Over the semesters, CMP contributors have analyzed a number of country songs and albums. Click the titles below to learn more about something you already know and to fall in love with something new.
Song Analyses
| Performer | Song Title |
Analysis by… |
| Rodney Atkins | “It’s America” | Lottie Glazer |
| Band Perry | “If I Die Young” | Candace Edgley |
| “You Lie” | Alyssa Buchanan | |
| Dierks Bentley | “Every Mile a Memory” | Tori Horvath |
| “I Hold On” | Walker Dyess | |
| Brooks & Dunn | “Brand New Man” | Jordanne Mickle |
| Garth Brooks | “Belleau Wood” | Sierra Smith |
| “Friends in Low Places” | Keaton Schlueter | |
| Zac Brown Band | “Bittersweet” | Tyler Dial |
| “Chicken Fried” | Tyler King | |
| “No Hurry” | Michael Casarez | |
| “Oh My Sweet Carolina” | Erin McWilliams | |
| Luke Bryan | “Drink a Beer” | Erin McAtee |
| Cam | “Burning House” | Darah Welch |
| Glen Campbell | “I’m Not Gonna Miss You” | Lee Allen |
| Johnny Cash | “Cry! Cry! Cry!” | Carilu Martinez |
| “Folsom Prison Blues” | Elizabeth Stack | |
| “I’d Still Be There” | Mark Anderson | |
| Kenny Chesney | “American Kids” | Courtney González |
| “The Good Stuff” | Justin Cole | |
| “I Go Back” | Hannah Evans | |
| “Never Wanted Nothin’ More” | Adam Keyrouze | |
| Dixie Chicks | “Easy Silence” | Holly Kern |
| “Landslide” | Stephanie Sebo | |
| “Not Ready to Make Nice” | Claudia Boyd | |
| “Travelin’ Soldier” | Ramie Payne | |
| “Wide Open Spaces” | Katerina Biancardi | |
| Eric Church | “Like Jesus Does” | Will Glass |
| “The Outsiders” | Gerrit Cook | |
| “These Boots” | Matthew Wills | |
| Patsy Cline | “Crazy” | Olivia English |
| Roger Creager | “The Everclear Song” | Talia Milan |
| Merle Haggard | “Okie from Muskogee” | Mae Nixon |
| Lucy Hale | “Lie a Little Better” | Jessica Jakobeit |
| Sam Hunt | “Take Your Time” | Laura Morales |
| Alan Jackson | “Little Man” | John Monroe |
| “Where Were You (When the…)” | Brittany Fietsam | |
| George Jones | “I Don’t Need Your Rockin’ Chair” | Brittney Haynes |
| Toby Keith | “Courtesy of the Ride, White, and Blue” | Julie Kleberg |
| “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” | Gaby Hernández | |
| “The Taliban Song” | Kevin Lefkowitz | |
| Miranda Lambert | “The House that Built Me” | Amanda Fees |
| “Kerosene” | Taylor Campbell | |
| “Over You” | Caitie Labay | |
| Chris LeDoux | “Hooked on an 8 Second Ride” | Timothy Harakal |
| Little Big Town | “Girl Crush” | Annie Gondran |
| Loretta Lynn | “Coal Miner’s Daughter” | Lynden Orr |
| “To Make a Man (Feel Like a Man)” | Dena Lipper | |
| Martina McBride | “I’m Gonna Love You Through It” | Shannon Smith |
| Tim McGraw | “Dust” | Abby Shamis |
| “Just to See You Smile” | Joshua Fleming | |
| Kacey Musgraves | “Follow Your Arrow” | Shelby Conine |
| “Merry Go ‘Round” | Kaki Miller | |
| Willie Nelson | “Me and Paul” | Drew Scherger |
| “The Wall” | Madison Comstock | |
| Jake Owen | “Life of the Party” | Katie O’Neil |
| “The One that Got Away” | Samantha Godfrey | |
| Brad Paisley | “This Is Country Music” | Mackenzi McAffee |
| Brad Paisley feat. Dolly Parton | “When I Get Where I’m Going” | Adrian Ortiz |
| Rascal Flatts | “Holes” | Marissa Gallardo |
| “Life Is a Highway” | Joseph Schooling | |
| “What Hurts the Most” | Zane Gurwitz | |
| Marty Robbins | “The Master’s Call” | Brent Borman |
| Darius Rucker | “Wagon Wheel” | Paige Hinkle |
| Blake Shelton | “Boys ‘Round Here” | Minsu Kim |
| “Over” | Alyssa Hazen | |
| Bruce Springsteen | “The Rising” | MaKayla Markey |
| George Strait | “Amarillo by Morning” | Amy Burt |
| “Check Yes or No” | Kelby Floerke | |
| “I Get Along with You” | James Pruitt | |
| “I Saw God Today” | Elissa Killebrew | |
| “Ocean Front Property” | Max Holter | |
| George Strait & Alan Jackson | “Murder on Music Row” | Shira Yoram |
| Taylor Swift | “All Too Well” | Ginny Montalbano |
| “Dear John” | Abby Bourland | |
| “Love Story” | Tamar Oren | |
| “Ours” | Hannah Parmer | |
| “Tim McGraw” | Julianne Stain | |
| “We Are Never Getting Back Together” | Kayla Miracle | |
| Cole Swindell | “You Should Be Here” | Cassidy Wilson |
| Josh Turner | “Would You Go with Me” | Morgan Lohmeier |
| “Your Man” | Daniella | |
| Turnpike Troubadours | “Good Lord Lorrie” | Reid Thompson |
| “Long Hot Summer Day” | Lauren Harris | |
| Shania Twain | “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” | Randle Cecil |
| Carrie Underwood | “I Ain’t in Checotah Anymore” | Lejla Pracic |
| “Temporary Home” | Emma Morgan | |
| “Two Black Cadillacs” | Alina Monzón | |
| Aaron Watson | “Bluebonnets (Julia’s Song)” | Abby Wills |
Album Analyses
1950s
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Johnny Cash and His Hot and Blue Guitar (1957) |
Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs (1959) by Marty Robbins |
1960s
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| Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash (1963) | At Folsom Prison (1968) by Johnny Cash | Woman of the World / To Make a Man (1969) by Loretta Lynn |
1970s
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| Coal Miner’s Daughter (1970) by Loretta Lynn |
1980s
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| Strait Country (1981) by George Strait | Greatest Hits (1985) by George Strait |
1990s
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| No Fences (1990) by Garth Brooks | The Greatest Hits Collection (1997) by Brooks & Dunn | Come on Over (1997) by Shania Twain |
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| Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 (1999) by Toby Keith |
2000-2004
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| Greatest Hits (2000) by Tim McGraw | Drive (2002) by Alan Jackson | Home (2002) by the Dixie Chicks |
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| No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problem (2002) by Kenny Chesney | The Rising (2002) by Bruce Springsteen | Feels Like Today (2004) by Rascal Flatts |
2005-2009
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| Kerosene (2005) by Miranda Lambert | Some Hearts (2005) by Carrie Underwood | Long Trip Alone (2006) by Dierks Bentley |
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| Me and My Gang (2006) by Rascal Flatts | Taylor Swift (2006) by Taylor Swift | Taking the Long Way (2006) by the Dixie Chicks |
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| Your Man (2006) by Josh Turner | Fearless (2008) by Taylor Swift | Play On (2009) by Carrie Underwood |
2010-2014
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| Speak Now (2010) by Taylor Swift | You Get What You Give (2010) by Zac Brown Band | Barefoot Blue Jean Night (2011) by Jake Owen |
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| Chief (2011) by Eric Church | Eleven (2011) by Martina McBride | Red River Blue (2011) by Blake Shelton |
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| Blown Away (2012) by Carrie Underwood | Goodbye Normal Street (2012) by Turnpike Troubadours |
Based on a True Story… (2013) by Blake Shelton |
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| Crash My Party (2013) by Luke Bryan |
Days of Gold (2013) by Jake Owen | Same Trailer, Different Park (2013) by Kacey Musgraves |
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| Big Revival (2014) by Kenny Chesney | Band of Brothers (2014) by Willie Nelson | The Outsiders by Eric Church (2014) |
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| Road Between (2014) by Lucy Hale | Sundown Heaven Town (2014) by Tim McGraw |
2015-present
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| The Underdog (2015) by Aaron Watson |