Which 10 songs best represent this decade in country music?

[HeyHeyHey]

So the 2010’s are about to come to an end and I’m sure at the end of the year different websites will be publishing the “best” songs of the decade as well as artists and albums. I remember reading Billboard’s decade end chart back in late 2009. So I thought of a fun thing to do, which 10 songs do you think best represent the genre’s songs, style and artists in the 2010’s? There’s been so many songs that were hits in the past 10 years that it is hard to choose just 10 but I’m interested in seeing people’s lists and why someone may choose a particular song. It will also be interesting to look back at this thread when the decade end charts are announced to see how they match up. I’ll think about mine and post them here.

A couple obvious ones come to mind just typing this out and those are “Die a Happy Man” and “Body Like a Backroad”. I feel like you also have to add in a Luke B. and Aldean song, maybe “Drunk on You” and “Dirt Road Anthem” respectively. Carrie needs to be in there too and I would say “Blown Away” is the right pick for her. “Beautifully Crazy” hit #1 for so long earlier this year so I have to think that would be in there too. Maybe a Stapleton song too just because he represents a different side of the genre that some others I named don’t. What do you all think?

[lady𝓐fan]

As much as I hate the bro-country trend that occurred earlier this decade, it was still extremely popular and changed country music. Because of that, I think "Cruise" is one of the songs that best represents the 2010s in country music. In a similar vein, hick-hop has been a recurring trend throughout the decade, with artists such as Colt Ford and Jason Aldean being popular so "Dirt Road Anthem" is another one of my picks.

Later in the decade, bro-country fell out of favor and smoother R&B-influenced songs started to gain popularity. This brought about R&B flavored songs from the likes of Thomas Rhett and Luke Bryan, such as "Die a Happy Man" which was the biggest hit of them all. Furthermore, Sam Hunt took R&B-country to a whole 'nother level with his debut album Montevallo in which he utilized talk-singing and rhythmic influences. I think the song that best represents Sam's style is "Take Your Time". Another trend that was occurring at the same time was the revival of interest in the blues by artists such as Chris Stapleton (most of his output), Little Big Town ("Girl Crush), Keith Urban ("Blue Ain't Your Color"), and Jason Aldean ("You Make It Easy"), so for that I think both "Girl Crush" and the iconic "Tennessee Whiskey" should be included on this list.

Although females were grossly under-represented in country music this decade, the female songs that did become hits were often of high quality. Ballads from Jana Kramer, Kacey Musgraves, and Miranda Lambert achieved moderate success, therefore I think "The House That Built Me" should represent female balladism of the 2010s. On the other hand, there have been exceptional genre-blending songs sung by females, such as "High Horse". Kacey Musgraves' album Golden Hour has received critical and consumer acclaim (even winning a Grammy) along with bringing about a sort of "movement" towards country visuals without necessarily adopting all of country's rituals and beliefs.

This may not be an obvious pick, but I believe "When It Rains It Pours" perfectly encapsulates the throwback sound that has been popular recently, with artists such as Jon Pardi, Midland, and Riley Green adopting old-style sounds for their music.

Finally, in this time of political turmoil, there have been a bunch of songs that try to inspire people to love ("Love Wins") and remind them that everyone is human ("Most People Are Good"). For this, I think "Most People Are Good" best represents this trend.

My List
1. "Cruise" - Florida Georgia Line
2. "Dirt Road Anthem" - Jason Aldean
3. "Die a Happy Man" - Thomas Rhett
4. "Take Your Time" - Sam Hunt
5. "Girl Crush" - Little Big Town
6. "Tennessee Whiskey" - Chris Stapleton
7. "The House That Built Me" - Miranda Lambert
8. "High Horse" - Kacey Musgraves
9. "When It Rains It Pours" - Luke Combs
10. "Most People Are Good" - Luke Bryan

[Wackadoodle]

You gotta have Cruise in there, for starters. You also need at least one Stapleton song. And one song from one of the two Lukes. Maybe Drunk on You or That's My Kind of Night and Hurricane or Beautiful Crazy would both make the list, actually. Die a Happy Man, for sure. Definitely a Blake Shelton song...quite possibly God's Country but we also have to remember the impact of songs like Honey Bee, Sure Be Cool If You Did, and Boys' Round Here. Jason had Dirt Road Anthem, which perfectly summarizes the divide between country and hip hop, so that's on the list. You need a woman to remember the cultural debate over females in country music. I'd say the most influential women have been Kacey Musgraves, Cam, and Maren Morris. But Merry Go 'Round really started it all, so I'd put that one on the list. And of course you can't forget how Tim McGraw really shocked everyone with "Lookin' for That Girl" even if it does seem kind of like a joke in retrospect. Taylor Swift also really got everyone talking with "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and that ignited the debate about what's country and what's pop. What Ifs was a pretty important song because it helped bridge the divide between men and women in country. So here's what I figured....

1) Cruise
2) That's My Kind of Night
3) Honey Bee
4) We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
5) Dirt Road Anthem
6) Die a Happy Man
7) Beautiful Crazy
8) Merry Go 'Round
9) What Ifs 
10) Lookin' for That Girl

[rsmatto]

10 is entirely too small but you’ve gotta have (if 2010-2019) these somewhere in a top 40 (based on impact)

Cruise
Girl Crush
Make You Miss Me
Blue Ain’t Your Color
Blown Away
Boys Round Here
Die A Happy Man
Need You Now
Springsteen
Dirt Road Anthem
Don’t you wanna stay
Country Girl (Shake it for me)
Tennessee Whiskey (not a single bit a huge impact)
Wagon Wheel

[zjames]

"Cruise" - Florida Georgia Line
THE defining hit of the decade.

"Dirt Road Anthem" - Jason Aldean
Smash that exemplifies the blending of country with hip hop.

"Springsteen" - Eric Church
Most iconic song from one of the defining artists of the decade.

"If I Die Young" - The Band Perry
Crossover smash by an artist who, in all likelihood, achieved all their chart success in the 2010s.

"Country Girl (Shake It From Me)" - Luke Bryan
One of Luke's biggest hits (and maybe his most memorable). Also, possible the bro-iest song of the "Bro-Country" era.

"Tennessee Whiskey" - Chris Stapleton
Country radio isn't needed to have big hits anymore.

"Mama's Broken Heart" - Miranda Lambert
The song that defines Miranda's musical style, as well as being arguably her biggest hit.

"Follow Your Arrow" - Kacey Musgraves
Hit song that exemplifies country radio's hesitancy to play female artists who challenge the status quo.

"Body Like A Back Road" - Sam Hunt
"Wagon Wheel" - Darius Rucker
Two of the biggest hits and few songs this decade I identified major awareness and passion from my peers who dislike country music.

Honorable Mentions:
"Need Your Now" - Lady Antebellum (Released in 2009, made its crossover impact in 2010)
"Girl Crush" - Little Big Town
"Wanted" - Hunter Hayes
"We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" - Taylor Swift
"Beautiful Crazy" - Luke Combs
"Blown Away" - Carrie Underwood
"That's My Kind Of Night" - Luke Bryan
"Better Man" - "ittle Big Town
"The House That Built Me" - Miranda Lambert
"Die A Happy Man" - Thomas Rhett
"Boys Round Here" - Blake Shelton
"Burnin' It Down" - Jason Aldean
"Drunk On A Plane" - Dierks Bentley
"Play It Again" - Luke Bryan
"Take Your Time" - Sam Hunt
"Meant To Be" - Florida Georgia Line/Bebe Rexha
"Blue Ain't Your Color" - Keith Urban
"Tequila" - Dan + Shay
"Turtles All The Way Down" - Sturgill Simpson

[.indulgecountry]

+ 9 other songs

[bboat11]

Jun 25, 2019 18:11:38 GMT -5 Wackadoodle said:

10) Lookin' for That Girl

This isn't supposed to be a top 10 least impactful songs of the decade list...

[Wackadoodle]

Jun 26, 2019 1:35:55 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

Jun 25, 2019 18:11:38 GMT -5 Wackadoodle said:

10) Lookin' for That Girl

This isn't supposed to be a top 10 least impactful songs of the decade list...

It was a discussion-starter and a milestone for a 90s A-lister to release such a bizarre song. The song itself may have been a joke that was quickly forgotten about, but I think it left quite an impact on the country radio industry and got everyone debating the whole bro-country/pop country situation.

[dajross6]

I had a harder time with this than I thought. I went in chronological order mostly, and only one song will make my decade-end list (Springsteen). It wasn't a good decade for the genre in my opinion.

Honey Bee - Probably should have a Blake song on here and most of his mindlessly gel together
Dirt Road Anthem
Drunk On You - Luke had the most impressive decade as an artist from a song perspective. I could put maybe 7-8 huge songs here, but decided with a catchy uptempo one
Springsteen
Cruise - Really moved the bro-country craze into high gear
Wagon Wheel - Because I needed a 10th
Die A Happy Man - Biggest chart song of the decade
Body Like A Back Road - This will be most people's song of the decade I would think. Not country fans, but people in general
Meant To Be - Country and R&B smashed together in an unnecessary way that made people rich
Beautiful Crazy

Not just in country music, but I find it fascinating to be able to see changes in song styles as a decade moves on.

[collinkottke]

I tried to take this question and turn it into something that would be a coherent piece about 10 songs that defined the genre in the decade. So my goal was to make the songs intertwine with each other, so it might not be quite the biggest 10 songs of the decade but 10 that hit on some big bullet points of the decade. The following is a whole lot of writing but is still the quick blow by blow of what came to my mind.

Cruise – Florida Georgia Line – This song is where the discussion must start about country music in the decade. It is the spokesperson for bro-country and it was huge.

Boys ‘Round Here – Blake Shelton – As the bro-country sound got more and more popular, established artists found themselves working with the sounds. The genre got to a wide audience with Blake Shelton being one of the most popular coaches on The Voice.

Body Like A Backroad – Sam Hunt – But not many songs come close to the popularity of Body Like A Back Road. While bro-country was happening, Hunt was featuring a different kind of production in his music. The likes of Sam Hunt and Florida Georgia Line made the bro-country and pop-country sounds the most recognized sounds in the genre of the decade.

Tennessee Whiskey – Chris Stapleton – Counterprogramming sometimes does prevail, though. While traditional country sounds were getting harder and harder to find, one of the biggest moments of the decade was the star-making appearance on the CMA Awards by Chris Stapleton. Stapleton, with help from (ironically) Justin Timberlake, got the general public interested again in traditional sounding country music. In one performance, Stapleton went from virtually unknown to the public to one of the biggest stars in the genre.

Springsteen – Eric Church - Ironically, the night Stapleton broke out was set to be a night about Eric Church. He was already one album removed from the star making Chief album, featuring, Springsteen, but Eric Church dropped a surprise album on the day of the CMA Awards. A stunt not often done, especially in the country genre, it was something new and exciting for the genre.

My Church – Maren Morris – Eric Church wasn’t the only big church of the decade. With one little post on social media by Miranda Lambert about a song called “My Church”, everyone had to check out this new artist named Maren Morris. A couple years later, Maren Morris would be the main voice on one of the biggest pop songs of the year, showing how country artists in the decade kept pushing the boundaries and taking chances.

Die A Happy Man – Thomas Rhett – Speaking of taking chances, during the midst of the bro-country movement and his budding superstardom, Thomas Rhett took a chance and released a single that was more acoustic than bro with “Die A Happy Man”. The love song is to date Thomas’ best selling song.

American Kids – Kenny Chesney – Selling singles and albums as the decade went on became less and less of a money make for artists. What became the real bank account maker was selling out shows and nothing was more popular than big stadium shows. The likes of Kenny Chesney, Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean continually filled up baseball and football stadiums across the United States with fans craving the high energy shows that were perfected 20 years earlier…

Ask Me How I Know – Garth Brooks … by Garth Brooks. No one was bigger in the 1990’s than Garth Brooks and his comeback to touring was one of the biggest stories of the decade. While Garth’s music hasn’t seen the total domination on the chart it did in his opening act, Ask Me How I Know proved that he could still top the country charts while selling out arenas all over North America over and over again while keeping the price low for his fans.

Beautiful Crazy - Luke Combs – While Garth in this decade may have only one chart topper, the biggest thing since Garth Brooks has started his career five straight number one singles. Luke Combs stormed onto the scene in 2016 with “Hurricane” and fans were hooked instantly. Luke is connecting with a huge fanbase the way Garth found himself doing in the 90’s. As the decade closes, Combs looks to be heading to a career that can only be matched by a few people to ever call the country genre home.