Our Top 10 Garth Brooks songs list looks at not only one of the most successful country music artists of all time but one of the overall biggest selling recording artists of all time. Did you know that as of 2020, Garth Brooks was the only country music artist in the USA to have had a history of releasing nine albums that attained Diamond selling status? Garth Brooks’ songs revolutionized the way people viewed country music in the United States of America. With his music influence, he was able to bring a new country music audience on board, and as a result, the genre gained a massive following within America and across the borders. Millions of artists and fans give all this credit to Garth Brooks for releasing inspiring songs like “Ain’t Going Down Till the Sun Comes Up,” “The Thunder Rolls,” “Shameless,” and many more. Our top 10 Garth Brooks songs list presents ten of his most famous songs.
# 10 – Callin’ Baton Rouge
The original version of this song was in existence even before Garth Brooks’ version came into play. The song is originally from Dennis Linde. Even before Garth Brooks could cut it for his ‘In Pieces’ album, other artists such as the New Grass Revival and the Oak Ridge Boys had already cut the song and enjoyed some considerable airplay in the United States of America. Fortunately for Garth Brooks, his version of this song exploded into the mainstream and became more popular than even the original song. This song is even more entertaining for fans because it is a bluegrass-inspired song with outstanding instrumentals solos when performed live
Garth Brooks released ‘Callin’ Baton Rouge’ in 1994 as one of the songs in his In Pieces album. Fortunately, this song managed to lead on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles and Songs chart.
# 9 – Shameless
Garth Brooks recorded this great Billy Joel’s song from Joel’s Storm Front album and released it on Ropin’ the Wind album, which he released in 1991. As an artist, Garth Brooks loved to feature stories of his heroes. Through this track, he expresses his love for his hero Billy Joel. Although this song was just a cover song on the album, it received significant attention from fans. This attention was evident when he performed the song during the CMA Awards the same year he released the album. In the song, Garth Brooks tells a man who is determined to do anything to manifest his affection for someone else. During the 1991 CMA Awards, Garth Brooks made the performance even more convincing when he incorporated rose flowers on stage. The following day, his fans could not help but talk about how over-romantic the performance was.
# 8 – The Thunder Rolls
What comes into your mind when you hear someone mention Garth Brooks’ The Thunder Rolls song? The Thunder Rolls was one of Garth’s songs that received much publicity due to how controversial it was. The theme of this song is all about domestic violence, where a cheating partner did not come back home one night. To make it more realistic, Garth Brooks goes ahead and includes a murder scene in the video. Unfortunately, due to the sensitive scenes in this song’s video, CMT and TNN banned it. On his side, Garth Brooks cleared the air that his intentions for creating such violent, dramatic and sensitive content were solely to create awareness of how actual domestic violence was in many households. Luckily, the controversies and publicities surrounding this song had their advantage side as fundraisers came through to the aid of battered women.
# 7 – More Than A Memory
At number seven on our Garth Brooks songs list is Garth Brooks 2007 hit More Than A Memory. It was Garth Brooks first hit single since the release of his cover version of Bib Dylan’s To Make You Feel My Love in 1998. Garth Brooks had decided to pay some more attention to raising his young family consisting of two girls. But that did not entirely deter him from releasing songs once in a while. ‘More than a Memory’ was a product of these occasional special projects that Garth Brooks released while he was in a semi-retired phase of his life. To many of his fans, the song was more of a comeback and a reminder at the same time. It reminded many fans that the country music star might have been off the radio waves, but he was surely not forgotten. Since then, ‘More than a Memory’ has become a fan favorite. In 2007, ‘More than a Memory’ hit number one on the Billboard Hot Country Song charts.
# 6 – If Tomorrow Never Comes
Garth Brooks and Kent Blazy wrote the lyrics of ‘If Tomorrow Never Comes’ and incorporated a sad mood and tone to the song to make it more realistic and convincing. After being released in 1989, the song became among the final chart-toppers. In the song, Garth Brooks sings about a man who seems not to get any sleep during the whole night, thinking of the possibilities he might pass on without truly manifesting his love to his wife. Like many other Garth Brooks songs, there is a way in which this song makes listeners stop what they are doing and, for a moment, think about life and the under-utilized opportunities that people have while they are still alive. Garth Brooks released this song as his second single and ended up leading in his hit list.
In 1991, the American Music Awards named the ‘If Tomorrow Never Comes’ song as the Favorite Country Single.
# 5 – Standing Outside the Fire
In 1993, with the help of his friend Jenny Yates, Garth Brooks penned down this ‘Standing Outside the Fire’ song, which is an inspiring piece of art. The video is both inspiring and emotional in that it features the story of a young boy who lives with the Down syndrome condition. Although the boy lives with Down syndrome condition, he goes against all odds to triumphantly take part in the athletic program in his school. The song won the hearts of many athletes who had special conditions who received it well and motivated them to perform better. Apart from athletes, this song also motivated other people living with disabilities from all walks of life. For this reason, this song qualifies to be in our list of the top ten Garth Brooks songs of all time.
# 4 – Unanswered Prayers
While still doing what he does best on love and life, Garth Brooks again surprised his fans with a thrilling hit from his hit ‘No Fences’ album. He released ‘Unanswered Prayers’ in 1990, and the message in the song was all about some of the choices that we as human beings make on a daily basis. The song features the story of a man who bumps into his girlfriend while with his wife. At that moment, while introducing his wife to his girlfriend, he comes to the realization of the sadness and heartbreak that he had caused her. However, the failed relationship turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the man as the heartbreak led to a different but better path.
From the ‘No Fences’ album, ‘Unanswered Prayers’ became so popular to the extent that the Lifetime Television Network turned it into a made-for-TV movie in 2010. According to Garth Brooks, he wrote this song based on a real story.
# 3 – Friends in Low Places
From the ‘No Fences’ album, ‘Friends in Low Places became Garth Brooks’ signature truck into the world of superstars in 1990. Garth Brooks and DeWayne Blackwell crafted this song so that it would later turn out to be an explosive and energetic track and one of his favorite performances. What also made the song a hit was that it became the favorite song for most college and campus students.
This Brooks’ ballad is a crowd-pleaser whose story revolves around a cowboy who turns up to an engagement ceremony of an old flame. The integration of an acoustic guitar and its four-note arpeggio causes a unique type of excitement in the crowd.
# 2 – What She’s Doing Now
For some people, Brooks’ ‘What She’s Doing Now’ might not be on their top list. However, we incorporated it in our list of top ten Garth Brooks songs due to various reasons. The performance of this song was extra-convincing due to its perfect composition involving an ex-lover who casts a shadow on a featured individual’s life. Additionally, in the second month of 1992, this song topped the list of the singles chart for approximately four weeks. To date, ‘What She’s Doing Now’ remains the favorite Garth Brooks song for most people whose real-life experiences relate to the lyrics in this song.
# 1 – The Dance
In the number one spot on our top 10 Garth Brooks songs list is his sensational and legendary track entitled The Dance. The song was released as the closing tack on Garth Brook’s debut album entitled Garth Brooks. The album was released in 1989. This is a real crowd pleasing tune in which audiences usually drown out the band. The theme of the song is about celebrating legendary icons from the United States of America who lost their lives in protecting the life and liberty of the American people. The legends and social activists that Garth Brooks features in the video of this song include the likes of President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. This song incorporates poetic lyrics that Tony Arata composed.
Feature Photo: at top of page Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from Washington D.C, United States, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
