Country artists' references to religion can range from "so subtle that you don't notice it until you're Googling the meaning behind the lyrics" to "as overt as you can get. So, The Boot has rounded up our favorite country songs about faith -- the musical reminders of the values that run deep through the genre. Evans and Paisley sang this song for the soundtrack to the film The Passion of the Christ. They take on the roles of Mary and Jesus through the lyrics, and the pair's flawless harmonies and emotionally charged delivery make this a favorite, particularly around Easter. Alabama released this song as a Christmas single over 20 years ago, from their album Cheap Seats. But while they intended for the tune to be a holiday hit, we think the lyrics are thought-provoking days of the year. This No. But it wasn't until Gill's brother succumbed to a heart attack four years later that he finally finished writing the tune.
"New Again"
Follow Billboard
New York. By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news, events, offers and partner promotions. Thanks for subscribing! Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon! Download on Amazon. Known in the last decades of his life as the greatest living country music singer, Jones had no shortage of chart-toppers during his musical career. Jackson reportedly felt conflicted about profiting from the tragedy but wrote the song in an attempt to process his associated emotions—and survivors and listeners thanked him for doing so. Despite its inherently somber topic, this feel-good, hip-swaying tune finds McGraw waxing poetic over the ability to truly live life to the fullest.
Listen to the best country songs
The list of the best classic country songs of all times just keeps growing and growing! When it comes to sad songs oh, the sad songs , country music does it so right, capturing those somber, sick-at-heart emotions like no other genre can. From songs about death—losing a parent, a partner, and even a child—to the most gut-wrenching breakup stories, the story-like lyrics and slow, twangy instrumentals just have a way of tugging at your heartstrings.
Through the hillbilly music of the s, the honky-tonk of the Forties and Fifties, the Bakersfield movement of the Sixties, bluegrass, Western swing, outlaw and contemporary pop, country songs still continue to break our hearts. So grab a few tissues and check out our list of the 40 saddest country songs ever written. But when the latter left the studio, however, Cline made sure that it wouldn't reach anyone else. According to Howard's wife Jan, Cline hated the song and refused to record it. While the song's restrained honky-tonk beat emanates composure, Cline tries her best to do the same, keeping herself together in the presence of an old love wants her to be just his friend. Lyricist Brent Baxter's mother was an English teacher who used the phrase "as empty as a Monday morning church" to explain poetry to her students. Over a simple yet classic Erin Enderlin melody, Baxter applied that metaphor to the heart of an inconsolate widower enraged with God. The song was considered by Lee Ann Womack and Terri Clark before finding its ideal interpreter in the melodrama-averse Alan Jackson, whose quietly desperate performance suggests that Patty Loveless' backing vocal is all that stands between him and the abyss. Deciding which of Jones' sad songs is sadder than the next is like trying to decide whether coal is blacker than the bottom of the ocean or midnight on a moonless night.
