About This Quiz
Country music has been around for nearly 100 years, and in that time, it has come to symbolize the beauty of hard work, good family, and true love. Over the last century, it has changed and evolved, with subgenres and unique voices, different tones and instruments becoming popular and well-loved. It is one of the most listened to genres on the market today, and it's not difficult to see why.
Whether Carrie Underwood is singing about taking revenge or Johnny Cash tells of shooting a man in Reno - just to watch him die - country music tells beautiful, compelling, and relatable stories that affect listeners from across the country. Though the genre is known for its southern roots - and cities like Nashville and Austin have amazing and exciting country music histories - it has become a universal genre of music that is easy to sing along to and even easier to connect to. Some songs are meant for dancing, some songs are meant for big stadium shows, and some songs are meant for intimate moments with loved ones, but country music always makes us feels something real.
Do you think you know some of the most popular country music songs? Put your knowledge to the test with this quiz!
You'll find all of these amazing songs on the Rolling Stone list of top country songs from history, but "I Walk the Line" by Johnny Cash is right at the top. No wonder there's an entire museum dedicated to him in the heart of Nashville!
"I got a girl crush-hate to admit it but-I got a heart rush-Ain't slowing down." This 2014 release speaks of unrequited love and the pain of having an old partner move on to someone new. Like many country songs, the feeling is related.
One of the common themes in country music is the goodness of the simple things - like an ice-cold beer. In this hit from Luke Combs, an ice-cold beer is the only thing to rely on, even when "diamond rings and football teams tore this boy apart."
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In Miranda Lambert's 2009 release, "The House That Built Me," she sings about returning to her childhood home and the memories that come along with the visit. It is sweet and nostalgic and can easily move the listener to tears.
Pull out your lighter and get ready to sing about nostalgia and first loves. Eric Church's "Springsteen" is about falling in love and listening to his favorite songs on the radio. This sure-classic will likely feature in many memories to come, just as Springsteen did for Church.
"Baby, blue ain't your color" - in this song Keith Urban is singing to a woman who has clearly had her heart broken and is looking lonely and blue at the bar, to which he sings that he will "light up your world."
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This 2013 release speaks to the universal fear of never moving away from home. The things keeping her family from moving away are makeup, drugs and affairs. Mother Mary isn't one of them.
Country music is about the simple things - including love. In "Die a Happy Man" Thomas Rhett sings that he doesn't need fancy adventures or expensive things. All he needs is the love of the woman he loves.
"Sink me in the river at dawn - send me away with the words of a love song." "If I Die Young" is a beautiful and emotional song by The Band Perry that focuses honestly on what happens when a young person passes away.
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In her song, "My Church," Maren Morris sings about what she worships, which is the radio on the open road. She references the classics with the line, "Hank brings the sermon - Cash leads the choir."
In Carrie Underwood's "Cowboy Casanova" she sings of a handsome cowboy who is sure to break your heart just as he broke hers. In addition to being candy-coated misery, he is also "the devil in disguise" and "a snake with blue eyes."
Many of Kip Moore's songs embrace living in the moment, whether that means time spent with the woman you love or a night out on the town. These particular lyrics are from "Wild Ones."
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One of Dolly Parton's most famous songs, "Jolene" is the plea of one woman to another to not steal her man, even though she is beautiful and lovely. Lips like cherries are not one of the attributes mentioned, however.
In "Going Out Like That," Reba sings about a woman who refuses to be sad and lonely after a breakup. Instead, she gets dressed up and embraces her new life of freedom and independence.
Johnny Cash is one of the highest-selling artists of all time, and his songs often talk of family, good folks and fighting for peace. The song, "A House of Gold," is by another country legend, Hank Williams.
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In "Somewhere on a Beach," Dierks Bentley sings about getting over a bad breakup on a beach. Even though he gets news that his ex is still driving past his house and calling his phone, he's enjoying the sunshine.
The song, "Check Yes or No," tells a story of love that starts way back as children. With the holding of hands and the passing of notes that literally say "check yes or no," these innocent love stories that become lifelong relationships show up often in country music.
Tim McGraw's song, "Live Like You Were Dying," asks the difficult question: What do you do when you know there isn't much time? To name a few things, he sings of sky diving, Rocky Mountain climbing, bull riding, and forgiving.
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In "You Make it Easy," Jason Aldean sings about how easy it is to love the woman he is singing to. He sings about the beauty of simple mornings spent together and how she has him wrapped around her finger.
In "Friends in Low Places" Garth Brooks sings about humble upbringings and not knowing how to navigate high class society because that's not where he's from. He says, "where the whiskey drowns - and the beer chases my blues away".
In Blake Shelton's song "Boys 'Round Here," the chorus goes, "The boys 'round here - drinking that ice cold beer - talkin' 'bout girls - talkin' 'bout trucks - runnin' them red dirt roads out, kickin' up dust."
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"Kerosene" was released in 2005. "Gunpowder and Lead" was released in 2007. "White Liar" came out in 2009, and "Mama's Broken Heart" came out in 2011. Lambert is still producing great songs.
"Country Girl (Shake it For Me)" is a Luke Bryan song that was released in 2011. The song includes the line "Shake it for the young bucks sittin' in the honky-tonk s- for the rednecks rockin' 'til the break of dawn."
"Come Over" is a song about a relationship where both people know better, but they just keep going out to see each other anyway because sitting around thinking about it (climbing the walls) doesn't help.
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Taylor Swift has become known for writing across multiple genres, but she got her start in the country music world. "Our Song" came out in 2006 and began with the line, "I was riding shotgun with my hair undone in the front seat of his car".
Even people who don't love country music sing along to "Man! I Feel Like a Woman," a song about going out on the town with your best friends. It was first released in 1997 and features the line, "I want to be free, yeah, to feel the way I feel."
"Baby you a song - you make me wanna roll my windows and down and cruise" is the opening line of "Cruise," a Florida Georgia Line song that was released on the "Here's to the Good Times" Album in 2012.
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"It was the summer before the real world started - and the deal was we could get to go if we - cleaned it up and got it running." Like many country songs, Talladega is filled with nostalgia and memories of youth.
"Marry Me" is a song about long-lasting unrequited love, featuring a man who attends the wedding of the woman he had once thought he was going to marry. It features the line, "But I ain't gonna mess it up, so I'll wish her the best now."
In "When it Rains, It Pours," Luke Combs' girlfriend has broken up with him. He is feeling down, when a wave of good luck hits, starting at the gas station and leading to vacations and prizes.
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Lady Antebellum formed in 2006 and has been prolifically producing albums and songs since then, including "Be Patient With My Love" which was on their album ,"Ocean," released in 2019.
As the title would indicate, the first line of this song is "you know I like my chicken fried." Like many country songs, "Chicken Fried" is an homage to southern living and identity.
The chorus for "Cowboy Take Me Away" goes: "Cowboy take me away - Fly this girl as high as you can into the wild blue." It is a song of independence, open spaces and the chance to find true love.
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"Little White Church" is a song about getting hitched, where the singer says she's no longer going to stand for what is being said. She wants the actions to back it up - and there won't be rewards until she gets the ring.
Patsy Cline's song, "Seven Lonely Days," is about crying after a breakup, but it ultimately ends with the statement, "last week was the last time I cried for you." Cline was a hugely popular country artist and influenced much of what is being produced today.