litlover12

I usually don't make year-end lists, but everyone else seems to be doing it, so I guess I've got sucked in. As for making said list five days into the new year, well, life is moving pretty fast these days!

Country purists, be warned, my list is of a nature that will make you shriek and tear your hair. My criteria are pretty broad: It has to be a song that has a catchy tune and/or lyrics that are meaningful to me (in either a serious or funny way) and/or a singer with a good voice and/or just something about it that makes me want to crank up the volume and sing along at the top of my lungs. In short, I ain't no country highbrow. So if you can't stand anything that doesn't have the sort of twang Grandpa would have approved of, better back out now for your own good. Not that I don't like twang; I just like a lot of other things too.

I stuck to songs that were released as singles in 2009, and picked only one song per singer or group, just to narrow things down a bit. Some of my favorite acts didn't come up with anything wonderful this year, and conversely, some acts I generally don't care for much had singles last year that I just loved. That's just the way these things go, I guess. If I do this again next year, you're likely to see a completely different-looking list then!

With all that established, then, here we go. (I don't think I'll bother linking to videos. Half the time these days, the videos are completely unrelated to the songs, which drives me nuts. And anyway, I don't have time.) From last to first:

20. "Need You Now," Lady Antebellum
19. "Big Green Tractor," Jason Aldean
18. "One in Every Crowd," Montgomery Gentry
17. "Cryin' for Me," Toby Keith
16. "I Just Call You Mine," Martina McBride
15. "Love Like Crazy," Lee Brice
14. "Till Summer Comes Around," Keith Urban
13. "It's a Business Doing Pleasure with You," Tim McGraw
12. "Sounds Like Life to Me," Darryl Worley
11. "Long after I'm Gone," Big Kenny
10. "You Belong with Me," Taylor Swift
9. "Feel That Fire," Dierks Bentley
8. "People Are Crazy," Billy Currington
7. "Cowboy Casanova," Carrie Underwood
6. "Consider Me Gone," Reba McEntire
5. "A Little More Country than That," Easton Corbin
4. "It Happens," Sugarland
3. "Why Don't We Just Dance," Josh Turner
2. "Out Last Night," Kenny Chesney
1. "Gettin' You Home," Chris Young

I know I'll think of one I forgot as soon as I hit "post." :-) But the top five are set in stone, at least.