Top 10 Brad Paisley Songs

This is a song for everyone who’s ever been not-quite-honest about some aspect of themselves on the internet. The protagonist says, “I’m a Sci-Fi fanatic / Mild asthmatic / Never been to 2nd base / But there’s a whole ‘nother me / That you need to see / Go check out MySpace.” One of several of Paisley’s hits to use humor to make its point, “Online” became Paisley’s fifth consecutive No. 1 single, and his ninth overall. The humorous video won Video of the Year at the CMA Awards.

Paisley’s trademark sense of humor strikes again in “Ticks”. The song features the narrator in a bar, where he uses the unusual pickup line, “I’d like to check you for ticks.” Written by Paisley with Kelly Lovelace and Tim Owens, “Ticks” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, and it has become a fan favorite in concert.

Paisley was successful straight out of the gate with his debut album, Who Needs Pictures. The fourth and final single from the album, “We Danced” tells the simple, romantic story of a woman who’s lost her purse, and a man who will only return it if she agrees to share a dance. Like all great country ballads, it brings them together in the end. Written by Paisley and Chris DuBois, the song reached the top of the Billboard country charts.

Paisley has often said this tune, written by Wynn Varble and Don Sampson, is one he wishes he’d written himself. He’s recorded it for three of his albums — first on 2005’s Time Well Wasted, then on 2007’s 5th Gear, and finally on 2009’s Play. The song is a clever take on a universal theme — two men waiting on their women, with the older one saying that he will eventually wait for his wife in heaven.

Leave it to Paisley to summarize the changes in the world — from video games to improved race relations — in a clever country song. Melodically upbeat and lyrically poignant, it’s a song everyone can easily relate to. When his American Saturday Night album was released in 2009, Paisley told The Boot it was his favorite song he’d ever written.

This was the first single released from Paisley’s chart-topping 2009 album, American Saturday Night. It’s a beautiful ballad, written for his wife, that speaks of how love continues to grow over time: “Like a river meets the sea / Stronger than it’s ever been / We’ve come so far since that day / And I thought I loved you then.” Written with Ashley Gorley and Chris DuBois, the song spent three weeks at No. 1.

This beautiful anthem became a No. 1 hit for Paisley in 2006. Written by George Teren and Rivers Rutherford, the soaring song about the otherworldly joys of heaven features Dolly Parton on harmony vocals. It became Paisley’s fifth No. 1, and Parton’s 25th on the strength of great lyrics: “And I’ll leave my heart wide open / I will love and have no fear / Yeah when I get where I’m going / Don’t cry for me down here.”

Paisley debuted this song at the CMA Awards before it was ever recorded. The song is a celebration of country music, which takes on a number of topics that pop and rock artists would normally leave alone: “But this is country music, and we do.” Paisley called the song a “love letter” to country fans. The lyric calls out lines from a number of classic country songs.

Paisley scored one of the starkest hits in recent memory with “Whiskey Lullaby.” Written by Bill Anderson and Jon Randall, the song tells the story of a man who drinks himself to death after his lover ends their relationship. After his death, she subsequently drinks herself to death, too. Alison Krauss provided the female vocal. The song reached No. 3 in the charts, and won Song of the Year at the 2005 CMA Awards.

It’s not unusual for people who don’t quite fit in during their youth to go on to rich, rewarding lives. Reflecting on his high school years, Paisley penned this poignant anthem and made struggling students everywhere breathe a sigh of relief when he informed them, “these are nowhere near the best years of your life.”  The song spent four weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart, and tops our list of the Top 10 Brad Paisley Songs.