4 Country Lyrics That Hit Like Words of Wisdom From My Grandfather

Country music can often feel like hard-won advice from a grandfather-type figure. It’s easy to hear an old, twangy voice offering simple yet effective outlooks on life. The four sets of lyrics below from country classics double as words of wisdom from an elder.

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“Humble And Kind” — Tim McGraw

“Hold the door, say please, say thank you / Don’t steal, don’t cheat, and don’t lie / I know you got mountains to climb / But stay humble and kind.”

If there is advice that comes up time and time again in country music, it’s to never get too big for your britches. Country artists pride themselves on keeping a level head and remembering where they came from. Tim McGraw’s “Humble And Kind” is one of the best examples of this type of wisdom.

The parental figures in your life probably have told you something similar at one time or another. You can easily swap out McGraw’s timber with the voice of your grandfather while listening to these country lyrics.

“The Older I Get” — Alan Jackson

“The older I get, the truer it is / It’s the people you love, not the money and stuff / That makes you rich.”

Priorities become clear as you get older. Many elders make a point of telling younger generations that everything they are fussing over will one day be a moot point. Alan Jackson does just that in “The Older I Get.”

In the lyrics to this country song, Jackson relays something we all know in our hearts: nothing compares to the people you hold dear. Sometimes the most obvious advice is the best. We can often make things more complicated than they need to be, obscuring the realities of life. Jackson keeps things purposefully simple on “The Older I Get.”

“Buy Dirt” — Jordan Davis feat. Luke Bryan

“‘Cause the truth about it is / It all goes by real quick / You can’t buy happiness.”

There’s no shortage of strong advice in Jordan Davis’ “Buy Dirt.” The entire chorus is advice Davis received from his grandfather, universal for all his listeners. In the line above, Davis gets down to the crux of that advice.

Essentially, this country song is about focusing on what matters in life. Again, re-centering priorities. Davis’ grandfather tells him to only chase money to make a life with the people he loves. Couldn’t we all stand to hear that from time to time?

“Nothing I Can Do About It Now” — Willie Nelson

“Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got / But I’m doin’ fine, / There’s nothing I can do about it now.”

Willie Nelson tackles regret on “Nothing I Can Do About It Now,” in the most playful way possible. Often, advice from our elders can make us laugh at ourselves for how simple they make issues seem. Nelson takes that approach in this song, delivering a hard-won truth with an ease that helps the listener enjoy themselves.

[RELATED: 4 Willie Nelson Songs That Everyone Should Know, Even Though They Weren’t All Big Hits]

The country lyrics above are the basis of this entire song. Regret is futile, and there’s nothing you can do about the past. You win some, and you lose some. And that’s just the way it is. That kind of peaceful understanding seems to only come with age, but those younger than Nelson can revisit this song to try to let him rub off on them.

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