4 Country Songs From 1987 That Still Make Me Smile Today

Country music in the 1980s is almost a genre unto itself. An incredible decade in country music, some of the best songs from the 1980s came out in 1987. Among all the incredible songs are these four. They are so good that they still make me smile today, even after all these years.

“Fishin’ In The Dark” by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

There may not be a country song that came out in 1987 that is easier to sing along to than “Fishin’ In The Dark” by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. The song is part of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Hold On album. Wendy Waldman and Jim Photoglo are the two writers of the uptempo song.

“Fishin’ In The Dark” says, “You and me going fishing in the dark / Lying on our backs and counting the stars / Where the cool grass grows / Down by the river in the full moon light / We’ll be fallin’ in love in the middle of the night / Just movin’ slow.”

“Eighteen Wheels And A Dozen Roses” by Kathy Mattea

“Eighteen Wheels And A Dozen Roses” is on Kathy Mattea’s Untasted Honey album. It was written by Gene Nelson and Paul Nelson. 

A song about a truck driver retiring from life on the road, “Eighteen Wheels And A Dozen Roses” says, “Eighteen wheels and a dozen roses / Ten more miles on his four-day run / A few more songs from the all-night radio / Then he’ll spend the rest of his life with the one that he loves.”

“Born To Boogie” by Hank Williams Jr.

It might be nearly impossible not to smile while listening to “Born To Boogie” by Hank Williams Jr. “Born To Boogie” is the title track of a record that also came out in 1987. Williams is the sole writer of the song.

His final No. 1 single, the song says, “Now before I could walk I had a guitar in my hand / By the time I could talk I had my own band / Went on the road when I was eight years old / When I turned fifteen I was stealing the show / Money to burn and the girls were pretty / It didn’t take me long to learn that I was born to boogie.”

“All My Ex’s Live In Texas” by George Strait

“All My Ex’s Live In Texas” was written by Sanger D. Shafer and Lyndia J. Shafer. On George Strait’s Ocean Front Property album, “All My Ex’s Live In Texas” is a humorous song about a man who can’t seem to stay in a relationship.

Delivered as only Strait can, “All My Ex’s Live In Texas” says, “All my exes live in Texas / And Texas is the place I’d dearly love to be / But all my exes live in Texas / And that’s why I hang my hat in Tennessee.”

Surprisingly, the first nomination for a Grammy Award that Strait ever received was for this song. In 1988, Strait was nominated for Male Country Vocal Performance for “All My Ex’s Live In Texas”. 

Photo by Ebet Roberts/Redferns