Country music songs tend to have certain themes. They often celebrate bedrock values like the gratification and pride that comes from hard work. The importance of honesty, decency, and respect for others is another common thread. And there are musical narratives about romantic love in all its mercurial forms.
There is also a subset of country songs that deal with the family unit. They include songs about home and family, along with songs about family memories. These tunes can be joyful, melancholy, or descriptive. They hit home with listeners and have a classic quality that makes them enduring staples of the country music genre.
We selected some country music songs about family and home that are especially meaningful to us to tell you about. They are packed with humor and heartache. Maybe you have some of your own favorites that are close to your heart as well.
Best Country Songs About Family
1. "My Little Girl" by Tim McGraw
This exquisite song released in 2006 will move any guy who has the good fortune to have a daughter he loves without limits. Tim McGraw, who has three adult daughters with his wife, singer Faith Hill, co-wrote it. Thus the song has an authenticity that makes it even more memorable.
McGraw told People in 2021 that "It's inspiring to me to watch [my daughters] go out on their own and do the things they do. We're raised three strong, independent, strong-minded young women. And what I'm most grateful for is just how normal our kids are and how grounded they are and how much they respect themselves and other people."
All these sentiments come across so beautifully in "My Little Girl." How can you not be teary-eyed upon hearing the doting, unconditional paternal love in these lyrics:
"I remember I thought you looked like an angel
Wrapped in pink, so soft and warm
You've had me wrapped around your finger
Since the day you were born.
You beautiful baby from the outside in
Chase your dreams, but always know the road
That'll lead you home again..."
2. "Home" by Blake Shelton
This song was successful when it came out in 2005 as originally recorded by Michael Buble, its co-writer. Then Blake Shelton came along and really put it on the country music map in 2008.
Per theboot.com, Shelton's "version went on to hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart."
The lyrics communicate the intense longing of the singer for a much-loved familiar place - and for a special loved one, perhaps a wife or husband:
"Another summer day has come and gone away
In Paris and Rome, but I wanna go home, mmm
Maybe surrounded by a million people, I
Still feel all alone
I just wanna go home
Oh, I miss you, you know..."
The slow pacing of the song allows the performer to dwell upon each word, emphasizing the emotion of the tune. Shelton expertly evokes the loneliness, yearning, and homesickness embedded in each syllable. Who hasn't felt that way at some point in their life when they are hundreds or thousands of miles from their own treasured doorstep, neighborhood, and beloved family? The most exotic locale can't substitute for home and family. Bravo, Blake!
3. "Mama's Song" by Carrie Underwood
Carrie Underwood hit this one out of the ballpark, as she always does. The song deserves a spot in the happy country songs about family category. It is about thanking her mum for preparing her for life - and the man she plans to share it with who will forever treat her as well as her mom did. In early 2011, "Mama's Song" occupied the no. 2 notch on the Hot Country Songs chart.
"Mama, you taught me to do the right things / So now you have to let your baby fly / You've given me everything that I will need / To make it through this crazy thing called life
And I know you watched me grow up/ And only want what's best for me / And I think I found the answer to your prayers..."
Underwood sings the song with such earnestness and sincerity that you get drawn in right away. Her gift for storytelling emerges full-fledged too. Another gem from a pro and new American Idol judge whom we love.
4. "First Cousins" by Brad Paisley
You gotta love Brad Paisley. In any compilation of country songs about cousins, this one has to rank high. Paisley sings this witty spoof on a YouTube video that makes the whole enraptured audience chuckle, although the feelings it expresses are very genuine.
Yep, it's funny...Paisley's first amorous love was his off-limits first cuz. Hey, you feel what you feel, right? He sings it with such guileless aplomb while his tongue is in his cheek. You can't help but grin like you're in on the juiciest insider joke.
"First date / First kiss / First taste of lovin' / You were my first cousin
We got in big trouble
With your dad, my uncle..."
5. "My Wish" by Rascal Flatts
There is a lovely backstory associated with this song, according to theboot.com. One of its co-writers, Jeffrey Steele, composed it for his teenage daughter, Justine, who was a bit jealous because he had previously penned songs for his other two girls.
"My Wish" took on a happy life of its own. Steele said, "Now, I'm getting all these letters from parents saying various things ... it's the first dance song at weddings and all this stuff. It turned into this huge thing."
At the end of 2006, "...it reached no. 1 on the US country charts...."
"...I hope you never look back, but ya never forget
All the ones who love you, in the place you left
I hope you always forgive, and you never regret
And you help somebody every chance you get
Oh, you find God's grace, in every mistake
And always give more than you take...."
6. "Don't Blink" by Kenny Chesney
This is one of the best country songs for a family slideshow. Per songfacts.com, "'Don't Blink' ended up becoming Chesney's 13th #1 hit on the Country chart in late 2007." Chesney is singing about a news item on TV featuring a man who is 102 telling an interviewer that time goes so fast, just 'don't blink' so you can savor each moment.
Before you know it, the kids are grown-ups, your bride has been by your side for decades. and the world is so different than when you were a kid yourself. So stop rushing through life and "don't blink"!
"I turned on the evening news
Saw an old man being interviewed
Turning a hundred and two today
Asked him what's the secret to life?
He looked up from his old pipe
Laughed and said, "All I can say is
Don't blink, just like that you're six years old And you take a nap
And you wake up and you're twenty-five
And your high school sweetheart becomes your wife...."
7. "Family Table" by Zac Brown Band
This one is, hands down, a great song about family memories. The family table referred to in the title is hardly just an ordinary piece of furniture. It's a cherished road map of all the good times and beloved people who sat at that table, year after year. Think Thanksgiving, birthdays, Christmas, and wedding anniversaries. All the faces of those you love gathered 'round it. It is an object that conjures thoughts that are priceless.
Per tasteofcountry.com, "The nostalgic track features Brown singing of making memories around the table alongside light musical accompaniment."
"It's just an old piece of wood
On top of four legs
It's got a few coffee stains, and a thousand marks from 'god knows when'
Ain't too many things that could stand the test of time
But this family table's held together by love that never dies..."
8. "Coat of Many Colors" by Dolly Parton
Released in 1971, this song qualifies as an old country song about family that never really gets old. The story it tells is a touching example of motherly love at its finest and most selfless - and the gratitude of a devoted daughter. They did not have much money, but they were rich in what counts far more.
Per americansongwriter.com, "Her mother was given a collection of rags of various colors and subsequently used it to sew her daughter, Dolly, a multi-hued coat while relaying to her a Bible story about Jacob giving his favorite son Joseph a coat of many colors."
Parton was ridiculed at school for her ragtag garment, but to her, it was for for a queen. It symbolized her dear mom.
"But they didn't understand it, and I tried to make them see
One is only poor, only if they choose to be
Now I know we had no money, but I was rich as I could be
In my coat of many colors my momma made for me."
9. "Family Is Family" by Kasey Musgraves
I love this 2015 song for its unvarnished lyrics, unalloyed honesty, and also no-nonsense approach. Not one speck of hokum anyplace. (That really is the essence of country music in a nutshell!)
No matter what their shortcomings are, "family is family." The bonds of blood are unique and everlasting. The best comment about it is on YouTube: "Perfect Thanksgiving song." When relatives you can't stand ask you to pass the peas at the dinner table on Turkey Day, just think of this witty tune, grit your teeth and smile.
"Family is family, in church or in prisonYou get what you get, and you don't get to pick 'emThey might smoke like chimneys, but give you their kidneysYeah, friends come in handy, but family is family..."
10. "Remember When" by Alan Jackson
"Remember When" chronicles the inevitable peaks and valleys of a marriage - the joy, pain, and love between a husband and wife. Alan Jackson sings it beautifully as only he can.
It struck a chord with the public, reports americansongwriter.com. This serene, unforgettable tune "topped the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for two weeks and peaked at No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100, a remarkable rank for a traditional country song."
"Remember when we vowed the vows and walked the walk
Gave our hearts, made the start, it was hard
We lived and learned, life threw curves
There was joy, there was hurt
Remember when..."
