Saving Country Music’s Greatest Songs Of All Time

SCMLOGOLAYERSSo here they are, a list of what Saving Country Music considers to be the “Greatest Country Music Songs of All Time.” Please understand numerous factors went into this list, but the most important determining factor was influence. This isn’t our “favorite” songs, but appeal factored into the decisions as well. Please note that unlike our “Greatest Albums” list, with so many country songs to choose from, this will not include many alt-country or Americana selections, with only a few exceptions. These are songs that shaped country music and inspired countless other songs that borrowed from their original theme.

Saving Country Music’s Greatest Albums of All Time

The aim of this exercise is sharing, and so if you see a glaring omission or would change the placement of certain titles, please offer your insight in the comments section below. But please understand this is not a list of artists, it is a list of songs. Just because an artist is good, doesn’t mean they have a specific song worthy of this list. And since this list is already so long, we will likely only add new songs to it that are clear oversights.

SCM’s Greatest Songs of All Time on Spotify

  1. johnny-cashJohnny Cash – Folsom Prison Blues
  2. Patsy Cline/Willie Nelson – Crazy
  3. Hank Williams – I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry
  4. Merle Haggard – Mama Tried
  5. The Carter Family/Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – Will The Circle Be Unbroken
  6. Traditional – The Wayfaring Stranger
  7. Hank Williams – Cold, Cold Heart
  8. George Jones – He Stopped Loving Her Today
  9. Tammy Wynette – Stand By Your Man
  10. Patti Page – Tennessee Waltz
  11. Lefty Frizell (& others) – Long Black Veil
  12. Vernon Dalhart – Wreck of the Old ’97
  13. Johnny Cash – Ring of Fire
  14. Loretta Lynn – Coal Miner’s Daughter
  15. kitty-wellsKitty Wells – It Wasn’t God That Made Honky Tonk Angels
  16. Hank Williams – Long Gone Lonesome Blues
  17. Roger Miller – King of the Road
  18. Hank Williams – Your Cheatin’ Heart
  19. Patsy Cline – Walking After Midnight
  20. Hank Williams – Lovesick Blues
  21. Waylon Jennings/Willie Nelson – Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies
  22. Merle Haggard – Okie From Muskogee
  23. Willie Nelson – Whiskey River
  24. Hank Williams – Hey Good Lookin’
  25. Jimmie Rodgers – Blue Yodel/Mule Skinner Blues
  26. Charlie Daniels – Devil Went Down to Georgia
  27. Bill Monroe – Uncle Pen
  28. Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys – San Antonio Rose
  29. Osborne Brothers (& Others) – Rocky Top
  30. Willie Nelson – Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain
  31. Johnny Cash – I Walk The Line
  32. willie-nelsonWillie Nelson – Night Life
  33. Traditional – Cotton-Eyed Joe
  34. Kris Kristofferson – Sunday Morning Coming Down
  35. Willie Nelson – On The Road Again
  36. Jimmy Martin – Freeborn Man
  37. Jerry Reed – East Bound & Down
  38. Faron Young/Willie Nelson – Hello Walls
  39. Bill Monroe – Blue Moon of Kentucky
  40. Waylon Jennings – Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?
  41. Dolly Parton – Coat of Many Colors
  42. Kristofferson/Sammi Smith  – Help Me Make It Through The Night
  43. Ernest Tubb – Walkin The Floor Over You
  44. Loretta Lynn – You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man)
  45. Hank Williams – Move It On Over
  46. Townes Van Zandt/Willie Nelson – Pancho & Lefty
  47. Roy Acuff – Wabash Cannonball
  48. bill-monroeCarter Family/Bill Monroe/Others – Working On A Building
  49. Willie Nelson – My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
  50. Johnny Paycheck (David Allan Coe) – Take This Job & Shove It
  51. Tennessee Ernie Ford – Sixteen Tons
  52. Sons of the Pioneers – Tumbling Tumbleweeds
  53. Willie Nelson/Waylon Jennings – Good Hearted Woman
  54. Dolly Parton – Jolene
  55. Ernest Tubb – Waltz Across Texas
  56. Dolly Parton – I Will Always Love You
  57. Johnny Chash & June Carter – Jackson
  58. David Allan Coe – The Ride
  59. Dallas Frazier – California Cottonfields
  60. David Allan Coe – Longhaired Redneck
  61. Patsy Cline – Sweet Dreams
  62. Waylon Jennings – Luckenbach, TX
  63. Bobby Bare – Streets of Baltimore
  64. Marty Robbins – El Paso
  65. Hank Williams – Kaw Liga
  66. George Jones- She Thinks I Still Care
  67. Tammy Wynette – Your Good Girl’s Gonna Go Bad
  68. Merle Haggard – Today I Started Loving You Again
  69. Waylon Jennings – Amanda
  70. Kenny Rogers – The Gambler
  71. The Carter Family – Wildwood Flower
  72. Conway Twitty – Hello Darlin’
  73. Jimmy Dean/Roy Acuff – Big Bad John
  74. Buck Owens – Act Naturally
  75. The Highwaymen – The Highwaymen
  76. Hank Williams Jr. – Family Tradition
  77. Garth Brooks – Friends In Low Places
  78. Hank Williams Jr. – Country Boy Can Survive
  79. The Oak Ridge Boys – Elvira
  80. the-louvin-brothersThe Louvin Brothers – Satan Is Real
  81. Lee Ann Womack – I Hope You Dance
  82. Barbara Mandrell – If Loving You Is Wrong, I Don’t Want To Be Right
  83. George Strait – All My Ex’s Live in Texas
  84. Johnny Horton – The Battle of New Orleans
  85. David Allan Coe – You Never Even Called Me By My Name
  86. Charlie Rich – Behind Closed Doors
  87. Conway Twitty – It’s Only Make Believe
  88. Hank Williams Jr. – Whiskey Bent & Hell Bound
  89. Buck Owens – Streets of Bakersfield
  90. Ray Price – For The Good Times
  91. Hank Snow – I’m Movin’ On
  92. LeAnn Rimes – Blue
  93. Gram Parsons/The Byrds – Hickory Wind
  94. Guy Clark – Desperados Waiting For A Train
  95. John Denver – Country Roads
  96. Jeannie C. Riley / Tom T. Hall – Harper Valley PTA
  97. Charley Pride – Kiss An Angel Good Morning
  98. gram-parsonsEmmylou Harris & Gram Parsons – Love Hurts
  99. Garth Brooks – The Dance
  100. Vern Gosdin – Chiseled In Stone
  101. Townes Van Zandt – Waiting Around To Die
  102. Tim McGraw – Don’t Take The Girl
  103. Eddy Arnold – Make The World Go Away
  104. Roger Miller – Dang Me
  105. Buck Owens – Together Again
  106. Waylon Jennings – Dreaming My Dreams
  107. Buck Owens – Tiger By the Tail
  108. Hank Williams Jr. – All My Rowdy Friends (Have Settled Down)
  109. Randy Travis – Forever & Ever Amen
  110. Travis Tritt – Here’s A Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)
  111. Dwight Yoakam – 1000 Miles From Nowhere
  112. Alan Jackson – Don’t Rock the Jukebox
  113. The Grateful Dead – Friend Of The Devil
  114. ray-wylie-hubbardRay Wylie Hubbard – Up Against The Wall Redneck Mother
  115. Emmylou Harris – If Only I Could Win Your Love
  116. Dwight Yoakam – Fast As You
  117. Mel McDaniel – Louisiana Saturday Night
  118. Lynn Anderson – Rose Garden
  119. Reba McEntire – Fancy
  120. Don Gibson – Oh Lonesome Me
  121. Bobby Bare – Detroit City
  122. Billy Joe Shaver – Georgia On A Fast Train
  123. George Strait – Amarillo By Morning
  124. Clint Black – Put Yourself In My Shoes
  125. Brooks & Dunn – My Maria
  126. Tim McGraw – Live Like You Were Dying
  127. The Judds – Grandpa (Tell Me ‘Bout The Good Old Days)
  128. The Dixie Chicks – Wide Open Spaces
  129. Clint Black – A Better Man
  130. Trisha Yearwood – She’s In Love With The Boy
  131. Alabama – Song of the South
  132. wayne-hancockWayne Hancock – Thunderstorms & Neon Signs
  133. Old Crow Medicine Show – Wagon Wheel
  134. Kacey Musgraves – Merry Go ‘Round
  135. John Hartford – Up On The Hill Where They Do The Boogie
  136. Gram Parsons – Luxury Liner
  137. Billy Don Burns – Stranger
  138. James Hand – Shadows Where The Magic Was
  139. Juice Newton – Queen of Hearts
  140. Brooks & Dunn – Neon Moon
  141. The Louvin Brothers – Cash on the Barrelhead
  142. Waylon Jennings- Good Ol’ Boys
  143. Freddy Fender – Before The Next Teardrop Falls
  144. Willy “Tea” Taylor – Life Is Beautiful
  145. Sturgill Simpson – Life Ain’t Fair & The World Is Mean
  146. Lucinda Williams – Drunken Angel
  147. Left Arm Tan – Wish
  148. Alan Jackson – Chattahoochee
  149. The Boomswagglers – Run You Down
  150. Kenny Rogers – Love Will Turn You Around

 

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