Some country songs are much deeper than we might notice when we’re young. Some songs, in fact, won’t really start to hit home until the listener is a bit older, more experienced, and knows what it’s like to love and lose. Let’s look at a few country songs that definitely fit that bill and didn’t quite make sense to listeners until later in life.
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“He Stopped Loving Her Today” by George Jones (1980)
“They placed a wreath upon his door / And soon they’ll carry him away / He stopped loving her today.”
How about a little bit of existential heartbreak to start your morning? “He Stopped Loving Her Today” by George Jones was released in 1980. And it remains one of Jones’ most beloved country songs. It’s also been voted on numerous occasions as the saddest country song of all time. It’s hard not to agree with that. Jones’ hit is about a man who loved a woman his entire life, despite the fact that she left him years ago. The day he stopped loving her was quite literally the day he died. Tragic.
“The Dance” by Garth Brooks (1990)
“I could have missed the pain / But I’d of had to miss the dance.”
Anyone who listens to this song can recognize that it’s about romance. But it might take someone with experience to really grasp the universal truth behind this song. And that universal truth is that you can’t really have love without pain.
“The Dance” by Garth Brooks was quite a big hit in 1990. It peaked at No. 1 on the US and Canadian country charts. It’s one of many jams from Brooks’ self-titled albums, but the real weight of his lyrics won’t hit many listeners until they’re older and know the real cost of love.
“Time Marches On” by Tracy Lawrence (1996)
“The South moves north, the North moves south / A star is born, a star burns out / The only thing that stays the same is / Everything changes, everything changes.”
This entry on our list of country songs that many don’t grasp until later in life is a warning, one that few young people might actually hear and heed. Sadly, “Time Marches On” by Tracy Lawrence might not make sense to listeners until those listeners have lived through a few decades. This 1996 country tune is about the lives of a married couple and their kids, and the narrator observes the universal truth that “the only thing that stays the same is that everything changes.”
Photo by Jim Smeal/BEI/Shutterstock
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