I’ve loved country music for a very long time and my taste has ranged quite a bit. As a typical fan, I started with more pop-sounding country like Florida Georgia Line and Kane Brown, but have grown into what I enjoy today, being Morgan Wallen, Zach Bryan, Tyler Childers, Luke Combs and many more. I’ve recently made a playlist titled Poetic Country where I’ve put all of my favourite songs with lyrics that I’d consider poetry. Whether they be beautiful, sweet poetry or heartbreaking, here they are.
- “Quittin’ Time” – Morgan wallen
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This has recently become one of my favourite songs. Wallen describes the feeling right before a breakup when both parties know that it’s time to call it the end, yet it still hurts like hell. Here’s my top poetic lyrics: “Time to pack it in and stay down, pack it up and walk away, give it one more day or call it a season, I can tell by the tears not in your eyes, it’s quittin’ time.”
- “don’t give up on me” – Zach bryan
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The lyrics in this song represent the pure love that Bryan has for this woman. He talks about her love, beauty and loyalty through these lines as he asks her to not give up on him and his hardships as he won’t give up on her either. A line that makes me melt is: “If my mam could just see you laugh, I know that she could see the shine in you, she’d say thanks for taking care, of a baby boy ‘cause she can’t be here and hug you ‘til your little lungs turn blue.”
- “Pieces” – muscadine bloodline (feat. lainey wilson)
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This is easily one of the saddest songs I’ve ever heard. The lyrics portray a heart-wrenching breakup and spin a different meaning to the saying “I love you to pieces.” An awfully sad lyric that I see as poetry is: “Sometimes subliminal meanings can mean the literal, you left me critical, guess you really love me to pieces.”
- “Shake the frost” – Tyler Childers
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Tyler Childers has recently become one of my top artists. This song depicts the plea for help from a partner to help “shake the frost” off of ourselves. Childers sings through his baggage that he brings into his relationship and how he begs this other person to help him get through it. My favourite poetic lyrics are in fact the first verse: “You remind me of a Sunday, back home in ole’ Kentucky, with the church choirs just beltin’ through the pines. And I love you like the mountains, love’s the way the mornin’ opens, to a soft and bright greetin’ from the sun”.
- “Who are you kidding?” – Matt Schuster
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This new emerging artist deserves all of the hype. I had personally never heard of him until coming across a cover of “Talking Tennessee” by Morgan Wallen on TikTok and instantly loved his voice. I truly think if he gets the recognition he deserves; he could be the next big country music star. “Who Are You Kidding?” explains a story of a selfish action by the other party and Schuster trying to justify himself loving them again. My favourite line is one that I think many could relate to: “I gave myself up, I put it all in, the scary thing about it is I’d do it again, for you baby.”
- “Either Way” – Chris Stapleton
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Chris Stapleton is arguably one of the best country music lyricists at this time. He so clearly pours so much of his heart into his songs. In “Either Way”, he explains the feeling of falling out of love and offers his partner that they can leave or stay but he won’t be in love either way. My favourite line is the devastating chorus: “We can just go on like this, say the word we’ll call it quits, baby you can go, or you can stay, I won’t love you either way.“
Even if you aren’t a huge country fan, you might find some appreciation for these songs and their lyrics. If you’re looking for some more similar songs, check out my Poetic Country playlist on Spotify @oliviaegann!