Country Music's Greatest Lines: Lyrics, Stories and Sketches from American Classics

Country songs, from Hank Williams till today, remain faithful to their tradition of reminding their listeners about the life they live. Braddock, a 60-year creator of songs, remembered that when he decided to write this book. American Song Writer

“Country’s Greatest Lines works as an insider’s take on the business of country, and it also sent me to a dozen records I wanted to hear immediately. Braddock and Beecher evoke the mythology of country without sentimentalizing the music or its creators. It’s a remarkable achievement.” Nashville Scene

Braddock’s acute songwriter’s ear and keen eye for detail make him the ideal choice to author a book with this unusual angle. He selects exactly the right lines for each tune, whether they reflect the wordplay inventiveness of I’m a man of means/By no means, from Roger Miller’s “King of the Road,” or the simple poignancy of this passage from Alan Jackson’s “Remember When,” I remember when the sound of little feet/Was the music we danced to/Week-to-week. We see how stand-alone powerful and effective a few well-crafted lines can be, even when removed from the context of the entire song. But we also learn that our songwriting idols can have, on occasion, the proverbial feet of clay. In one chapter, Braddock spots a syntax error in Hank Williams’ “I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still in Love With You),” stating the example in a self-deprecating, lighthearted manner. Further proof that you can often bend the rules of grammar and still come out a successful songwriter. Sounds like Nashville.

Whether you’re a serious historian or simply an avid country music fan, you’ll want to put Country Music’s Greatest Lines on your “must read” list.