Ask anyone what the best decade in country music is, and most people will likely say the 90s. In the years since then, countless country artists have tried to emulate the sounds and success of that era.
Videos by American Songwriter
The 90s saw some of the greatest songs in country music ever released, including these four, which all came out in 1998.
“If You See Him/If You See Here” by Reba McEntire and Brooks & Dunn
Reba McEntire teams up with Brooks & Dunn for “If You See Him/If You See Her”. Written by Terry McBride, Jennifer Kimball, and Tommy Lee James, McEntire includes the song on her If You See Him album, while Brooks & Dunn have it on their If You See Her record.
One of the most cleverly written songs of all time, “If You See Him/If You See Her,” tells the story of a man and woman, both pouring their hearts out about their feelings for the other one to a mutual friend.
McEntire begins the song by saying, “If you see him / Tell him I wish him well / How am I doin’? / Well, sometimes it’s hard to tell / I still miss him more than ever / But please don’t say a word / If you see him / Oh, if you see him.”
James reveals the song was written specifically for McEntire to sing with Brooks & Dunn.
“We pretty much completely wrote it for Brooks and Dunn and Reba, and they recorded it,” he tells Songfacts. “That hardly ever happens where you’re just that calculated, and it just works. But we just tailor-made it.
“No Place That Far” by Sara Evans
Sara Evans wrote “No Place That Far” with Tony Martin and Tom Shapiro. The song is the title track of Evan’s sophomore album, and became her first No. 1 single, likely helped by Vince Gill singing background vocals. He also appears in the video for “No Place That Far”.
The sweet love song says, “If I had to run, if I had to crawl / If I had to swim a hundred rivers just to climb a thousand walls / Always know that I would find a way to get to where you are / There’s no place that far.“
“Wide Open Spaces” by The Chicks
The Chicks (formerly the Dixie Chicks) released “Wide Open Spaces” as the third single and title track of their freshman album. Written by Susan Gibson, the song celebrates the freedom that comes from leaving home for the first time.
“Wide Open Spaces” says, “Many precede and many will follow / A young girl’s dreams no longer hollow / It takes the shape of a place out west / But what it holds for her, she hasn’t yet guessed / She needs, wide open spaces / Room to make her big mistakes / She needs new faces / She knows the high stakes.”
“It’s Midnight Cinderella” by Garth Brooks
Garth Brooks wrote “It’s Midnight Cinderella” with Kent Blazy and Kim Williams for his Fresh Horses album. “It’s Midnight Cinderella” is about a man who swoops in to comfort a woman after she is left by her “Prince Charming,” as he is referred to in the song.
“It’s Midnight Cinderella” says, “It’s midnight Cinderella, time that you should know / There’s gonna be some changes in the way this story goes / It’s midnight Cinderella, but don’t you worry none / ‘Cause I’m Peter Peter the Pumpkin Eater and the party’s just begun.”
Photo by Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
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