If you’ve never had a hair-flipping, bed-jumping, scream-singing dance party to country music, what have you been doing with your life? 90s and early 2000s women country singers gave so much to the pop-esque country genre. Their independent and take-on-the-world qualities make their music fun, and their love for love makes their music desirable. So grab a hairbrush to sing along because the following five songs are considerably some of the best country hits to dance around to that will make you feel like a professional while you belt them out in your room (with some sick dance moves, I’m sure…)
The Way You Love Me – Faith Hill
Honestly, does it get any better than Faith Hill? I can’t help but listen to her music and assume everything is about Tim McGraw and that makes me so happy I can hardly stand it. This song is the ultimate ode to the perfect man. This song is an accurate representation of how everyone in a relationship wants to feel. I could jump around to this song forever. Also, this video (!!!) is the greatest thing ever.
Best lyric to sing-along to: “You’re the million reasons why there’s love reflecting in my eyes”
Man! I Feel Like a Woman! – Shania Twain
Girls, this is our anthem. This song is best sung when you’re driving around with all your best girlfriends. (I can’t help but think of the scene in the Britney Spears movie Crossroads when Brit and friends belt this out on their road trip.) This might be the most poppy you can go and still be country. Shania really made herself known with this one. Girls just want to have fun and listen to Shania Twain and wear men’s shirts and short skirts.
Best lyric to sing-along to: “The best thing about a-bein’ a woman is the prerogative to have a little fun”
Suds In The Bucket – Sara Evans
This goes out to all the girls who have thought about the perfect boy that would make them drop everything to go be with him. This story about a small town teenage girl going off to be with her love regardless of the life she’s leaving behind is something that is straight from the movies. “You can’t stop love,” Sara sings and we all want to feel just that. The instrumental in this song provides for some necessary two-stepping and twirling around in cowboy boots.
Best lyric to sing-along to: “A little pony-tailed girl grown up to be a woman and she’s gone in a blink of an eye / She left the suds in the bucket and the clothes hangin’ out on the line”
Bye Bye – Jo Dee Messina
Although we love to jam out to happy, lovey songs, some of the best dance songs are the upbeat break-up ones. This one is a prime example. What’s better than screaming bye bye to the one who broke your heart? Sure, the dancing and the screaming is going to make you insanely tired but you’ll inevitably burn a lot of calories while doing so. Jo Dee sings about a man who just couldn’t make up his mind so she does it for him. You go girl. Keep doin’ you, we’re all taking notes.
Best lyric to sing-along to: “I’ve lost the game I guess / I did my best to win the part / Now I’m leaving here with what’s left of my heart”
Kerosene – Miranda Lambert
This is a complete and polar opposite song from many on this list (which is good because everybody enjoys a little variety) and is so necessary for anyone who is thinking of the perfect revenge to get on the worst of the worst who didn’t know how to treat you. Cheating is never ok, ok? Miranda totally gets revenge by setting this boy’s house on fire. “Life ain’t hard but it’s too long living like some country song,” she sings and decides to give up on love. One would deem this an appropriate statement after having your heart broken. So, don’t dance to hard to this one. (And don’t set any houses on fire…)
Best lyric to sing-along to: “Now I don’t hate the one who left / You can’t hate someone who’s dead / He’s out there holding on to someone / I’m holding up my smoking gun”
This mini-playlist is guaranteed to get you in the best mood and will provide the best dance party you’ve ever had. I’ll just go ahead and say you’re welcome — YOU’RE WELCOME.
I have unabashedly and unashamedly sang my heart out to every single one of these songs. Faith Hill’s “The Way You Love Me” was on the first CD I ever owned which came with my first boombox. I’m pretty sure my parents still hate the song because I played it over and over again and screamed it at the top of my lungs until I lost my voice. One of my babysitters even went as far as to hide the CD one night so that she could get some peace and quiet for 5 minutes. Even after all of that I’ll probably never get tired of the song. You picked great songs that brought back tons of memories for me!
I really enjoyed this post! I liked all of the songs you chose. My mom introduced me to Shania Twain when I was little (she is one of her absolute favorites!) and “Feel Like A Woman” was a song we definitely listened to many times in the car! We also both love Faith Hill, and reading this list reminded me of all the times my mom would go buy the latest CD. Now that I’m older I can totally relate to blasting Miranda Lambert’s “Kerosene” with my sisters. Country music is so great because there are so many classic songs that never get old!
Kayla,
I can honestly say I have had a dance party by myself like you described to every single one of these songs! Well done you nailed this list. It has been a long time since I have heard “The Way You Love Me” and “Man! I Feel Like a Woman,” so thank you for bringing those songs back on my radar! These songs fit the pop-country genre to a T. I think its my favorite kind of country music because it is so upbeat and happy and makes me believe in girl power. Great article, one of my favorites I have read so far!
I loved this post! The gif a the beginning was perfect and I am happy you included taylor swift in that but not in the actual songs. Love her but not sure she is country. The songs you picked were perfect and I have definitely sang along to all of those at one point. I really liked how you included the line that is most fun to sing along too. I thought it was cute and creative. This post was a fun one and definitely written like a buzzed article. I think you should definitely submit it. These were all classics and I think you nailed it.
I know every single word to all of these songs and this was such a fun post to read because of that. Jo Dee Messina is my all time favorite girl-power-jam-out country artist! I hadn’t seen any of these music videos and they were all so fun to watch, I wish I had hopped on the music video train waay sooner, but I didn’t ever watch music videos before I started taking this class, but they are so cool. I’m not really into hairbrush holding and rocking out but I do love to belt these songs out when they come on the radio, especially Suds in the Bucket!
I definitely agree with most the girls above in that I have looked like Taylor Swift in the GIF many of times! This list is definitely a good one but I also think it’s a very gender specific list. We have touched on this topic before some in class. I love all these songs and would totally blast them in my room, however I don’t see my boyfriend or guy friends doing the same. I mean some may argue that guys never jam out to songs but I beg to differ. I have witnessed my guy friends do this many times. I just can’t necessarily picture it to this mini playlist. One good thing though about country music is that you can make almost any kind of playlist for any age, gender, or mood.
I think you picked a really great list of songs. Shania Twain was my first concert I went to in the third grade and “Man! I feel like a woman” is definitely one of her best. I think it is so funny that you chose “The Way You Love Me”, I feel like not many people our age know that song because it is so old, I can sing every word to it! I think everyone of these songs are songs that you can blast in your car on a girls road trip and everyone is able to enjoy it.
Kayla, this was a very entertaining post! Just off of your title, it made me want to read what songs you were going to talk about. All of these songs you wrote about definitely make people want to sing along! I have to say though that “They Way You Love Me” by Faith Hill is one of the best. That song is hard not to sing along and dance to in my opinion! It has such an upbeat and catchy tune that tends to get stuck in people’s heads very often. Also, “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” by Shania Twain is another great choice! That song really makes a woman feel empowered with its pop-like beat and fun lyrics. I also think many of Taylor Swift’s songs fall into this category also simply because all of them are very popular with their catchy lyrics.
Kayla, I love these 5 songs that you picked! This was a very creative and orginal idea. Each one takes me back to when i first got my drivers license and would blast these songs driving down the street! I hadn’t heard of “Suds in the Bucket” but after listening, I just added it to my spotify car jams playlist! On the other hand, “Man! I Feel like a Woman” is my #1 most played song. It is truly a classic. I really appreciate these throwbacks as it took me on a wonderful stroll down memory lane. Thank you for sharing with us!
Kayla I love you and I love this. Perfect buzzfeed-style article. Please submit it so I can refer to it all the time. I can honestly say I have blasted these songs in my room and in my car on several occasions. Faith Hill’s “Love the Way You Love Me” is the best upbeat sounding tune when you’re catching those feelings for boy. Its a windows down, summertime sing-a-long. And anything Shania Twain can get me singing loud and proud. I play “Man! I Feel Like A Woman” when I’m getting ready to go out, and I’m really feeling myself and getting into the girl power mood. “Bye Bye” by Jo Dee Messina, yeah BYE boys. And anything Miranda Lambert is just flawless, especially her angry boy-hating songs. I can relate with those all too well these days. This is a perfect list for us girls that like to pretend we’re teenagers again. Long live gal country.
I love this post, it was so accurate. Your voice in the piece made it a really fun read and super relatable. I’d actually never heard “Bye Bye” by Joe Dee Messina before this, and I’m feeling pretty sad about it considering how much I enjoyed it on the first listen. I definitely agree with Elissa’s comment above, I could pretty much lose my voice to any Miranda Lambert song for over-singing it. One of my favorite songs that would totally go with this list is “Red High Heels” by Kellie pickler. There are so many options for any playlist you could dream up with country music, which is one of my favorite things about the genre. Thanks for sharing!
I love this post! I don’t typically like female singers (of any genre) but there is no doubt that these are some perfect songs to dance around to. I thought it was a nice touch and really creative how you added the “best lyric to sing along to” for each song. I can tell you’re totally being yourself as you write this and it was defiantly fun to read! This is definitely a girl-empowerment kind of playlist and I doubt I would find any of my guy friends listening to it. The gif at the opening was spot on by the way…it was embarrassingly relatable. Thanks for sharing!! I’m looking forward to reading the articles you post in the future.
THANK YOU. Dude this playlist is straight fire. To be honest…I didn’t know several of the songs (awkward) but when I saw the Shania Twain song I immediately related. That is one of those songs I remember from when I was really young. It was a jam then and still is a jam now. This list also makes me want to stalk you on spotify and follow your playlists. If you don’t already have a girly country playlist put together I think you could make a great one. I also really like the feminine anthem theme you have going on here. It seems like each of the artists independently represents a strong female presence in the country music world. Way to go Kayla!