Pick-up trucks. Daisy Dukes. Red solo cups. Sun dresses. Running the open fields with your trusty companion. Break-ups and breakdowns.

There’s an old joke that if play a country song backwards, you will get your job back, your girl back, your dog back, and your dignity back. While that’s pretty funny, it bears little connection to the country music of 2021.

Today, we celebrate some of the finer country songs in recent memory.

Blessed & Free – Kane Brown, H.E.R

This collaboration between country star Kane Brown and H.E.R is a surprising listen. These two award-winning singers mix well together like chicken fried steak and gravy. Kane’s crispy, rough tone blends perfectly with H.E.R’s savory pitch like old-fashioned southern dinner. You’ll be sure to go back for seconds after hearing this duo. 

If I Didn’t Love You – Jason Aldean, Carrie Underwood 

What would you do if your lover didn’t love you? This hard-hitting question is answered by both Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood. Singing from the perspective of a broken couple, they both consider what life would be like if one them fell out of love. Jason and Carrie sing as if their lives are on the line. 

Chasin’ You – Morgan Wallen 

Driving down the road chasin’ his one true love is what Morgan Wallen loves to do. Thinking of freedom, cars, and whiskey the lovelorn Morgan proclaims to the “one who got away” how all these things remind him of her. One seat taken, but with one left open for that lady, Wallen sings in a mellow tone making the listener wonder if they’re in the car as well listening to him mope about the state of his love life. Thankfully for Morgan, in the end he finally catches the girl he was chasin’. 

I Was on a Boat That Day – Old Dominion

Matthew Ramsey loves reminiscing of that day (yesterday) on the boat with his bandmates in Old Dominion. Floating down the river, drinking with cross-eyed bears, and tossing his phone into the drink, lead singer Matthew Ramsey details an eventful summer night. Just some Nashville boys jamming, fishing, drinking and having a good ol’ time without the ball and chain.

Forever After All – Luke Combs

Beers and trucks: these two things have many things in common. Luke Combs, an avid lover of both, expounds on that love. However, he changes up the tone of the song mid way, transitioning from a ballad to something more upbeat and ready to party. Combs, one of the country’s biggest stars, makes it clear how after “forever after all” there are 3 things he can rely on: beer, trucks and his lady.

Dreamsicle – Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit

Isbell is, without a doubt, one of the finest songwriters working today. On “Dreamsicle” he takes the heartbreaking point-of-view of a child, looking back on the dysfunctions of growing up, with only the comforts of a dreamsicle to get him through the years. Isbell’s plain spoken voice and sweet melody reveal the bittersweet experience of youth.