By: Sadie Christine
We all love to “wake up, coffee, camo, climb tree” and all the “Fish, Hunt, Golf, Drink,” social media discourse this past summer, but the general public who are hating on his lyrics don’t know Luke like we know Luke.
Luke provides songs for different emotions. He has reflective heartbreak ballads, reminiscent songs that play on nostalgia, and country bops that get us dancing. These are our top 10 picks for the best Luke Bryan songs and where to start, going way beyond the “Fish, Hunt, Golf, Drink” jokes.
I Don’t Want This Night To End
Something about Luke Bryan’s music that makes it enjoyable is how he speaks of experiences that are so relatable. His lyrics are simple enough that you can connect them to your own experiences and dive into the story as if it’s your own. This song is perfect for thinking back to summer nights that have always stuck with you and ones that you would love to relive.
Drink A Beer
Written by Chris Stapleton and Jim Beavers, “Drink A Beer” is a reflective track about grief and honoring someone who has passed. With Chris Stapleton’s background vocals being so apparent in the studio version, as well as the live version at the 2013 CMA Awards, this song has an emotional kick and serves as one of Luke’s best vocal performances.
I See You
Many of the songs on this list are from his 2013 album Crash My Party, which almost feels like a concept album, with many of the themes in these songs being about party culture. This track paints another picture of a night out while carrying memories and reflecting on the way things used to be. Male Regret is one of our fave genres within Country music, and “I See You” definitely fits into that crashout country that has longing and sadness while being upbeat. The post-chorus melody is so catchy, and even with the theme, it is a bop.
Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye
Luke is a very unique vocalist with the way he emphasizes certain lyrics that evoke emotion. When he sings “love me like you loved me when you loved me and you didn’t have to t-r-y,” the down-note run on try has a power that wraps the chorus up before he sings the hook of “kiss tomorrow goodbye.”
Light It Up
For better or for worse, love stories, or lack of them, have a lot to do with social media and phone use. Unlike waiting for a phone call, texting has become more normalized, either in the beginning stages of a relationship or at the end when phone calls feel out of reach. This song has the message of waiting for someone to light up his phone and reach out. These lyrics are relatable in pointing out things people do, like waking up and immediately checking your phone, or checking after a task just in case they reached out. This song is an accurate depiction of waiting for a text back, which can be brutal.
Someone Else Calling You Baby
Male regret country and crashout country hit different, and when Luke comes in with the chorus, “Babyyyyy! Is someone else calling you baby?” you immediately hear his urgency in the question being asked.
Made It A Memory
Off his brand new album, Signs, “Made It a Memory” is the first ballad of this single rollout prior to the album. This song sounds like one that would be on an earlier album due to the theme of reflection and memories while telling a story in the past tense.
Shut It Down
“Shut It Down,” off of Luke’s album Crash My Party, is about calling it a day on daily tasks, work, and housework to spend time with a loved one. With the chorus, “lotta work left to do, the sun’s still out,” it reminds you to take a pause, because things can wait to be picked up another time.
Do I
Along with “Someone Else Calling You Baby,” this song asks different questions with the overall theme of “is the love still there?”
All My Friends Say
Ending off our top 10 Luke Bryan picks with a well-known bop, “All My Friends Say” is an extremely catchy and fun song about not remembering what happened on a night out but believing what your friends say because that is your only reputable source on last night’s confusion.
With over 30 #1 radio singles and 24 billion global streams, Luke is doing something right. His new album Signs was released on September 18th, and the comments for this album are both positive with his true fans who know his music and the negative haters. Country music wouldn’t be the same without Luke Bryan, and we enjoy his music no matter what the haters say.
Stay Wild, Stay Authentic, Stay Country
