Monday, August 8, 2016

Country Must Be Country Wide

"Country Must be Country Wide" is a country song by Brantley Gilbert that was released in 2011.  All through the process of creating this playlist, fragments of that song kept running through my head, and just seemed so fitting. Here are a few of the most appropriate lyrics:

Country must be country wide
In every state
There's a station
Playin' Cash, Hank, Willie, and Waylon
In foreign cars and four wheel drives
There's cowboys and hillbillies
From farm towns to big cities
There ain't no doubt in my mind
Country must be country wide
It ain't where
It's how you live

You can also find a similar theme in "Country Is," a song by Tom T. Hall released in 1974. 

Country is 
sittin' on the back porch 
listen to the whippoorwills 
late in the day
Country is
mindin' your business 
helpin' a stranger 
if he comes your way
Country is 
livin' in the city
knowin' your people 
knowin' your kind
Country is 
what you make it 
country is all in your mind

Without further delay, here is a playlist of fifty country songs about every state in the nation (by fifty different artists, no less), plus the two bonus songs I quoted above.

The Napster version can be found here: Napster Version of Country Must be Country Wide
The Spotify Version can be found here: Spotify Version of Country Must be Country Wide
The Youtube version is here Country must be Country Wide on Youtube  (As always, I select videos for the sound quality, not necessarily for video content).

(By the way, if you don't want to listen to the whole list, at least check out Iowa, Maryland, and South Dakota. They are some top-notch bluegrass songs by relatively unknown artists and are definitely worth your time).

"All in Alabama" by Hank Williams Jr.
"North to Alaska" by Johnny Horton
"Arizona Whiz" by Cal Smith
"Arkansas Dave" by George Strait
"All the Gold in California" by Gatlin Brothers
"I Guess He's Rather Be in Colorado" by John Denver
"Connecticut Redneck Song" by David Stephens
"Man from Delaware" by Jason Frye
"My Florida Sunshine" by Claire Lynch
"The Devil Went Down to Georgia" Charlie Daniels Band
"Blue for Old Hawaii" by Hank Snow (Not included in the Spotify playlist)
"Boise, Idaho" by Cimarron (Not included in the Youtube playlist)
"Illinois" by Brett Eldredge
"Indiana's Angel" by Brantley Gilbert (Not included in the Youtube playlist)
"Iowa Winter" by Finders and Youngberg
"You're Not in Kansas Anymore" by Jo Dee Messina
"Blue Moon of Kentucky" by Bill Monroe
"Louisiana Saturday Night" by Mel McDaniel
"Portland, Maine" by Tim McGraw
"Maryland County Road" by Erica Wheeler (Not included in the Spotify playlist)
"Massachusetts" by Aaron Lewis
"Saginaw, Michigan" by Lefty Frizzell
"Minnesota Flatwoods Farm Boy" by Jeff Young
"Mississippi Girl" by Faith Hill
"Missing Missouri" by Sara Evans
"Meet Me in Montana" by Marie Osmond
"Little Nebraska Town" by Rachel Price
"Sierra Nevada" by Sons of the Pioneers
"Waltz Across New Hampshire" by Bradley Winfield Parker
"I'm From New Jersey" by John Gorka
"New Mexico" by Johnny Cash
"In a New York Minute" by Ronnie McDowell
"North Carolina" by Divine Maggees
"North Dakota" by Tigirlily
"Look at Miss Ohio" by Miranda Lambert
"You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma" by David Frizzell
"Eugene, Oregon" by Dolly Parton
"Pennsylvania Avenue" by Reckless Kelly
"Rhode Island" by Kydells
"South Carolina Low Country" by Josh Turner
"On the South Dakota Wind" by Becky Buller
"Tennessee Whiskey" by Chris Stapleton
"If You're Gonna Play in Texas (You Gotta Have a Fiddle in the Band)" by Alabama
"Utah Carol" by Marty Robbins
"Moonlight in Vermont" by Willie Nelson
"Carry Me Back to Virginia" by Old Crow Medicine Show
"My Washington Woman" by Kenny Rogers
"West Virginia Coal Mine" by Jim Cook and the Taylormacs
"Wisconsin Water" by Horseshoes and Handgrenades
"Why Wyoming" by Kellie Coffey
"Country Must be Country Wide" by Brantley Gilbert
"Country Is" by Tom T. Hall

As a random side note, I was particularly impressed with the songs about North Dakota and had a very difficult time choosing a top song to put in this playlist.  Just in case you want to see them out, the runners up included "North Dakota Girl" by James Talley and "North Dakota Boy" by Doc Walker.


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