The year 1997 was an incredible one in country music. Whether it was a new artist, a veteran act, or a couple in love, the year saw the release of some of the best songs in country music. These four country songs all came out in 1997, and remain among the best songs ever written in country music.
Videos by American Songwriter
“It’s Your Love” by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill
“It’s Your Love” is Tim McGraw and Faith Hill’s first duet together. Written by Stephony Smith, the song is on McGraw’s Everywhere album.
When “It’s Your Love” was released in May of 1997, McGraw and Hill had been married less than a year. Hill is visibly pregnant with the couple’s first child in the video.
“It’s Your Love” says, “It’s your love / It just does somethin’ to me / It sends a shock right through me / I can’t get enough / And if you wonder / About the spell I’m under / Oh, it’s your love.”
“We were very early in our relationship,” McGraw tells Yahoo! Entertainment. “It was just something that really just brought us together in a way that I don’t know what else could have. And then I remember shooting the video, and we shot it here in L.A., and Faith was pregnant with Gracie. That was just such a special time and a special moment, the beginning of a long relationship. I always look back on that as something that not only changed my musical world, but changed my life.”
“Carrying Your Love With Me” by George Strait
“Carrying Your Love With Me” is the title track of George Strait’s 17th studio album. Written by Steve Bogard and Jeff Stevens, the song became a multi-platinum hit for Strait.
“Carrying Your Love With Me” says, “‘Cause I’m carryin’ your love with me / West Virginia down to Tennessee / I’ll be movin’ with the good Lord’s speed. Carrying your love with me / It’s my strength for holding on / Every minute that I have to be gone / I’ll have everything I’ll ever need / I’m carryin’ your love with me.”
McGraw and Hill’s “It’s Your Love” spent six weeks at the top of the charts. Surprisingly, their duet got bumped by Strait’s “Carrying Your Love With Me”, which was a four-week No. 1 single for Strait.
“A Broken Wing” by Martina McBride
“A Broken Wing” is on McBride’s fourth studio album, Evolution. Written by James House, Sam Hogin, and Phil Barnhart, “A Broken Wing” became McBride’s second No. 1 single.
The song is a powerful anthem about leaving an unsafe, emotionally abusive relationship. “A Broken Wing” says, “She’d tell him ’bout her dreams / He’d just shoot ’em down / Lord, he loved to make her cry ”You’re crazy for believin’ / You’ll never leave the ground’ / He said, ‘Only angels know how to fly’ / And with a broken wing / She still sings / She keeps an eye on the sky / With a broken wing / She carries her dreams / Man, you ought to see her fly.“
“How Your Love Makes Me Feel” by Diamond Rio
“How Your Love Makes Me Feel” is a feel-good track by Diamond Rio, which became a chart-topping single for the group. Written by Trey Bruce and Max T. Barnes, “How Your Love Makes Me Feel” is on Diamond Rio’s Greatest Hits record.
The uptempo tune says, “It’s like just before dark / Jump in the car / Buy an ice cream / And see how far we can drive before it melts kind of feelin’ / There’s a cow in the road / And you swerve to the left / Fate skips a beat, and it scares you to death / And you laugh until you cry / That’s how your love makes me feel inside.”
Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images
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