Country music has long been billed as three chords and the truth.
And while those three chords have evolved over the years, the “truth” often gets told using many of the same familiar words.
What Are the Most Commonly Used Words in Country Music?
Love, baby, girl, heart, truck, home, night, mama, whiskey and drink — in no particular order.
This data was compiled by combining lyric databases from Genius, AZLyrics, Musixmatch and LyricFind, which together include thousands of country song lyrics spanning decades, along with chart data from Billboard and Spotify.
I then entered the data from those aforementioned websites into ChatGPT and asked it to find the 10 most-used words within the lyrics.
Notice something?
Most of these words aren’t about vehicles or alcohol. Instead, they center on relationships, emotions and storytelling. Country music resonates because it connects with real life and love — not just clichés.
That said, there is one stereotype that holds true: country artists have plenty to say about their mamas.
From songs like Morgan Wallen‘s “Thought You Should Know” and Miranda Lambert’s “Mama’s Broken Heart” to classics like Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried” and Dolly Parton’s “Coat of Many Colors,” “mama” gets far more love in country music than you might expect.
What Happened to Bro Country?
While bro country faded in the mid-2010s, the stigma it attached to country music, that it is only about beer and trucks, has been harder to shake.
Read More: [EXCLUSIVE]: Jake Owen on Bro-Country: ‘I STARTED That S–t’ [Watch]
With analytics like this, the next time someone jokes that country music is just “beer and trucks,” you can tell them it’s really about hearts, homes and the people who live in them, with a little whiskey on the side.
Let’s take a look at 22 redneck lyrics you won’t understand if you’re not country.
22 Redneck Lyrics You Won’t Understand if You’re Not Country
Some of the greatest country songs include some words or turns of phrase that you’ve probably only heard before if you grew up in the sticks. Here are 22 songs with lyrics that speak specifically to country folks.
Gallery Credit: Carena Liptak
17 Country Song Lyrics That Perfectly Describe Our Winter Blues
The country songs we find ourselves drawn to are typically the ones that feel like they were written on our hearts. These songs tell our stories, even when we can’t find the words.
The same rings true for the weather. We’ve plucked out several country song lyrics that perfectly describe our feelings about this cold time of year. We bet you’ve uttered a few of these phrases at least once during this frigid season.
Gallery Credit: Jess
