10 Awesome Forgotten Country Songs of the 90s
Some songs stick around forever. In contrast, others are popular for a time before fading from prominence. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the latter is bad. As a result, interested individuals might find it worthwhile to explore the hits of bygone decades. Country songs from the 1990s are no exception to this rule.
Here are ten awesome forgotten country songs of the 90s:
10. “Goodbye Says It All” – Blackhawk
Blackhawk is a country band that has been around since the early 1990s. “Goodbye Says It All” was their debut single, which managed to make it to the number 11 position on the Billboard Hot Country Songs. It made quite an impression, so much so that Blackhawk’s debut album went double platinum in the United States.
9. “Daddy’s Money” – Ricochet
“Daddy’s Money” did even better than, “Goodbye Says It All.” After all, it reached the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs in April 1996. Given the name, one might guess the narrator has a negative opinion of the person being sung about. However, that isn’t the case at all. Instead, it is just one of the characteristics of the girl he is besotted with.
8. “The Fool” – Lee Ann Womack
Country music has a well-earned reputation for narrative-driven songs. For instance, this song features a narrator confronting her lover’s ex because her lover is still in love with the other woman. It isn’t particularly angry-sounding, which makes sense because she doesn’t blame the other woman for the situation. That gives the song a certain sense of complexity that sells it well.
7. “Fast As You” – Dwight Yoakam
Dwight Yoakam’s career started in the mid-1980s. As such, he was already a veteran of the music industry when he released “Fast As You” in 1993. Indeed, one can make a decent case that this was a peak of sorts in his career. It reached the number 2 position on the Billboard Hot Country Songs.
Since then, Yoakam has never had another Top 10 hit in the United States, though he went on to have three more in Canada. Regardless, the swagger of “Fast As You” makes it a solid choice of song by which to remember the man’s musical output.
6. “Blue Clear Sky” – George Strait
“Blue Clear Sky” was the title track of George Strait’s sixteenth studio album. Amusingly, though the singer loved it as soon as he heard it, he and his producer discussed the name at length.
He wasn’t sure about the song being named “Blue Clear Sky” because the conventional phrase should be “Clear Blue Sky.” Still, he came around when he learned that the songwriter got the name from Forrest Gump. Considering the song went number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs, it seems safe to say that proved a wise decision.
5. “When I Call Your Name” – Vince Gill
Heartbreak is a popular topic for country songs. “When I Call Your Name” is an excellent example of that tendency. It is named thus because the narrator is crushed when he returns home to find that his significant other has left him. As it turns out, she didn’t feel as strongly for him as he did for her.
4. “This Kiss” – Faith Hill
Faith Hill has released a remarkable number of hits. As such, it is easy for some of them to get lost in the crowd. That said, “This Kiss” does stand out for various reasons. For example, it had considerable crossover appeal.
That can be seen in how it reached the number 3 position on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks and the number 7 position on the Billboard Hot 100. Similarly, “This Kiss” was the first time Hill managed to get good results outside of North America, meaning it contributed much to her international fan base.
3. “He Thinks He’ll Keep Her” – Mary Chapin Carpenter
Mary Chapin Carpenter stated that “He Thinks He’ll Keep Her” was inspired by a Geritol commercial from the 1970s. In the commercial, a man described various things about his wife before stating that he intended to keep her in a rather demeaning fashion.
Unsurprisingly, “He Thinks He’ll Keep Her” sees the wife taking the initiative by leaving her husband after realizing her love for him has long run out. The song came out on an album that often touched upon the conflict between traditional and non-traditional roles. Even so, it handled it particularly well.
2. “You Don’t Even Know Who I Am” – Patty Loveless
A relationship is a living thing. That means both sides need to continue to engage with one another. Otherwise, it will wither, thus resulting in nothing emotional to sustain it. “You Don’t Even Know Who I Am” is interesting because it is so easy to picture the scenario laid out in the lyrics.
It starts with a woman leaving her husband because she says he doesn’t know her. Then, the song follows up by revealing that the husband decided to apologize and realized he didn’t even know what he was apologizing for.
Subsequently, he comes to the understanding that she is right in a way because she doesn’t know who he is either. Something that the lyrics seem to blame on the two gradually losing touch with one another because they spent so much time apart every day without trying to connect during the night.
1. “Amazed” – Lonestar
“Amazed” was another country song with considerable crossover appeal. It hit the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1999. Subsequently, a country song didn’t manage the same feat until Carrie Underwood’s “Inside Your Heaven” came along in 2005.
Even now, “Amazed” remains Lonestar’s most successful song. The funny thing is that it was never guaranteed to wind up in their hands. As it turned out, the song was first offered to Boyz II Men, who created an opportunity for Lonestar by turning it down.
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