Favorite Songs Of The Year - 2004

[sabre14]

Another month, another favorites of the year thread. This time it's 2004. I usually try to go with songs that peaked in 2004 but there might be some that lingered over into 2005 for a week or two. Feel free to list as many as you'd like and comments are always welcomed. :)

Favorites:

1. Days Of Our Lives - James Otto (barely qualifies. Fell off in early February)
2. Loco - David Lee Murphy (Muy Caliente Version)
3. Suds In The Bucket - Sara Evans
4. Wild West Show - Big & Rich
5. You're In My Head - Brian McComas (so many forget about this song. Peaked at #19 on R&R)
6. Paint Me A Birmingham - Tracy Lawrence
7. Songs About Rain - Gary Allan
8. There Goes My Life - Kenny Chesney
9. I Hate Everything - George Strait
10. No End In Sight - Katrina Elam
11. I Love You This Much - Jimmy Wayne
12. Perfect - Sara Evans
13. Long Black Train - Josh Turner
14. Me And Emily - Rachel Proctor
15. Dixie Rose Deluxe's Honky Tonk, Feed Store, Gun Shop, Used Car, Beer, Bait, BBQ, Barbershop, Laundromat - Trent Willmon
16. Paper Angels - Jimmy Wayne
17. Every Friday Afternoon - Craig Morgan
18. I Wanna Make You Cry - Jeff Bates
19. The Upside Of Being Down - Catherine Britt
20. Save A Horse (Ride A Cowboy) - Big & Rich
21. Letters From Home - John Michael Montgomery
22. Whiskey Girl - Toby Keith
23. I Ain't Scared - Carolina Rain (their debut single that actually made their Weather The Storm album in 2006)
24. Desperately - George Strait
25. I Go Back - Kenny Chesney
26. Look At Us - Craig Morgan
27. She Thinks She Needs Me - Andy Griggs
28. The Bride - Trick Pony
29. Break Down Here - Julie Roberts
30. That's Cool - Blue County
31. Don't Break My Heart Again - Pat Green
32. Live Like You Were Dying - Tim McGraw
33. Whiskey Lullaby - Brad Paisley w/Alison Krauss
34. I'd Be Lying - Chris Cagle
35. Back When - Tim McGraw
36. The Watch - Scotty Emerick
37. Tougher Than Nails - Joe Diffie
38. The Wrong Girl - Lee Ann Womack
39. Cool To Be A Fool - Joe Nichols
40. I Want To Live - Josh Gracin
41. Mayberry - Rascal Flatts
42. Passenger Seat - SHeDaisy
43. Let's Kill Saturday Night - Pinmonkey
44. Feels Like Today - Rascal Flatts
45. Simple Life - Carolyn Dawn Johnson
46. Beer Man - Trent Willmon
47. How Am I Doin' - Dierks Bentley
48. Put Your Best Dress On - Steve Holy
49. I'm In Love With You - Billy Dean
50. The Woman With You - Kenny Chesney

Least Favorites:

1. Hot Mama - Trace Adkins (WYRK still plays this awful song)
2. The Girl's Gone Wild - Travis Tritt (hard to believe this was a lead single)
3. Watch The Wind Blow By - Tim McGraw (puts me to sleep)
4. Mockingbird - Toby Keith w/Krystal Keith (actually wasn't as bad as I remember, but there was no good reason for it to be a single)
5. How Far - Martina McBride (typical Martina belting)

[tim]

The Best of:
1. "Whiskey Lullaby," Brad Paisley & Alison Krauss
2. "I Go Back" by Kenny Chesney
3. "I Hate Everything," George Strait
4. "Paint Me A Birmingham," Tracy Lawrence
5. "Break Down Here," Julie Roberts

The Good:
Gary Allan: "Nothing On But the Radio"
Jeff Bates: "I Wanna Make You Cry"
Brooks & Dunn: "That's What It's All About"
Jimmy Buffett: "Trip Around the Sun" (w/ Martina McBride)
Andy Griggs: "She Thinks She Needs Me"
Buddy Jewell: "Sweet Southern Comfort Zone"
Caryoln Dawn Johnson: "Simple Life"
Toby Keith: "Whiskey Girl" (I've always enjoyed this one)
Jo Dee Messina: "I Wish"
John Michael Montgomery: "Letters From Home"
David Lee Murphy: "Loco"
Joe Nichols: "If Nobody Believed In You"
Rachel Proctor: "Me and Emily"
Rascal Flatts: "Mayberry"
Blake Shelton: "When Somebody Knows You That Well"
George Strait: "Desperately"
Randy Travis: "Four Walls"
Keith Urban: "You'll Think of Me" and "Days Go By"
Clay Walker: "I Can't Sleep"
Jimmy Wayne: "I Love You This Much"
Lee Ann Womack: "The Wrong Girl"

Take it or leave it (but usually skip):
Big & Rich: "Save A Horse"
Terri Clark: "Girls Lie Too"
Sara Evans: "Suds In The Bucket" (I'm in the very minority here on that one I know)
Alan Jackson: "Too Much of a Good Thing" (this wasn't for me at all)
Lonestar: "Mr. Mom"
Martina McBride: "In My Daughter's Eyes"
Tim McGraw: "Live Like You Were Dying" and "Back When"
Gretchen Wilson: "Redneck Woman"

[Deleted]

Me And Emily
Mayberry
I Hate Everything
Break Down Here

Half this list has a ton of songs that were so overplayed that I can't even listen to them anymore LOL.

[sabre14]

Jun 10, 2014 9:32:53 GMT -5 @carrieflattsfan said:

Me And Emily
Mayberry
I Hate Everything
Break Down Here

Half this list has a ton of songs that were so overplayed that I can't even listen to them anymore LOL.

And "Mayberry" wasn't overplayed? The stations I listened to, beat the heck out of that song that year. It's still one of the few times that the Flatts have had a really good song at radio, and it made my top 50, but that one was just as overplayed as many others in 2004 IMO.

[Deleted]

Jun 10, 2014 13:21:28 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

Jun 10, 2014 9:32:53 GMT -5 @carrieflattsfan said:

Me And Emily
Mayberry
I Hate Everything
Break Down Here

Half this list has a ton of songs that were so overplayed that I can't even listen to them anymore LOL.

And "Mayberry" wasn't overplayed? The stations I listened to, beat the heck out of that song that year. It's still one of the few times that the Flatts have had a really good song at radio, and it made my top 50, but that one was just as overplayed as many others in 2004 IMO.

"Mayberry" was popular in my area, but I wouldn't classify it as overplayed.

Based on a few other threads here, it seems like it's popular for radio stations to play the heck out of some songs while others might not do so nearly as much.

[sabre14]

Jun 10, 2014 13:50:02 GMT -5 @carrieflattsfan said:

Jun 10, 2014 13:21:28 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

And "Mayberry" wasn't overplayed? The stations I listened to, beat the heck out of that song that year. It's still one of the few times that the Flatts have had a really good song at radio, and it made my top 50, but that one was just as overplayed as many others in 2004 IMO.

"Mayberry" was popular in my area, but I wouldn't classify it as overplayed.

Based on a few other threads here, it seems like it's popular for radio stations to play the heck out of some songs while others might not do so nearly as much.

"Mayberry" was a #1 single and while not a heavy recurrent, was still getting very good recurrent airplay. It's also played on Prime Country on Sirius/XM (perhaps carriekins can back me up?).

It does depend on where you are and what station you listen to but "Mayberry" was in the top 15 for most played songs on country radio in 2004. "Live Like You Were Dying" was the only song that I placed farther down my list because I heard it so many times. Unless it's a "That's What I Love About Sunday" level of overplay, I think 10 years is plenty of time to go by for songs that were played often to be likable again.

[carriekins]

Yep, it's on Prime. And it's still the RF recurrent I hear the most.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

My mom, sister, and I absolutely LOVED "Me and Emily" from the first time we heard it. Great song.

I remember that this was around the time I started listening to Bob Kingsley. By year's end, I was listening to it from #40 to #1 every week, and starting to hear some of the interesting things that were just hitting the bottom, like "Getaway Car" by the Jenkins, "You Don't Lie Here Anymore" by Shelly Fairchild, etc.

Blue County's "That Cool" I only barely remember, but man is that an amazing song. Beautifully written.

I got Trent Willmon's debut album for Christmas 2004. I probably wore that disc out based entirely on "Dixie Rose Deluxe's etc." I also remember being really sick that Christmas for some reason.

[sabre14]

Jun 12, 2014 9:39:04 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

My mom, sister, and I absolutely LOVED "Me and Emily" from the first time we heard it. Great song.

I remember that this was around the time I started listening to Bob Kingsley. By year's end, I was listening to it from #40 to #1 every week, and starting to hear some of the interesting things that were just hitting the bottom, like "Getaway Car" by the Jenkins, "You Don't Lie Here Anymore" by Shelly Fairchild, etc.

Blue County's "That Cool" I only barely remember, but man is that an amazing song. Beautifully written.

I got Trent Willmon's debut album for Christmas 2004. I probably wore that disc out based entirely on "Dixie Rose Deluxe's etc." I also remember being really sick that Christmas for some reason.

WYRK completely ignored "That's Cool". Still irritates me to this day, as it was just the start of a long list of top 30 singles that they ignored, *cough*, "Home Sweet Home" *cough*.

Oh yeah, they didn't play "Dixie Rose Deluxe's" by Trent or "Days Like This" by Rachel Proctor. Luckily they played "Me And Emily". I do remember hearing "Street Of Heaven" all the time when it was out. Every day during their hour request show called "Noon Tunes", someone always called to request it.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

^ I don't think WKJC added "That's Cool" either. Oddly, in late 2004, WKJC was going through a brief spell where they were abolutely in love with lower-charting songs. They added Brad Cotter's "I Meant To" the week it was released, and played "I Love NASCAR", "It's Hard to Kiss the Lips at Night That Chew Your Ass On All Day Long", and Emerson Drive's "November" daily for a few weeks. "November" even made their "Top 5 at 5" countdown for one week, which is almost always pretty close to whatever's in the actual Top 5. They also played "Beer Man" a few times, but I don't remember them playing "Dixie Rose Deluxe's". However, they must've added it, because a few years later I heard the station's PD play it over the loudspeakers at a canoe marathon.

All this… and yet, when "Hillbillies" was just within the Top 40 and my sister was begging them to play it, their PD said he didn't want to add it because it wasn't a Top 30 hit yet.

[sabre14]

Jun 12, 2014 14:36:53 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

^ I don't think WKJC added "That's Cool" either. Oddly, in late 2004, WKJC was going through a brief spell where they were abolutely in love with lower-charting songs. They added Brad Cotter's "I Meant To" the week it was released, and played "I Love NASCAR", "It's Hard to Kiss the Lips at Night That Chew Your Ass On All Day Long", and Emerson Drive's "November" daily for a few weeks. "November" even made their "Top 5 at 5" countdown for one week, which is almost always pretty close to whatever's in the actual Top 5. They also played "Beer Man" a few times, but I don't remember them playing "Dixie Rose Deluxe's". However, they must've added it, because a few years later I heard the station's PD play it over the loudspeakers at a canoe marathon.

All this… and yet, when "Hillbillies" was just within the Top 40 and my sister was begging them to play it, their PD said he didn't want to add it because it wasn't a Top 30 hit yet.

Well at least they were honest, sort of.

When I called about wanting "Home Sweet Home" added, I got the company line from their PD about how it's always under consideration, and they haven't received positive feedback from the people (Townsquare Media) who run the station.

The only song WYRK had ever added from the get go was "Delicious Surprise (I Believe It)". In fact they were the first station to officially add it because of Jo Dee being the headlining act at their station run "Taste Of Country" concert that they held every summer.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

^ WKJC isn't even a conglomerate. They're 100% locally owned. By comparison, WATZ apparently shares owners with another station on the other side of the state, but WATZ plays all sorts of weird obscure stuff all the time. Sometimes I wish they'd actually play a little MORE of what's in the Top 40.

[someguy]

2004 was a great year for country music.

Reba McEntire - "Somebody"
Reba McEntre - "He Gets That From Me"
Shania Twain - "It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing"
Shania Twain & Billy Currington - "Party For Two"
Tim McGraw - "Live Like You Were Dying"
Kenny Chesney - "I Go Back"
Kenny Chesney & Uncle Kracker - "When The Sun Goes Down"
Kenny Chesney - "There Goes My Life"
Wynonna - "Flies On The Butter"
Martina McBride - "How Far"
Martina McBride - "In My Daughter's Eyes"
Sara Evans - "Suds In The Bucket"
Sara Evans - "Perfect"
Alan Jackson - "Remember When"
Phil Vassar - "In A Real Love"
Chely Wright - "Back Of The Bottom Drawer"
Lee Ann Womack - "The Wrong Girl"
Brad Paisley & Alison Krauss - "Whiskey Lullaby"
David Lee Murphy - "Loco"
Trent Willmon - "Dixie Rose Deluxe's..."
Trent Willmon - "Beer Man"
Vince Gill - "Young Man's Town"
SHeDAISY - "Passenger Seat"
Carolyn Dawn Johnson - "Simple Life"
Terri Clark - "Girls Lie Too"
Gretchen Wilson - "Redneck Woman" (totally burned out on this now, but for awhile I did like it)
Patty Loveless - "On Your Way Home"
LeAnn Rimes - "Nothin' Bout Love Makes Sense"

[Ten Pound Hammer]

Okay, I've posted in this thread a few times, now how's about my actual list? And if you think me going to 60 is extreme, wait until you see my 2005 list.

TOP
1. Brad Paisley/Alison Krauss - Whiskey Lullaby
2. Rachel Proctor - Me and Emily
3. Keith Urban - You'll Think of Me
4. Jimmy Buffett/Martina McBride - Trip Around the Sun
5. Kenny Chesney - I Go Back/There Goes My Life
6. Blue County - That's Cool
7. Blake Shelton - When Somebody Knows You That Well (seriously, why did this one bomb so hard?)
8. Josh Turner - Long Black Train
9. Big & Rich - Wild West Show/Holy Water
10. Tracy Lawrence - Paint Me a Birmingham
11. Pinmonkey - Let's Kill Saturday Night
12. Wynonna - Flies on the Butter (You Can't Go Home Again)
13. Sonya Isaacs - No Regrets Yet
14. Julie Roberts - Break Down Here
15. John Michael Montgomery - Letters from Home
16. Alan Jackson - Remember When/Monday Morning Church (Patty Loveless' harmonies stick out WAY too much, but that's literally the only problem this song has)
17. Chely Wright - Back of the Bottom Drawer
18. Tracy Byrd - Revenge of a Middle-Aged Woman
19. Shelly Fairchild - You Don't Lie Here Anymore (I think that if she had come out before Gretchen, then she would've been the superstar)
20. Diamond Rio - Can't You Tell
21. Emerson Drive - November
22. Los Lonely Boys - Heaven
23. Trent Willmon - Dixie Rose Deluxe's Honky-Tonk, Feed Store, Gun Shop, Used Car, Beer, Bait, BBQ, Barbershop, Laundromat (seriously, what is it with me and super-long titles?)
24. David Lee Murphy - Loco
25. Steve Holy - Put Your Best Dress On
26. Clay Walker - I Can't Sleep
27. Catherine Britt - The Upside of Being Down
28. Pat Green - A Guy Like Me/Don't Break My Heart Again
29. Loretta Lynn/Jack White - Portland, Oregon (the night guy on WATZ who retired in 2005 loved his deep cuts, and this was one of them that got the most play)
30. Joe Nichols - Cool to Be a Fool
31. Josh Gracin - I Want to Live
32. Sara Evans - Suds in the Bucket
33. Reba - Somebody
34. Patty Loveless - On Your Way Home
35. Kellie Coffey - Texas Plates
36. Dusty Drake - I Am the Working Man
37. Amy Dalley - Men Don't Change
38. Dierks Bentley - How Am I Doin'
39. Trace Adkins - Hot Mama
40. Gary Allan - Songs About Rain/Nothing On but the Radio
41. Brian McComas - You're in My Head
42. Andy Griggs - She Thinks She Needs Me
43. The Jenkins - Getaway Car
44. The Notorious Cherry Bombs - It's Hard to Kiss the Lips at Night That Chew Your Ass Out All Day Long
45. George Strait - I Hate Everything
46. Carolyn Dawn Johnson - Simple Life
47. Jill King - 98.6 Degrees and Fallin' (did I mention that WATZ played Jill King a LOT?)
48. SHeDAISY - Passenger Seat
49. Trick Pony - The Bride
50. Montgomery Gentry - If You Ever Stop Loving Me
51. Restless Heart - Feel My Way to You
52. Gretchen Wilson - Redneck Woman (sure it's kinda silly, but I find it relatable)
53. Brooks & Dunn - You Can't Take the Honky Tonk Out of the Girl
54. Cledus T. Judd - Bake Me a Country Ham
55. Jimmy Wayne - I Love You This Much
56. Phil Vassar - In a Real Love
57. Craig Morgan - Look at Us
58. Katrina Elam - No End in Sight
59. Lonestar - Mr. Mom
60. James Otto - Days of Our Lives

NOT BAD BUT OVERRATED

1. Tim McGraw - Live Like You Were Dying

BOTTOM

1. Martina McBride - In My Daughter's Eyes (congratulations on the threepeat?)
2. Jimmy Wayne - You Are (a category 5 cliché storm)
3. Shania Twain/Billy Currington - Party for Two
4. MercyMe - I Can Only Imagine
5. Billy Dean - Thank God I'm a Country Boy (because the only thing worse than my least favorite John Denver song is a watered-down cover of it)
6. Terri Clark - Girls Lie Too
7. Rachel Proctor - Where I Belong
8. SHeDAISY - Come Home Soon
9. Mark Chesnutt - I'm a Saint (that 'N Sync namedrop was painfully dated even then)
10. Gretchen Wilson - Here for the Party
11. Randy Travis - Four Walls
12. Rascal Flatts - Feels Like Today
13. Toby Keith - American Soldier
14. Tim McGraw - Watch the Wind Blow By (s it just me, or did this song just go away completely after it hit #1? I haven't heard anyone play it or even mention it)

[sabre14]

Aug 3, 2015 12:57:59 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

TOP

53. Cledus T. Judd - Bake Me a Country Ham (oh crap, I counted Paint Me a Birmingham as a 2003 song didn't I)

BOTTOM

2. Jimmy Wayne - You Are (a category 5 cliché storm)

14. Tim McGraw - Watch the Wind Blow By (is it just me, or did this song just go away completely after it hit #1? I haven't heard anyone play it or even mention it)

* "Bake Me A Country Ham" is my all-time favorite Cledus parody.

* "You Are" might be one of the most boring songs of the past 15 years on country radio.

* Y2Kountry still plays "Watch The Wind Blow By"...and I turned the dial every single time, lol.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

Aug 3, 2015 13:08:48 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

* "Bake Me A Country Ham" is my all-time favorite Cledus parody.

I altered my list after you quoted me, by moving "Paint Me a Birmingham" from 2003 to 2004. That moves everyone else up a spot on the 2003 list, but punts "Why Can't We All Just Get a Long Neck?" to #61 on 2004. Sorry, Bocephus; just be glad that I also really liked "That's How They Do It in Dixie".

"Country Ham" is probably my second favorite Cledus parody, which I find interesting since I also like the song it parodies so much. My favorite part is after the key change, where he pitches up his voice a little to make himself sound more like Tracy Lawrence.

My favorite Cledus parody, however, is "Breath", in part because it parodies one of my all-time least favorite songs.

[sabre14]

Aug 3, 2015 13:12:03 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

Aug 3, 2015 13:08:48 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

* "Bake Me A Country Ham" is my all-time favorite Cledus parody.

I altered my list after you quoted me, by moving "Paint Me a Birmingham" from 2003 to 2004. That moves everyone else up a spot on the 2003 list, but punts "Why Can't We All Just Get a Long Neck?" to #61 on 2004. Sorry, Bocephus; just be glad that I also really liked "That's How They Do It in Dixie".

"Country Ham" is probably my second favorite Cledus parody, which I find interesting since I also like the song it parodies so much. My favorite part is after the key change, where he pitches up his voice a little to make himself sound more like Tracy Lawrence.

My favorite Cledus parody, however, is "Breath", in part because it parodies one of my all-time least favorite songs.

Oh I love "Breath" too -- my Dad loves that one as well -- he also loves "How Do You Milk A Cow?". Faith walked right into that parody. :)

The lyrics in "Bake Me A Country Ham" are hilarious. "Honey glazed with a side of yams...Pineapples all the way around...serve it to me in my underwear", lol.

[codyj100]

Shania Twain - "It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing" (while I love all of Shania's songs, this is by far one of her best). 
Shania Twain - "Party For Two" with Billy Currington 
Sara Evans - "Suds In The Bucket" 
Toby Keith - "Whiskey Girl"
Sugarland - "Baby Girl"
Rascal Flatts - "Feels Like Today"
Terri Clark - "Girls Lie Too"
Gretchen Wilson - "When I Think About Cheatin'" (favorite from Gretchen)
Tim McGraw - "Live Like You Were Dying"
Brad Paisley (feat. Alison Krauss) - "Whiskey Lullaby" 

[Deleted]

Some of my favorite songs from 2004

1. Brad Paisley & Alison Krauss Whiskey
2. Gretchen Wilson When I Think About Cheating
3. Shania Twain & Billy Currington Party For Two
4. Terri Clark Girls Lie Too
5. Sara Evans Suds In The Bucket
6. Kenny Chesney I Go Back
Overrated
1. Sugarland Baby Girl
2. Tim McGraw Live Like You Were Dying

Bad All around
1. Rascal Flatts Feels Like Today
2. Trace Adkins Hot Mama