Themes of songs that you like

[someguy]

Are there any particular themes that might make you more inclined to like a song?

I'm usually a sucker for songs about going back home/nostalgia. So if a song has that particular theme, it already has a head start for me.

Some examples I can think of are Wynonna's "Flies On The Butter" and "Come Some Rainy Day", Miranda Lambert's "The House That Built Me", Tim McGraw & Faith Hill's "Meanwhile Back At Mama's", Trisha Yearwood's "The Dreaming Fields", Mary Chapin Carpenter's "Only A Dream" and "Stones In The Road". I'm sure there are a lot more, but those are the ones that are jumping out at me right now.

[sabre14]

I've usually been a sucker for "life going by/not taking things for granted/appreciating family" type songs. As long as they aren't total fluff or cliche..

Be Grateful - The Farm
Don't Blink - Kenny Chesney
Days Of Our Lives - James Otto
So Small - Carrie Underwood
Slip On By - Austin Webb


Also a sucker for "loving a girl but she doesn't know it or is with a douche" songs

You're The Love I Wanna Be In - Jason Aldean
When You Need My Love - Darryl Worley
Goodbyes Made You Mine - JT Hodges
That Man - Jon Pardi

Past experience ;)

[churchchoir]

I really love the theme of "Your Side of the Bed," "Miss You," and "Us Again," which are about relationships that have lost the spark they used to have. YSOTB executes this theme the best with the detailed lyrics, but I love the image painted by the bridge of "Us Again" and the melody of "Miss You" is really neat.

[Markus Meyer]

Trucks, tailgates, beer, partying



Kidding aside, there are 3 topics I tend to enjoy. One is small town life/country lifestyle songs that tackle simpler lifestyle instead of the hell raising, bible thumping stereotypical ones.

Examples:

Jason Aldean - "Amarillo Sky", "Fly Over States", "This Nothin' Town"
Easton Corbin - "A Little More Country Than That"

The second one is songs about life on the road as a musician. 

Examples:

Dierks Bentley - "Damn These Dreams"
Jason Aldean - "Keep The Girl"
Parmalee - "Carolina"


and the last one is inspirational, motivational songs.

Examples:

Rodney Atkins - "If You're Going Through Hell", "Doin' It Right"
Gary Allan - "Every Storm (Runs out of Rain)"
Sugarland - "Something More"

[onebuffalo]

Apr 20, 2014 23:52:49 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

I've usually been a sucker for "life going by/not taking things for granite/appreciating family" type songs. As long as they aren't total fluff or cliche..

Be Grateful - The Farm
Don't Blink - Kenny Chesney
Days Of Our Lives - James Otto
So Small - Carrie Underwood
Slip On By - Austin Webb


Also a sucker for "loving a girl but she doesn't know it or is with a douche" songs

You're The Love I Wanna Be In - Jason Aldean
When You Need My Love - Darryl Worley
Goodbyes Made You Mine - JT Hodges
That Man - Jon Pardi

Past experience ;)

Is it for granite or for granted? It could be formica!

[sabre14]

Apr 21, 2014 7:36:36 GMT -5 onebuffalo said:

Apr 20, 2014 23:52:49 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

I've usually been a sucker for "life going by/not taking things for granite/appreciating family" type songs. As long as they aren't total fluff or cliche..

Be Grateful - The Farm
Don't Blink - Kenny Chesney
Days Of Our Lives - James Otto
So Small - Carrie Underwood
Slip On By - Austin Webb


Also a sucker for "loving a girl but she doesn't know it or is with a douche" songs

You're The Love I Wanna Be In - Jason Aldean
When You Need My Love - Darryl Worley
Goodbyes Made You Mine - JT Hodges
That Man - Jon Pardi

Past experience ;)

Is it for granite or for granted? It could be formica!

If you look, I posted that at 1:00 A.M

I got up at 6:30 A.M

You can see how I wasn't 100% focused on spelling and/or punctuation.

[onebuffalo]

Apr 21, 2014 12:34:07 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

Apr 21, 2014 7:36:36 GMT -5 onebuffalo said:

Is it for granite or for granted? It could be formica!

If you look, I posted that at 1:00 A.M

I got up at 6:30 A.M

You can see how I wasn't 100% focused on spelling and/or punctuation.

I was sleeping at 1:00 a.m. after working on Easter. Hope yours was great!

[sabre14]

Apr 21, 2014 12:35:35 GMT -5 onebuffalo said:

Apr 21, 2014 12:34:07 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

If you look, I posted that at 1:00 A.M

I got up at 6:30 A.M

You can see how I wasn't 100% focused on spelling and/or punctuation.

I was sleeping at 1:00 a.m. after working on Easter. Hope yours was great!

It was beautiful outside. I believe it rained on Easter last year. Pretty good Easter for myself. Hope yours was great as well.

[Kentucky25]

I'd agree with the life on the road themes
"Keep the Girl" - Jason Aldean
"Prayer for the Road" - EYB

Then basically any Old man giving advice song I love.
"Don't Ask Me Bout a Woman" - Easton Corbin
"Don't Blink" - Kenny Chesney
"Sing Em Good My Friend" Kenny Chensey (it was a pure tragedy that Feel Like a Rockstar was released and this wasn't.
"Waitin' on a Woman"

[Sean]

Murder........

Reba McEntire - "The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia"
Reba McEntire - "Maggie Creek Road"
Garth Brooks - "The Thunder Rolls"
Garth Brooks - "Papa Loved Mama"
The Dixie Chicks - "Goodbye Earl"
Numerous Johnny Cash songs
Etc. etc. etc.

I'm half joking/half serious.

[Deleted]

So much ground I could cover with this topic

But here are a few of mine:

Faith/Heaven: Temporary Home, Jesus, Take The Wheel, If Heaven Weren't So Far Away, Like Jesus Does, Saints And Angels

Small-town life (from one myself, of course)
Flyover States, Thank God For Hometowns, Famous In A Small Town, The House That Built Me

Inspirational themes: A Little Bit Stronger, Born To Fly, Stand, So Small

Revenge/murder: Gunpowder And Lead, Fancy, Two Black Cadillacs, White Liar, Before He Cheats

[sabre14]

Speaking of revenge; I think bitterness works well as a song theme.

Do You Want Fries With That - Tim McGraw
Big Deal - LeAnn Rimes
I'll Think Of A Reason Later - Lee Ann Womack
Pray For You - Jaron And The Long Road To Love
I Hate Chicago - Mark Wills

[zjames]

I'm definitely a sucker for songs about being young. That includes young love, teenage summers, teenage freedom, and reminiscing on the glory days.

"Mississippi In July" - Charlie Worsham
"Young To See" - Charlie Worsham
"Springsteen" - Eric Church
"Young Love" - Kip Moore
"Hearts Drawn In The Sand" - Easton Corbin
"Don't Happen Twice" - Kenny Chesney
"Young" - Kenny Chesney
"I Go Back" - Kenny Chesney
"Wal-Mart Parking Lot" - Chris Cagle
"Something Like That" - Tim McGraw
"We Rode In Trucks" - Luke Bryan

[Andy]

First the sad themes...

Realizing a relationship is over/you're not right for each other:
Lyle Lovett - If I Was the Man You Wanted
Vern Gosdin - That Just About Does It
George Jones - A Good Year for the Roses

Having a bad day/your life is falling apart:
George Jones - Things Have Gone to Pieces, These Days I Barely Get By
Willie Nelson - The Last Thing I Needed the First Thing This Mornin', So Much to Do

Growing old/facing your mortality:
Ray Price - Time
John Prine - Hello in There
Chris Knight - Old Man

Ex-love is getting married:
Gary Allan - Songs About Rain, Today
John Anderson - Down in Tennessee
Eric Church - I'm Gettin' Stoned

Songs that express environmental concerns:
John Anderson - Seminole Wind, An Occasional Eagle, Bigger Hands
Merle Haggard - Winds of Change
Chris Knight - Dirt

Prisoners being executed:
Merle Haggard - Sing Me Back Home
Eric Church - Lightning
Lefty Frizzell - Long Black Veil
Steve Earle - Over Yonder

Now for some happier topics...

Proposing love to someone:
Charley Pride - All I Have to Offer You is Me
George Jones - Walk Through This World to Me
Keith Whitley - Would These Arms Be In Your Way

Being madly in love:
Ray Price - I'll Fight the World
Hank Williams - Howlin' at the Moon
Kenny Chesney - She's Got it All

Songs about trucking:
Dave Dudley - Six Days on the Road
Del Reeves - Girl on the Billboard
Ronnie Milsap - Prisoner of the Highway
Dan Seals - Big Wheels in the Moonlight

Tributes to mom:
George Jones - She Loved a Lot in Her Time
Shenandoah - Mama Knows
Mark Chesnutt - Mama's House

Tributes to dad:
Conway Twitty - That's My Job
Confederate Railroad - Daddy Never Was the Cadillac Kind
Randy Travis - The Box
Paul Overstreet - Seein' My Father in Me

Good topic. I'm sure I'll be adding some more themes/songs when I think of them.

[Kentucky25]

Also while I'm not all that anti bro-country (they are targeting my demographic and I can't he;p but like a lot of the songs, I'm weird that I listen to FGL and Keith Whitley back-to-back), but I love the Anti Bro-Country theme songs a lot of the Texas artists are releasing.

Aaron Watson - Hey Y'all (My Contribution to Ruining Country Music Country Song! Ha!)
Wade Bowen - Songs About Trucks
It could also be said that Granger Smith's alter ego Earl Dibbles Jr. is a spoof on Bro-Country as whole too. Gotta say his music videos are pretty comical. Wish it didn't take a goofy persona like that to get Granger mainstream attention.

[zaclord 🌈]

One time I was playing my playlist of my favorite country songs and I realized that I played 7 songs in a row about death... So I like songs about death I guess. And the sad kind, not the revenge/murder kind (although some of those are good too).

The Band Perry, "If I Die Young"
Blaine Larsen, "How Do You Get That Lonely"
Brad Paisley, "Whiskey Lullaby (feat. Alison Krauss)"
Brooks & Dunn, "Believe"
Carrie Underwood, "Temporary Home"
Carrie Underwood, "Just a Dream"
Crystal Shawanda, "You Can Let Go"
Eric Church, "Lightning"
Jimmy Wayne, "I Love You This Much"
Joe Nichols, "I'll Wait For You"
Joey + Rory, "To Say Goodbye"
LeAnn Rimes, "Probably Wouldn't Be This Way"
Lee Brice, "I Drive Your Truck"
Little Big Town, "Kiss Goodbye"
Maggie Rose, "Better"
Miranda Lambert, "Over You"
Rascal Flatts, "What Hurts The Most"
Rascal Flatts, "Why"
Scotty McCreery, "The Dash"

[sbp17]

Apr 21, 2014 15:23:01 GMT -5 @carrieflattsfan said:

Revenge/murder: Gunpowder And Lead, Fancy, Two Black Cadillacs, White Liar, Before He Cheats

I have listened to Fancy thousands of times and somehow missed the revenge/murder theme. :)

[gonecountry]

cheating, revenge and mudding! (just kidding, to a degree. There are some great songs about revenge out there)

Actually I am a huge sucker for songs about service, family and sacrifice (I just got back from a war - Darryl Worley, Til the last shot's fired - Trace Adkins, All I ask for anymore - Trace, Everything is Fine - Josh Turner, Made in America - Toby Keith). I also gravitate to songs about not taking life for granted (A little more country than that - Easton Corbin, Small town USA - Justin Moore, When I get where I'm going - Brad Paisley/Dolly Parton, What I almost was - Eric Church, A man on a tractor - Rodney Atkins), but also enjoy songs about enjoying life (Loving you is fun - Easton Corbin, smoke a little smoke - Eric Church, Trailerhood - Toby Keith). I like songs that recognize heritage (Grandaddy's gun - Aaron Lewis) and I'm not gonna lie, I really do enjoy songs about kicking back and having a blast (Tennessee river run - Daryl Worley, Sold - John Michael Montgomery,  and most every Toby Keith song (up until the last album)

I also like songs that are tongue in cheek and either really play up the country lifestyle - good or bad (Lord Have Mercy on a Country Boy - Josh Turner, Down on the Farm - Tim McGraw, Hillbilly Deluxe - Brooks and Dunn, Hicktown - Jason Aldean) or make fun of the current state of country music (Songs about trucks - Wade Bowen, I'll sing about mine - Josh Abbott Band, Country Boy Song (Earl Dibbles Jr, as referenced above by daltonwb25). If you've never seen the video, I highly recommend.



Speaking of Granger Smith, his weekly college football picks are also hilarious



I like most everything - except Rascal Flatts and any overwrought screeching songs for the most part.

[bjer127]

Being an extreme, lifelong fan of country music (20+ years), I have many themes I gravitate towards. I even have some of them categorized into playlists on my Ipod (get bored at work alot LOL)

Trucking Songs : Being raised in a family with a few truckers (grandfather, 2 uncles, great uncle) who were owner operated, I grew up with alot of these old songs. Grandparents had trucker cassette tapes around there house they would pick up from truck stops. My father-in-law is also an ex-trucker.
- Any trucking song by Dave Dudley. I have alot of his old LP's ; "Bullshippers", "Six Days on the Road", "Truck Driving Son of a Gun"
- Any Red Sovine trucking song. Man was a true storyteller, "Phantom 309", "Teddy Bear", "Giddyup Go" etc.
- Del Reeves "Girl on the Billboard", "Looking At The World Through A Windshield"
- Alabama "Roll On (Eighteen Wheeler)"
- Dan Seals "Big Wheels in the Moonlight"
-Kathy Mattea "Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses"

Drinkin' Songs: Though they can be overplayed nowadays, I still love a classic drinking song when having friends over playing cards
- Blake Shelton "Georgia in a Jug" and the Johnny Paycheck original
- Cal Smith "Lord Know's I'm Drinking
- Dierks Bentley "Domestic, Light and Cold"
- TG Sheppard "Devil in the Bottle"
- Hank Jr "Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound"

Cowboy/Rodeo Songs: Growing up around horses, this was a given. I really discovered these through my discovery of Chris LeDoux when I was about 14 or 15. Me and my friends really loved singing along to these
- George Strait "Amarillo by Morning"
- Bobby Bare "Chester"
- Chris LeDoux "Cowboy Songs", "This Cowboy's Hat", "Night Rider's Lament", "Cowboy Up", "Riding For A Fall" etc. A true Western Poet
-Charlie Daniels "Damn Good Cowboy"
- Dan Seals "Everything That Glitters Is Not Gold"
- Ed Bruce "Old Wore Out Cowboy"

Songs About Parenhood/Children: These really hit home once I became a father in 2012.
- George Strait "Love Without End, Amen"
- George Strait "I Saw God Today"
- Rodney Atkins "He's Mine"
- Craig Campbell "Family Man"
- ZBB "Highway 20 Ride" (I remember crying when I first heard this on the radio, reminded me of my dad when my parents got divorced)
- Trent Willmon "Home Sweet Holiday Inn"
- tracy Lawrence "Til I Was A Daddy Too"

Novelty/Humorous Songs: Sometimes these are just meant to get a laugh and thats it
- Toby Keith "Weed With Willie"
- Anything by Roger Miller or Ray Stevens
-Robert Earl Keen "Merry Christmas from the Family"
- Jerry Reed "The Bird"
- Jamey Johnson "Rules of the Bar" (Youtube it)
- Bobby Bare "Qualuudes Again"

I also love any Outlaw country, Red Dirt texas music (Pat Green, Jason Boland, Randy Rogers, Cory Morrow, Joe Ely, Guy Clark, Steve Earle, Radney Foster, Billy Joe Shaver etc.) Love story songs (Tom T. Hall!), and anything about farming/country life

[Kentucky25]

Apr 29, 2014 12:26:21 GMT -5 bjer127 said:

- Jamey Johnson "Rules of the Bar" (Youtube it)

I wanted him to record this song just to see the crazy amount of backlash it would've got, y'know the whole "This place ain't no place for...", can't imagine how that would've gone over. Still love that song.

[onebuffalo]

Apr 29, 2014 17:51:24 GMT -5 @brian said:

I wish there were more country songs about depression, finding the perfect girl, rejection, regret, mistakes, and being alone. That's really the only stuff I can actually relate to in music.

Which is why they don't get played anymore. Too bad, because that is what made country music, country music!

[14887fan]

Songs about a little girl with a dead mother and an abusive alcoholic for a father anxiously awaiting an incoming tornado to kill off her entire family because it's all just one big shitshow.

[onebuffalo]

Apr 29, 2014 18:16:29 GMT -5 14887fan said:

Songs about a little girl with a dead mother and an abusive alcoholic for a father anxiously awaiting an incoming tornado to kill off her entire family because it's all just one big shitshow.

Well, that covers everything. Good night!

[Deleted]

Growing up/Leaving Home:

There Goes My Life
Don't Forget To Remember Me
I'm Movin' On
Wide Open Spaces

Songs relating to/looking towards the future:
Welcome To The Future
Is There Life Out There
I Keep Looking
Best Days Of Your Life

Alzheimer's/reflecting on old memories:
The Good Stuff
Forever Changed
Silent House
Ellsworth
Remember When

[sabre14]

Apr 30, 2014 12:33:26 GMT -5 @carrieflattsfan said:

Alzheimer's/reflecting on old memories:
The Good Stuff
Forever Changed
Silent House
Ellsworth
Remember When

Don't forget "Raymond" by Brett Eldredge too. :)

[Ten Pound Hammer]

Like Someguy, I love nostalgic songs. I've been hearing a buttload of them lately. "Give Me Back My Hometown" is one of the best things on radio IMO.

I also love songs with funny hooks, like "It's Hard to Kiss the Lips at Night That Chew Your [BOING!] Out All Day Long".