Any true country song is ultimately about some combination of beer, trucks, women (preferably Southern), dogs, dirt roads and the Land of the Free. If you don’t get why that’s awesome, you have no shot at appreciating the genre.
However, there’s a right and a wrong way to write a good clichéd country song — Brad Paisley gets it wrong 99 percent of the time. His songs about checking for ticks and being cool online are THE WORST. But these songs are right on that line between great and awful.
11. “Beer Run” — Todd Snider
Country music is about enjoying the simple things in life, so an entire song dedicated to beer runs is absolutely appropriate.
10. “King of the Road” — Roger Miller
Classic celebration of trailers and “the road.”
9. “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy” — Kenny Chesney
People love to hate this song, but the premise is solid. She really does think his tractor’s sexy.
8. “Red Solo Cup” — Toby Keith
Again, the simple things. And beer.
7. “Jeans On” — Keith Urban
This song is here to point out that the obsession with blue jeans goes even deeper than hot women.
6. “Redneck Yacht Club” — Craig Morgan
If you can’t buy the real thing, make do with what you got. Who needs money when you have beer and good friends?
5. “Sold” — John Michael Montgomery
Sing this ten times fast.
4. “If the South Would Have Won” — Hank Williams Jr.
A thoughtful, if frightening, reflection on what might have been.
3. “Dirt Road Anthem” — Jason Aldean
The rapping segments in this song almost disqualify it from the country genre, but it’s still a dirt road anthem.
2. “A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action” — Toby Keith
Rap and country music aren’t SO different when you think about it.
1. “Baby” — Justin Bieber
David Allen Coe claims to have written the perfect country song, but actually this is the best country song.