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The 100 Best Country Songs of All Time (Full List): Staff Picks
Best Country Songs of All Time: 100 Billboard staff picks.
Though there is certainly great musicianship involved, the story a country song tells is usually what makes it more memorable than a specific piano run or guitar riff — the obvious exception being the instantly recognizable opening chords to “Friends in Low Places,” which still sends fans into a frenzy. The Nashville trio’s ode to late-night longing remains a country-pop monster, with the type of dual-vocal chorus ripe for top 40 radio and karaoke duets, but plenty of spiraled-out guitar chords to reflect a lonesomeness steeped in country tradition. With a sweet, lilting, lovelorn melody (not to mention Wills’ helium-pitched cries of “aaaah-haaa” popping up throughout), “San Antonio Rose” painted a romantic picture of love and loss under the Texas stars, popularizing a theme that still permeates through country music today.
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