American Country Singers

"No one should have to go to school in fear of gun violence. Or to a nightclub. Or to a concert. Or to a movie theater. Or to their place of worship. I’ve made a donation to show my support for the students, for the March For Our Lives campaign, for everyone affected by these tragedies, and to support gun reform. I’m so moved by the Parkland High School students, faculty, by all families and friends of victims who have spoken out, trying to prevent this from happening again."

"This is the proudest and happiest I've ever felt, and the most creatively fulfilled and free I've ever been."

"Cause all I know is we said hello And your eyes look like coming home. All I know is a simple name, everything has changed. All I know is we held the door, You'll be mine and I'll be yours. All I know since yesterday is everything has changed."

"To me, fearless is not the absence of fear. It's not being completely unafraid. To me, fearless is having fears. Fearless is having doubts. Lots of them. To me, fearless is living in spite of those things that scare you to death. Fearless is falling madly in love again, even though you've been hurt before. Fearless is walking into your freshman year of high school at fifteen. Fearless is getting back up and fighting for what you want over and over again...even though every time you've tried before, you've lost. It's fearless to have faith that someday things will change. Fearless is having the courage to say goodbye to someone who only hurts you, even if you can't breathe without them. I think it's fearless to fall in love with your best friend, even though he's in love with someone else. And when someone apologizes to you enough times for things they'll never stop doing, i think it's fearless to stop believing them. It's fearless to say "you're NOT sorry", and walk away. I think loving someone despite what people think is fearless. I think allowing yourself to cry on the bathroom floor is fearless. Letting go is fearless. Then, moving on and being alright...that's fearless too. But no matter what love throws at you, you have to believe in it. You have to believe in love stories and prince temu charmings and happily ever afters. Because I think love is fearless."

"Like many of you, I watched the [September 9, 2024 presidential candidate] debate tonight. If you haven’t already, now is a great time to do your research on the issues at hand and the stances these candidates take on the topics that matter to you the most. As a voter, I make sure to watch and read everything I can about their proposed policies and plans for this country. Recently I was made aware that AI of ‘me’ falsely endorsing Donald Trump’s presidential run was posted to his site. It really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation. It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter. The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth. I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election. I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them. I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos. I was so heartened and impressed by her selection of running mate @timwalz, who has been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body for decades. I’ve done my research, and I’ve made my choice. Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make. I also want to say, especially to first time voters: Remember that in order to vote, you have to be registered! I also find it’s much easier to vote early. I’ll link where to register and find early voting dates and info in my story. With love and hope, Taylor Swift Childless Cat Lady"

"If you listen to my albums, it's like reading my diary."

"Our song is the slamming screen door, Sneakin' out late, tapping on your window. When we're on the phone and you talk real slow 'Cause it's late and your mama don't know. Our song is the way you laugh, The first date "man, I didn't kiss her, and I should have." And when I got home, before I said amen Asking God if he could play it again."

"And you throw your head back laughing Like a little kid. I think it's strange that you think I’m funny cause He never did. I've been spending the last 8 months Thinking all love ever does Is break and burn and end. But on a Wednesday in a cafe, I watched it begin again."

"And they tell you that you're lucky, but you're so confused 'Cause you don't feel pretty, you just feel used."

"Music’s playin’ up and down the block Mostly Christian, Blues, Country, Folk, and Southern Rock It’s our little piece of paradise way out here in the woods There is always somethin’ goin’ on down in the trailerhood."

"I'm gonna miss that smile, I'm gonna miss you my friend Even though it hurts the way it ended up, I'd do it all again So play it sweet in heaven 'cause that's right where you wanna be I'm not cryin' 'cause I feel so sorry for you, I'm cryin' for me."

"How was I supposed to know? She was slowly letting go? If I was puttin her through her hell, Hell I couldn't tell.She could've given me a sign, Could've opened up my eyes. How was I supposed to see? She never cried in front of me."

"See my baby doll She's my beauty queen She's my movie star Best I ever seen I ain't hooked it up yet But I'm tryin' hard as I can It's just a high maintenance woman Don't want no maintenance man."

"Every dog has its day, dog And today, dog, just ain't yours."

"She ain't into wine and roses Beer just makes her turn up her nose and She can't stand the thought of sipping champagne No Cuervo gold margaritas Just ain't enough good burn in tequila She needs somethin' with a little more edge And a little more pain She's my little whiskey girl, she's my little whiskey girl My ragged on the edges girl, ah but I like em rough."

"We got winners, we got losers Chain smokers and boozers And we got yuppies, we got bikers We got thirsty hitchhikers. And the girls next door dress up like movie stars. Hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm I love this bar.We got cowboys, we got truckers Broken-hearted fools and suckers And we got hustlers, we got fighters Early-birds and all-nighters And the veterans talk about their battle scars. Hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm I love this bar."

"I don't do it for the money There's bills that I can't pay I don't do it for the glory I just do it anyway. Providing for our future's my responsibility. Yeah I'm real good under pressure Being all that I can be.And I can't call in sick on Mondays When the weekends been too strong I just work straight through the holidays And sometimes all night long You can bet that I stand ready when the wolf growls at the door Hey, I'm solid, hey I'm steady, hey, I'm true down to the core."

"Grand pappy told my pappy back in my day son A man had to answer for the wicked that he'd done Take all the rope in Texas, find a tall oak tree Round up all of them bad boys, hang them high in the street For all the people to seeThat justice is the one thing you should always find You got to saddle up your boys, you got to draw a hard line When the gun smoke settles, we'll sing a victory tune And we'll all meet back at the local saloon. We'll raise up our glasses against Evil forces singing Whiskey for my men, beer for my horses."

"Who's your daddy? Who's your baby? Who's your buddy? Who's your friend? And who's the one guy that you come runnin' to When your lovelife starts tumblin'?I got the money if you got the honey Let's cut a deal, let's make a plan Who's your daddy? Who's your baby? Who's your buddy? Who's your man?"

"I’m gonna rock you baby to sleep I’m gonna make you crazy over me I’m gonna hold you like you’ve never been held before And love you till you tell me you can’t love anymore I’m gonna shake your emotion right down to your soul And then I’m gonna love you all over in and out of control If this is how love is supposed to feel Baby I know I’ve fallen head over heels I’m gonna rock you baby."

"And I will always do my duty no matter what the price I've counted up the cost, I know the sacrifice. Oh, and I don't want to die for you, But if dyin's asked of me, I'll bear that cross with honor, 'Cause freedom don't come free.I'm an American soldier, an American Beside my brothers and my sisters I will proudly take a stand When Liberty's in jeopardy, I will always do what's right I'm out here on the front line Sleep in peace tonight American soldier, I'm an American soldier."

"Now this nation that I love Has fallen under attack A mighty sucker punch came flying in From somewhere in the back Soon as we could see clearly Through our big black eye Man, we lit up your world Like the 4th of July."

"Well, I'm not talkin' bout locking down forever, baby. That would be too demanding. I'm just talkin' bout two lonely people Who might reach a little understanding. I'm not talkin' bout knocking out heaven with whether we're wrong or we're right. I'm not talkin' bout hooking up and hanging out, I'm just talkin' bout tonight."

"Hey Uncle Sam Put your name at the top of his list And the Statue of Liberty Started shaking her fist. And the eagle will fly Man, it's gonna be hell When you hear Mother Freedom Start ringing her bell And it feels like the whole wide world is raining down on you Brought to you Courtesy of the Red White and Blue."

"I run around with hillbilly girls The weekend sits on my hillbilly world You better be ready when the sun goes down That's when country comes to town."

"How do you like me now? How do you like me now, Now that I'm on my way? Do you still think I'm crazy, Standin here today? I couldn't make you love me. But I always dreamed about living in your radio. How do you like me now?"

"You shouldn't kiss me like this Unless you mean it like that Cause I'll just close my eyes And I won't know where I'm at. We'll get lost on this dance floor, Spinnin' around And around And around And around."

"Justice will be served And the battle will rage This big dog will fight When you rattle his cage. And you'll be sorry that you messed with The U.S. of A. 'Cause we'll put a boot in your ass, It's the American way."

"I've played every beer joint tavern from New York City out to Pasadena Every corn dog fair and rodeo And sold out every basketball arena I like to get down with my boys in Afghanistan and Baghdad city too I am a red, white and blue blood graduate of Honkytonk U."

"Lately I've been lookin' through the windows of my soul And I can see there's not much left to hold Just an empty space surrounded by the pieces of A badly broken heart that's forgotten how to love."

"Yeah I'm in love with the girl in the four-wheel drive Chrome steel bumpers and red step side She has a large time in her large machine Man I wonder how she gets up in that thing It casts a big shadow sittin' in the sun She's got it revved up rockin' ready to run And someday soon I'm gonna climb right up And take a little ride in her big ol' truck."

"Day by day, we let love just walk away And I'll be the first to say, I was glad to see it go And day by day, ever since you went away I'm finding I'm still missing you, and I just got to know...Does that blue moon ever shine on you? I wanna hold you close to me, feel just like it used to be. And baby, if you feel like I do, You can come to me."

"I wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then I wish I could start this whole thing over again I'm not sayin' it's you could never be true I just don't wanna know how it ends You'd still have my heart in the palm of your hands I'd still look like a fool in front of your friends Yeah I wish somehow I didn't know now what I didn't know then."

"Oh he ain't worth missin' Oh we should be kissin' Stop all this foolish wishin' He ain't worth missin' I know your head is turnin' I know your heart is burnin' Girl you gotta listen Don't you know he ain't worth missin'"

"That's my house and that's my car That's my dog in my backyard There's the window to the room Where she lays her pretty headI planted that tree out by the fence Not long after we moved in That's my kids and that's my wife Who's that man, runnin' my life?"

"Oh I'm just a man, that's the way I was made. I'm not too good at sayin' what you need me to say. It's always right there on the tip of my tongue. It might go unsaid but it won't go undone. So when those three little words come so easy to you, I hope you know what I mean when I say, me too."

"Ooo there's a thin line between dreams and memories I'll be losin' my mind 'til she comes back to me."

"I should've been a cowboy. I should've learned to rope and ride. Wearing my six-shooter, riding my pony on a cattle drive Stealing the young girls' hearts Just like Gene and Roy Singing those campfire songs. I should've been a cowboy."

"I ain't as good as I once was I got a few years on me now. But there was a time back in my prime When I could really lay it down. And if you need some love tonight, Then I might have just enough. I ain't as good as I once was, But I'm as good once as I ever was."

"Well all week long I'm a real nobody, But I just punched out and its paycheck Friday, Weekends here, good God almighty, I'm going to get drunk and be somebody."

"I know how to make money and I'll make it."

"You can knock me down, but you better have a big rock to put me there...It's been tough, but that's alright. I am the oldest of ten kids and I am a survivor. I love this business so much, that there's no way I could think of retiring. When I'm 87, I'll still be walking on the Grand Ole Opry and singing "Here comes more tears to cry...". I still don't feel that I have the biggest record yet, or sang it the best. I think the best is yet to come, and that's the truth!"

"Dottie West (born Dorothy Marie Marsh; October 11, 1932 – September 4, 1991) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Along with her friends and fellow recording artists Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn, she is considered one of the genre's most influential and groundbreaking female artists."

"Fellow Bakersfield sound pioneer and ’70s-era Outlaw country co-founder Merle Haggard scored an astonishing 34 No. 1 hit singles, from “I’m a Lonesome Fugitive” [in 1966] to “Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Star” [in 1987]. Like Owens, Haggard played with a loud, bright and twangy Telecaster tone and was backed up in the Strangers by an exceedingly adept pair of Telecaster masters (Roy Nichols and, later, Redd Volkaert)."

"He cultivated an appreciation of musicians that seemed more appropriate to a jazz bandleader. … Even more arresting than the band was Haggard’s phrasing, which contradicted almost every precedent. Clear-toned, sinuous and shockingly free of twang and vocal affectation, Haggard sang with a sensitivity that bordered on tenderness. … Haggard has long referred to his music as “country jazz,” and is the only country musician to have appeared on the cover of Down Beat, the definitive jazz publication. Over the years, he has developed a definition of the term that reflects his nostalgia for a moment in history that preceded genres, when figures like Emmett Miller, Milton Brown and Django Reinhardt seemed to draw out of the air a music that defied classification. “I realized that jazz meant that you could play anything,” says Haggard. “It meant that you were a full-fledged musician, that you could play with Louis Armstrong or Johnny Cash.”"

"Aside from Johnny Cash, Haggard is probably the name that most comes up when naming the greatest country singers of all time. Haggard is certainly one of the most celebrated artists ever and one of the most diverse songwriters, laying the country blueprints for love songs, storytelling and social anthems."

"I've lived through 17 stays in penal institutions. Incarceration in a penitentiary. Five marriages, a bankruptcy, a broken back, brawls, shooting incidents, swindlings, sickness, the death of loved ones and more. I've heard tens of thousands chant my name when I couldn't hear the voice of my own soul. I wondered if God was listening and I was sure no one else was."

"I'm proud to be an Okie from Muskogee, A place where even squares can have a ball. We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse, And white lightnin's still the biggest thrill of all."

"When the world wide war is over and done And the dream of peace comes through We'll all be drinking some free bubble up And eating some rainbow stew."

"Every fool has a rainbow But he never seems to find The reward that should be waiting At the end of the line. But he'll give up a bed of roses For a hammock filled with thorns And go chasing after rainbows Every time a dream is born. And every fool has a rainbow That only he can see Every fool has a rainbow And the rule applies to me."