Country music will probably always be known for being the best genre when it comes to storytelling and songwriting. Just ask some famous songwriters today, and they’ll tell you the following three country songs feature some of the greatest lyrics ever written. Let’s take a look!
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“I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” by Hank Williams (1949)
“The silence of a falling star lights up a purple sky, and as I wonder where you are, I’m so lonesome I could cry.”
This is one of the greatest mid-century country classics ever written. “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” has been praised by everyone from Willie Nelson to k.d. Lang to Bob Dylan. That’s not super surprising, considering how many musicians have covered this honky-tonk classic from Hank Williams.
“‘I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry’,” said Willie Nelson when asked what the greatest song ever written was, before referencing the above lyric. “It’s a Hank Williams song. One verse in particular I think is the greatest lines that I’ve ever heard.”
“I think ‘I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry’ is one of the most classic American songs ever written, truly,” said k.d. lang. “Beautiful song.”
“Even at a young age, I identified with [Hank Williams],” Bob Dylan said in reference to “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”. “I didn’t have to experience anything that Hank did to know what he was singing about. I’d never heard a robin weep, but could imagine it and it made me sad.”
“He Stopped Loving Her Today” by George Jones (1980)
“He stopped loving her today / They placed a wreath upon his door / And soon they’ll carry him away.”
Country’s queen Dolly Parton knows a thing or two about songwriting. She penned some of the world’s most beloved country songs of all time. And, according to her, George Jones’ 1980 heartbreaker “He Stopped Loving He Today” boasts some of the most touching lyrics of all time.
“To me, that song is so well written, but it touches every cell in your body, in your heart,” said Parton of the song. “[…] Nobody can tell that story like he did. So to me, that is the country classic of all time.”
“Wichita Lineman” by Glen Campbell (1968)
“I hear you singing in the wire / I can hear you through the whine / And the Wichita lineman / Is still on the line.”
This classic country song was originally written by Jimmy Webb. It was performed by Glen Campbell with members of The Wrecking Crew. “Wichita Lineman” has been called one of the most existential country songs ever produced, too. It’s hard to disagree with that. And even Bob Dylan, one of the greatest songwriters of the 1960s, sang its praises for boasting some of the greatest country lyrics of all time. He called it “the greatest song ever written.”
Photo by David Redfern/Redferns
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