keep ’em close by / Don’t you let ’em fade away / So you’ll remember what I forgot to say / Write this down.”
Hunt Black had the idea for the song by hearing the beginning of a message on her answering machine.
“‘I have this great idea,” she recalls to The Tennessean. “‘Write this down…’ and then a click. The message had been cut off.”
“What Do You Say” by Reba McEntire
Reba McEntire includes “What Do You Say” on her So Good Together album. A bit of a departure, the song is a sentimental one, about finding the right words amid challenging times.
“What Do You Say” says, “Sometimes you got to listen to the silence / And give yourself a little time to think / Her every breath is weaker than the last / And lately when she sleeps she talks about the past / Her husband knows she’s tired of holding on / She looks at him and says, ‘I want to go home’ / So what do you say in a moment like this / When you can’t find the words to tell it like it is / Just bite your tongue and let your heart lead the way / Let’s get out of here / Oh, what do you say?“
“What Do You Say” is written by Neil Thrasher and Michael Dulaney.
Photo by George De Sota (ID 5073478)/Redferns
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