The year 2021 was an amazing one for artists in country music. We rounded up four songs that came out in 2021, which are among the best ever written in the genre.
Videos by American Songwriter
“Fancy Like” by Walker Hayes
“Fancy Like” is one of country music’s best songs. But it also changed the entire trajectory of Walker Hayes’ career. Written by Hayes, along with Cameron Bartolini, Josh Jenkins, and Shane Stevens, the song went viral after his daughter, Lela Hayes, posted a clip of her and her father doing a dance to the song on TikTok.
“Fancy Like” pays homage to Hayes’ life with his Laney. The song says, “Yeah, we fancy like Applebee’s on a date night / Got that Bourbon Street steak with the Oreo shake / Get some whipped / cream on the top, too / Two straws, one check, girl, I got you / Bougie like Natty in the styrofoam / Squeaky-squeakin’ in the truck bed all the way home / With some Alabama-jamma, she’s my Dixieland delight / That’s how we do, how we do, fancy like.”
“Fancy Like” is on Hayes’ Country Stuff The Album.
“If I Didn’t Love You” by Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood
Jason Aldean includes his “If I Didn’t Love You” is on Aldean’s Macon album. The song is written by his band members, Tully Kennedy and Kurt Allison, along with John Morgan and Lydia Vaughan.
“If I Didn’t Love You” is about two people who are still in love with each other, even though the relationship didn’t work out. The song says, “If I didn’t love you, I’d be good by now / I’d be better than barely getting by somehow / Yeah, it would be easy not to miss you / Wonder about who’s with you / Turn the want you off whenever I want to / If I didn’t love you.”
Aldean knew he wanted Underwood on the song, which was written as a duet. But even he admits he was blown away by how she transformed the song.
“[She] just kind of took it to a new level, and turned it into this big, huge power ballad,” Aldean tells iHeartCountry.
“‘Til You Can’t” by Cody Johnson
There may not be a more powerful anthem than Cody Johnson’s “‘Til You Can’t.” On his Human: The Double Album, Ben Stennis and Matt Rogers are the two writers on the song.
“‘Til You Can’t” says, “If you got a chance, take it, take it while you got a chance / If you got a dream, chase it, ’cause a dream won’t chase you back / If you’re gonna love somebody / Hold ’em as long and as strong and as close as you can / ‘Til you can’t.”
“‘Til You Can’t” became Cody Johnson’s first No. 1 single at country radio.
“Buy Dirt” by Jordan Davis and Luke Bryan
Jordan Davis includes his “Buy Dirt” collaboration with Luke Bryan on his sophomore Bluebird Days record. The song is written by Davis, his brother, Jacob Davis, plus Josh Jenkins and Matt Jenkins.
“Buy Dirt” is about remembering what is, and is not, important in life. Written as advice given by an 80-year-old, the sweet song says, “Buy dirt / Find the one you can’t live without / Get a ring, let your knee hit the ground / Do what you love but call it work / And throw a little money in the plate at / church … ‘Cause the truth about it is / It all goes by real quick / You can’t buy happiness / But you can buy dirt.”
“Buy Dirt” won the CMA Award for Song of the Year.
Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for MRC
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