Comments on: Top 40 Singles of 2011, Part Four: #10-#1

By: variel

variel — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 09:24:01 +0000

I love the song Mean by Taylor Swift because I can relate to it so well. This song always makes me feel better about myself and believe that things will get better. It’s amazing how she can put this feeling in her song when I can even put it into words.

By: klark

klark — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 04:45:19 +0000

I would exchange “Mean” with “Cost of Living” but it does not matter that much. “You and Tequila” is also a contender too. :)

BTW, Taylor Swift has pulled a heck of good singles this year.

By: Paul W Dennis

Paul W Dennis — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 04:18:04 +0000

I really didn’t put together a top singles list this year since I tended to purchase albums rather than individual tracks and didn’t give country radio much of my time this year except for Willie’s Roadhouse on XM-Sirius where I got to hear some new acts that over-the-air radio won’t touch

I did buy many of the albums from which this years singles were drawn. In many cases I thought there were better songs on the albums than were released to radio as singles

Of the top ten on this list I liked “Threaten Me With Heaven”, “Hell on Heels”,”Colder Weather” and “You and Tequila”. The rest didn’t impress me at all

By: Sweetcheeks

Sweetcheeks — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 01:30:44 +0000

My name is Sweetcheeks and about the Luke Bryan song. Yeah its catchy but its kinda annoying that country men sing about girls asses so much. I mean you might get the idea that these men value asses more than other things in a woman. Its a shame that radio emphasizes the booty and not other qualities that are more appropriate and less neanderthalish. Sweetcheeks out.

By: K-man

K-man — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 01:13:40 +0000

My Top 10 is something along the lines of:

1. The Band Perry – You Lie
I just really liked this song. It had a compelling melody, especially the breakdown.

2. Hunter Hayes – Storm Warning
Catchy and addictive, and grew on me gradually until I was in love.

3. Taylor Swift – Mine
I agree that Taylor Swift has had quite the year. This one technically counts as last year’s song, but it took me to the end of last year/beginning of this year to fully appreciate it. I found it both sonically pleasing and emotional.

4. Taylor Swift – Mean
I have to also agree that this song is another gem. It was another earworm, but it was unique in its own right. It was interesting to see our little pop princess make one of the best country songs of the year. I was pleasantly surprised to see it on top of the Country Universe list.

5. Luke Bryan – Country Girl (Shake It For Me)
Maybe it is weak on content, but it was catchy an fun, and that’s it was meant to be.

6. Miranda Lambert – Baggage Claim
This is another one that took me a while to warm up to, but once I did, I really started to dig it.

7. Taylor Swift – Sparks Fly
Interesting that of the three Taylor Swift songs on my list, the one that meant the most to me lyrically is the lowest on the list. I guess it just proves how much I value melody in a song. Sparks Fly certainly does have a great melody and emotion, but it just wasn’t as effective as Mine or Mean, even if lyrically it meant more to me.

8. Tim McGraw & Gwyneth Paltrow – Me & Tennessee
There’s just something sweet about this song.

9. Rascal Flatts & Natasha Beddingfield – Easy
I’ve always liked Rascal Flatts, so I guess I’m biased, but this was interesting too.

10. Brad Paisley & Carrie Underwood – Remind Me
It was nice to at least have something from Carrie Underwood in between her own studio albums. The Brad Paisley production is predictably Brad Paisley, but Carrie adds to it nicely and makes it a winner.

By: Country Universe: 2011 countdowns and personality test fun | Tara Seetharam

Country Universe: 2011 countdowns and personality test fun | Tara Seetharam — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 13:29:31 +0000

[...] staff in tow, we counted down the 40 best singles and 20 best albums of the year over at Country Universe, ending with Taylor Swift’s freshly [...]

By: andie

andie — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 08:18:53 +0000

Mean is a lovely song, and I enjoy most of the songs on this list. I’d hate to have to rank them myself, so good job to the Universe here for putting in the effort.

BTW have any of you writers here listened to the new Civil Wars/Swift song Safe and Sound? Too bad it wasn’t put out earlier and on country radio…I think it would make this list and be quite high. Would love to see a round-table review of that song. Hope she keeps going that direction but am afraid she will have to keep shooting for the mainstream to try to compete with Gaga/Adele etc. in media exposure.

By: Tara Seetharam

Tara Seetharam — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:46:45 +0000

Thanks Ben!

This was the first year I included T. Swift on my list, and I didn’t even think twice about it. Those are freakishly good singles.

By: Sweetcheeks

Sweetcheeks — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 22:07:01 +0000

I think a lot of these songs are great! “Mean” is good, so is “Colder Weather;” I really enjoyed “Love Done Gone” when it came out, but it eventually wore thin with me. But anyway, “Mean” is one of my favorite singles, and Taylor Swift did a great job with it. Not a huge Swift fan, but I do think she is one of the brightest spots on the radio right now and she does a great job at what she does. SWEETCheeks, out! lols.

By: Ben Foster

Ben Foster — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:44:48 +0000

Thanks fo reading, all! This has been so much fun.

The Civil Wars’ album was a clear shoo-in for my albums list, but I somehow entirely overlooked their “Barton Hollow” single, which was one of my favorite tracks of the album. Glad to see the rest of the crew picked up my slack though ;) #6 is about where I would have put it.

Tara’s blurb for “Amen” sums it up perfectly. There are few other singles released this year that, for me, have held their appeal as well as it has. It just works on so many levels. I sure will be excited to hear more from Edens Edge in the future.