Country music in the 60s was all about heartbreak and honky-tonks. Icons like George Jones, Glen Campbell, and Patsy Cline won over hearts and jukeboxes with sentimental lyrics and crooning voices. Here are a few country lyrics from the 60s era that still hit hard.
“Gentle On My Mind” by Glen Campbell
“And the summer sun might burn me ’til I’m blind / But not to where I cannot see you walkin’ on the backroads / By the rivers flowing gentle on my mind.”
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In “Gentle On My Mind”, Glen Campbell sings about how powerful memories can be. This song was written by writer John Hartford in about 15 minutes after he watched the movie Doctor Zhivago. The song was also used by Campbell as the theme for his TV variety show The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour.
“She Thinks I Still Care” by George Jones
“Just because I ask a friend about her / Just because I spoke her name somewhere / Just because I rang her number by mistake today / She thinks I still care.”
It’s true that George Jones was uninterested when he first heard the words of “She Thinks I Still Care”. However, the song would eventually become a “career record” for him, as he explained in his autobiography I Lived To Tell It All. “For years after I recorded it, the song was my most requested,” he shared. “And it became what people in my business call a career record,’ the song that firmly establishes your identity with the public.”
“I Fall To Pieces” by Patsy Cline (ft. The Jordanaires)
“You want me to forget (To forget) / Pretend we’ve never met (Never met) / And I’ve tried and I’ve tried, but I haven’t yet / You walk by and I fall to pieces.”
Like Jones, Cline was hesitant about this song, which would become one of her biggest hits at the time. A country-pop crossover hit, Cline wasn’t sure that “I Fall to Pieces” was country enough, instrumentation-wise. Now, the song is considered a country music classic, and for good reason. The lyrics are universally relatable, as Cline sings about that one person you just can’t seem to get over.
Photo by: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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