Should've Been A Cowboy - Toby Keith - 1993
Hard to think this was over 30 years ago, but it was. This song still gets played on stations all over the country every day and you still love it. That's why this song is so important. First, this #1 launched the career of Toby Keith, and was his first big song - and man was it. This was THE MOST PLAYED SONG IN COUNTRY OF THE 1990'S. That is simply remarkable, considering lots of gigantic songs by huge artists had about a 3 year head start on it. To be the most played song, during country's biggest decade is just insane. This is a simple song really, nothing overly flashy here, just a song with a resonating theme targeted directly at the core listener, delivered by a future Mega Star. This song possesses something quite frankly most songs don't - Staying Power. This Keith written song is timeless, clear with a clean sound, and it has never really gone away. And for some reason, you have never tired of it. It simply is one of the best and most important songs recorded in country in the last half century. This song in the 1990's was played on the radio over 3 MILLION times, or nearly 1,200 times a day - every single day - after its release for the balance of the decade. BTW Toby returns again on my list later on, I'm sure there is no surprise there.
