18 years ago was an incredible year for country music. Both legends and newcomers were releasing hits that are still classics years later. These four country songs all came out in 2007, but are worth keeping on repeat today.
Videos by American Songwriter
“Don’t Blink” by Kenny Chesney
Amid feel-good songs like “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem” and “Beer In Mexico”, Kenny Chesney proves he has a soft side. Casey Beathard and Chris Wallin wrote “Don’t Blink”, which Chesney includes on his Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates record.
“Don’t Blink” is about an old man giving advice to someone much younger. The sweet song says, “Don’t blink / You just might miss your babies growing like mine did / Turning into moms and dads next thing you know your better half / Of fifty years is there in bed / And you’re praying God takes you instead / Trust me friend / A hundred years goes faster than you think / So don’t blink.”
“Don’t Blink” became a multi-platinum, multi-week No. 1 single for Chesney.
“Our Song” by Taylor Swift
Long before Taylor Swift was a pop superstar, she was a rising country singer-songwriter. The precocious teenager includes “Our Song” on her debut album, writing the song by herself.
“Our Song”, about two young people in love, says, “Our song is a slammin’ screen door / Sneakin’ out late, tappin’ on your window / When we’re on the phone and you talk real slow / ‘Cause it’s late and your mama don’t know / Our song is the way you laugh / The first date, ‘Man, I didn’t kiss her and I should have’ / And when I got home, ‘fore I said ‘Amen’ / Askin’ God if he could play it again.”
“I wrote this song in my freshman year of high school, for my ninth-grade talent show,” Swift tells The Boot. “So I was sitting there thinking, ‘I’ve gotta write a song that’s gonna relate to everyone in the talent show, and it’s gotta be upbeat.’”
“Our Song” became a six-week No. 1 hit for Swift.
“Letter To Me” by Brad Paisley
Swift’s “Our Song” was knocked out of the top spot on the charts by Brad Paisley, with “Letter To Me”. Included on Paisley’s 5th Gear album, Paisley wrote “Letter To Me” by himself.
“Letter To Me” is about what Paisley would tell his younger self, as a 17-year-old. The song says, “And, oh, you got so much goin’ for you, goin’ right / But I know at seventeen it’s hard to see past Friday night / Tonight’s the bonfire rally, but you’re stayin’ home instead / Because if you fail Algebra, Mom and Dad’ll kill you dead / But trust me, you’ll squeak by and get a C / And you’re still around to write this letter to me.”
“That song was written 100 percent for myself; it was never intended to be a single,” Paisley says (via Songfacts). “We cut it for all the right reasons, which basically were that we knew it needed to exist.”
“Take Me There” by Rascal Flatts
Rascal Flatts’ “Take Me There” is on their Still Feels Good project. Perhaps surprisingly, the song isn’t written by any of the members of the trio. Instead, Chesney wrote the song, along with Wendell Mobley and Neil Thrasher.
“Take Me There” says, “I want to know everything about you / And I want to go down every road you’ve been / Where your hopes and dreams and wishes live / Where you keep the rest of your life hid / I want to know the girl behind that pretty stare / Take me there.”
Photo by John Shearer/WireImage
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