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Chapter 189: Friends In Low Places

Country & pop country

The 90s were a line in the sand for a lot of casual country fans, who loved Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson but couldn’t deal with Garth Brooks and Shania Twain. Mainstream country from this point on becomes an acquired taste, a saccharine mix of folksy heartland signifiers and studio hyperpolish. It can also be extraordinarily moving, whether eliciting ‘Hell yeah’’s on “Redneck Woman” or buckets of tears on “Live Like You Were Dying.” It’s even capable of smuggling in subversion, as on the liberation anthem / murder fantasy “Goodbye Earl.”
1. Garth Brooks

Friends In Low Places*

2. Willie Nelson

On the Road Again

3. Dixie Chicks

Goodbye Earl

4. Gretchen Wilson

Redneck Woman

5. George Strait

Write This Down

6. Juice Newton

Queen of Hearts

7. Tim McGraw

Live Like You Were Dying

8. Dolly Parton

9 to 5

9. Shania Twain

Man! I Feel Like A Woman!

10. Faith Hill

Breathe

*Not on Spotify