Hardy Favorite Country Song Lyrics Aren’t What You Expect

As Hardy begins his new single “Favorite Country Song,” it’s tempting to believe he’s toying with a popular formula.

Then, the lyrics pivot into something anyone who grew up in the country will recognize.

It’s not that songs that pack as many hit titles into the lyrics are getting old. Each one is unique, clever and often a hit. Thomas Rhett did it with “What’s Your Country Song?” Kane Brown had “Like I Love Country Music.” Walker Hayes did “’90s Country.”

Then, there are artist specific tributes like Scotty McCreery‘s “Damn Strait.” As Hardy begins “Favorite Country Song,” he lists titles from Kenny Chesney, Zac Brown Band, Merle Haggard, Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn and more. We identified each one below, but his list stops before the first chorus.

Ashley Gorley, Beau Bailey and Zach Abend helped the singer-songwriter craft something more original from there. “Favorite Country Song” is a tribute to all the quiet sounds of country living, performed with far less urgency than other Hardy hits like “Wait in the Truck” and “Truck Bed.”

One contemporary comparison comes from a recent legend he didn’t hat tip in the opening verse: Tim McGraw‘s “Meanwhile Back at Mama’s” (with Faith Hill) is a great example of how a storyteller can bring the sounds and smells of country life forward.

“Favorite Country Song” doesn’t sound like that, but lyrically, it does “sound” like it.

Hardy, “Favorite Country Song” Lyrics:

Summertime (Chesney), Chicken Fried (ZBB), Mama Tried (Haggard) / Country Boy (Jackson), Country Boy Can Survive (Hank Williams Jr. / Ol’ Marina (George Strait), My Maria (Brooks & Dunn), and My Amy (Keith Whitley) / Outskirts Of Heaven (Craig Campbell) and Sinners Like Me (Eric Church) / Yeah, they might’ve lit a flame under these old boots / But they sure don’t hold no candle to.

Chorus:
A north wind blowin’ through a patch of pines / Whippoorwills singin bout summertime / Raindrops drummin’ on rusted tin / Flathead draggin’ out twenty pound Stren / Oh, oh, Strike up the fire / Somebody cue the crickets in the creek bank choir / Gotta get back ’cause it’s been too long / That’s my favorite country song.

Hound-dog howlin’, tryna track it down / A straight pipes hummin’ comin’ back from town / Grease in thе skillet goin’ pop, pop, pop / Nah, you can’t find that on an old jukebox.

It’s a John Deere clеarin’ out a rye-grass row / If you don’t come from it, then you probably don’t know / Yeah, you probably don’t know.

Repeat Chorus

Oh, hallelujah, I know it that the good Lord wrote it / For a good ol’ boy like me / On the back porch, sippin’ on a cold beer / Listen to some home-sweet harmony.

Repeat Chorus