Five Feel Good Country Songs
Feb 20, 2019, 4:21 PM
Is it possible to identify songs that make us feel good without, like, asking us?
Apparently.
According to a new scientific study that looked at factors like tempo, lyrical content and the key that certain pop and rock songs were recorded in, you can.
For example, most so-called “feel-good” songs are 140 beats a minute or faster, compared with an average BPM of 118 for most songs. Also, they’re frequently recorded in major keys. Using that criteria, plus lyrics that were encouraging or encouraged fun, they came up with a top ten list you can see here
But to cut to the chase, their top three were
3) Beach Boys Good Vibrations
2) Abba Dancing Queen
1) Queen Don’t Stop Me Now
Which is fine. I’m a fan of (2 of) those 3 songs. But where are the country songs??
Now, I don’t have any fancy lab equipment to measure music algorhythms nor do I have the time to count how many beats per minute certain songs are. BUT, I do have over 30 years experience in country music and so, based on that and my personal preferences (or, biases, if you disagree) here is a short list of 5 “Feel-Good Country Songs.” (Obviously there are hundreds if not thousands of worthy songs to choose from so this is skimming very, very lightly. If you don’t like it…go make your own list!)
5) Brooks and Dunn Brand New Man
I DEFY anyone to not sing along to that opening chorus. One of country music’s all-time crank-it-up songs (and this Luke Combs/Brooks and Dunn version of it is, as we say here in Northern California, hella good!)
4) Garth Brooks, Callin’ Baton Rouge
I was gonna go with “Ain’t Goin’ Down” but there is something about the joy and hopefulness in “Callin’ Baton Rouge” that makes me smile.
3) Brothers Osborne, Ain’t My Fault
The most contemporary song on this list, this sing-along rocker makes the cut because, A) the hand-clapping chorus is more infectious than pink eye B) the level of blame displacement in the song is world-class. This is one dude who’s letting nothing harsh his mellow
2) Shania, Man, I Feel Like A Woman
Ok, right, I’m not a woman. But that doesn’t keep me from understanding how this song became an anthem for women and girls everywhere in the 90s. And, for the fellas who say they can’t relate? Dude, shh. You don’t have to. Just watch the video.
1) Willie Nelson On The Road Again
In Willie’s world, of course, “on the road again” meant heading out on another tour with his band. For the rest of us, “road trip” usually means it’s vacation time, and that means you’ve got nobody to answer to for the next week or two and nothing makes us feel better than that.
