Proving that the airplay charts don’t tell all of the story, this part of the countdown features several singles by nineties stars that didn’t reach the top but have stood the test of time.

400 Greatest Singles of the Nineties:

#175-#151

#175
I Wish I Could Have Been There
John Anderson
1994 | Peak: #4

This is the country equivalent to “Cats in the Cradle”, but more tender and less selfish. – Leeann Ward

#174
Sometimes She Forgets
Travis Tritt
1995 | Peak: #7

Tritt gives a surprisingly but fittingly subdued performance on this cover of a Steve Earle song, telling the story of a woman who sometimes forgets that she’s sworn off men. I can never get enough of the incredibly cool arrangement. – Tara Seetharam

#173
Forget About It
Alison Krauss
1999 | Peak: #67

A realistic, messy goodbye, as Krauss’ words tell her old flame to just “forget about it” while her pained whisper mourns that the situation has come to such a point. She’s waking coolly out the door now, but knows it won’t be long before the recent past becomes memories that haunt the both of them. – Dan Milliken

#172
Believe Me Baby (I Lied)
Trisha Yearwood
1996 | Peak: #1

Kim Richey co-wrote this bright pop-country hit that recalls the very best of sixties pop. Check out how Yearwood lets the chorus revel in Wall of Sound goodness while she saves her trademark wail for the verses. Any man who could turn her down after that “If there’s any way…” is stronger than most. – KC

#171
Love Can Build a Bridge
The Judds
1990 | Peak: #5

“Love Can Build a Bridge” may be a record that’s historically and musically stamped by its artists, but the lyrics are potent enough to stand on their own, built on a beautifully-written fundamental truth: “I would whisper love so loudly, every heart could understand/That love and only love can join the tribes of man.” – TS

 

#170
Dance With the One That Brought You
Shania Twain
1993 | Peak: #55

A wise piece of motherly advice set to a dazzling waltz. Very few contemporary country artists can sound as earnest singing timeless gems like this one as they do on wall-shaking pop-country hits. – TS

#169
I Got it Honest
Aaron Tippin
1994 | Peak: #15

As Tippin fiercely growls his principled convictions, it sounds like the final gasp of country music’s long-standing solidarity with the working class.  Thanks to Tippin, it went down fighting. – KC

#168
I’d Love You All Over Again
Alan Jackson
1991 | Peak: #1

No grandiose professions here – just an unaffected, intimate affirmation of love. I can’t get over how nakedly sincere country music sounded in the nineties. – TS

#167
Let Me Let Go
Faith Hill
1998 | Peak: #1

It’s been over for some time, and he seems to have moved on. But she’s trapped, always thinking of him, still seeing little glimmers of hope that maybe they’re supposed to be together after all (“If this is for the best / Why are you still in my heart?”). All she wants now is a way out. – DM

#166
New Way Home
K.T. Oslin
1993 | Peak: #64

It was always a great song, but the synthesizer-drenched, slow-paced arrangement on Love in a Small Town masqueraded its strengths. When Oslin recorded it again for inclusion in her greatest hits collection, it was finally fully realized. The premise is simple: she’s finally moving on from a heartbreak, but she’s changing the way she drives home so she doesn’t accidentally see how he’s moving on as well. – KC

 

#165
Nothin’ But the Wheel
Patty Loveless
1993 | Peak: #20

There’s not a nineties artist who could emote mournfulness more convincingly than Patty Loveless. Throughout the song, we naturally think that she’s leaving in the lonely cover of darkness in order to escape a relationship that she doesn’t want anymore, but we soon discover that it’s even sadder as it’s revealed: “The only thing I know for sure is that you don’t want me anymore.” – LW

#164
She Is His Only Need
Wynonna
1992 | Peak: #1

A man’s work ethic traced back to pleasing the woman he loves. It’s clear that she’d be just as happy if he didn’t keep buying her things that she wanted, but he’s only happy if he keeps doing so. – KC

#163
Foolish Pride
Travis Tritt
1994 | Peak: #1

Tritt offers a straightforward primer on how not to let a marital spat spiral out of control. It all starts with checking pride at the door. – LW

#162
My Baby Loves Me
Martina McBride
1993 | Peak: #2

A bold anthem for women whose men have accepted them for who they are, flaws and all. This is anything but a love song; rather, it’s a fierce declaration to the world. – TS

#161
What’s It To You
Clay Walker
1993 | Peak: #1

This clearly isn’t country music’s finest poetic moment, and I’ll admit I don’t really know what love is to Walker –something along the lines of two hearts beating as one? But here’s the deal: he sure knows. He infuses his performance with such raw, electric energy that the song becomes an invigorating anthem for those who couldn’t be more convinced of their love for someone. And that final clap-along chorus? Pure joy. – TS

 

#160
Three Chords and the Truth
Sara Evans
1997 | Peak: #44

Many country songs pay tribute to music’s sublime ability to evoke buried memories and emotions. Evans takes it a step further, suggesting that a song, even one heard for the first time, can invoke action; in her case, it pushes her to reconcile with her loved one. How appropriate that this record is firmly focused on the music, with its bare-bones arrangement and pure, straightforward vocals. – TS

#159
We Tell Ourselves
Clint Black
1992 | Peak: #2

After a brief hiatus, Black returned with the lead single from his third album, The Hard Way. For the first time, he truly let his rock roots show. It’s a growling performance of a lyric that warrants it. – KC

 

#158
Eagle When She Flies
Dolly Parton
1991 | Peak: #33

As sensitive and fitting a description of womankind as I’ve ever heard. There’s not a voice in this world that can match this song’s message the way that Parton’s does. – TS

 

#157
Walk On
Reba McEntire
1990 | Peak: #2

Here’s an inspirational song that’s just so full of life and energy that it somehow rises above the cringe/cheese factor. – LW

#156
Brotherly Love
Keith Whitley & Earl Thomas Conley
1991 | Peak: #2

The love that is sung about  in “Brotherly Love” is something that I see between my own brothers. It’s quiet, but fierce, just like the emotion of this song, which became ever more poignant after its posthumous release. – LW

 

#155
Cry On the Shoulder of the Road
Martina McBride
1997 | Peak: #26

Once upon a time, Martina McBride sang songs with emotions that ranged beyond peppy, motivational clichés. From her strongest album to date, “Cry on the Shoulder of the Road” is among the finest and quietest exhibits of such a time. – LW

 

#154
You Were Mine
The Chicks
1998 | Peak: #1

Maines sings the fire out of this song about a broken marriage, but the show-stealer is the crushing bridge, in which she wonders how she’ll tell her two-year-old and four-year-old that their father changed his mind. – TS

 

#153
Let Go of the Stone
John Anderson
1992 | Peak: #7

Backed by a beautifully sympathetic  piano-driven production, Anderson delivers a heartfelt plea to a friend, or potential lover, to let go of the emotional baggage (the stone) that is holding her down. He counsels, “If I’m ever gonna save you, let go of the stone.” – LW

 

#152
When You Leave That Way You Can Never Go Back
Confederate Railroad
1993 | Peak: #14

This is a dramatic example of being one’s worst enemy. He starts by being a rebellious/troubled young man who unceremoniously leaves home, then becomes a deadbeat father who leaves his soon-to-be bride at the alter, and  finally ends up killing a man and going to jail. Only in a country song! – LW

#151
Midnight in Montgomery
Alan Jackson
1992 | Peak: #3

One of the spookiest songs of the nineties, Jackson sings of seeing Hank Williams’ ghost at his grave site. The thrilling whine of the steel guitar only intensifies the already vivid imagery in the song. – LW

 

400 Greatest Singles of the Nineties (2010 Edition)

#400- #376 | #375- #351 | #350 – #326 | #325 – #301

#300 – #276 | #275 – #251 | #250 – #226 | #225 – #201

#200 – #176 | #175 – #151 | #150 – #126 | #125 – #101

#100 – #76 | #75 – #51 | #50 – #26 | #25 – #1