The test of a great country song isn’t just how well it does on the charts when it comes out. More importantly, the true test is whether or not it stands the test of time. These four country songs all came out in 1993. Perhaps surprisingly, they sound even better today, 32 years after they were first released.
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“Wild One” by Faith Hill
“Wild One” is Faith Hill’s debut single and first No. 1 hit. Written by Pat Bunch, Jaime Kyle, and Will Rambeaux, “Wild One” stayed at the top of the charts for four weeks. The song’s success gave an early indication of the kind of career Hill would enjoy in country music.
“Wild One” is about a girl who knows early on she is destined to live life on her own terms, however unconventional they might be. The song says, “She’s a wild one / With an angel’s face / She’s a woman child in a state of grace / When she was three years old on her daddy’s knee / He said, ‘You can be anything you wanna be / She’s a wild one / Runnin’ free.“
“Chattahoochee” by Alan Jackson
Alan Jackson and Jim McBride wrote “Chattahoochee”. The song is on Jackson’s A Lot About Livin’ (And A Little ‘Bout Love) record. The song says, “Yeah, way down yonder on the Chattahoochee / Never knew how much that muddy water meant to me / But I learned how to swim and I learned who I was / A lot about living and a little ’bout love.”
In the liner notes for the album, Jackson credits McBride with the idea for the song that became “Chattahoochee”.
“Jim McBride and I were trying to write an up-tempo song, and Jim came in with the line ‘Way down yonder on the Chattahoochee,’” Jackson writes. “It kind of went from there.”
Jackson received two Grammy nominations for “Chattahoochee”.
“The Song Remembers When” by Trisha Yearwood
Hugh Prestwood is the sole writer of “The Song Remembers When“, one of Trisha Yearwood’s most memorable songs. The title track of Yearwood’s third studio album, “The Song Remembers When”, shares how one song can evoke heartache that is easier to forget.
“The Song Remembers When” says, “I was standing at the counter / I was waiting for the change / When I heard that old familiar music start / It was like a lighted match had been tossed into my soul / It was like a dam had broken in my heart / After taking every detour / Gettin’ lost and losin’ track / So that even if I wanted I could not find my way back / After driving out the memory / Of the way things might have been / After I’d forgotten all about us / The song remembers when.”
“I Don’t Call Him Daddy” by Doug Supernaw
“I Don’t Call Him Daddy” is Doug Supernaw’s third single, and the only No. 1 of his career. Written by Reed Nielsen, Kenny Rogers first recorded “I Don’t Call Him Daddy”.
“I Don’t Call Him Daddy” is from the perspective of a little boy whose parents are divorced, with the mother having another boyfriend. The song says, “You said, ‘I don’t call him daddy, but he takes care of things / When you pick me up on Friday, are you gonna bring me anything / Oh, don’t worry dad, you know, it don’t matter what we do / ‘Cause I don’t call him daddy, he can never be like you.’”
Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images
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