If American country singer Zach Bryan did not top the list, is it really valid? Rolling Stone said Jolene by Dolly Parton is the best country song of all time “Jolene is Dolly Parton’s pinnacle as a singer, songwriter, and storyteller: the ultimate country heartbreak song,” said Rolling Stone contributor Rob Sheffield in a statement.“And after 50 years, it’s more iconic than ever.” While the world was falling in love with Parton’s image, Sheffield said she was fighting to break into the country music industry. In Jolene, she tries to stop another woman from stealing her man. It was a major country hit in 1973. However, it has inspired modern versions by American artists such as Miley Cyrus, the White Stripes, and Beyonce. Sheffield said Jolene “sums up Dolly Parton at her realest and greatest.”I Walk the Line by Johnny Cash came in second place. “What makes I Walk the Line a great song?” said Rolling Stone contributor Rob Harvilla. “Johnny Cash’s transcendent baritone (‘A voice from the middle of the Earth,’ recalled Bob Dylan), the Tennessee Two’s austere rhythms, the lyrics’ puppy-dog romanticism, and the goofy hums that telegraph the key changes.”Harvilla said Cash was not always walking the line. He wrote I Walk the Line on the road and released it in 1956. While it was meant to be a love letter to his first wife Vivian Liberto Cash, he ended up falling in love with his mistress June Carter Cash. American author Robert Hilburn quoted him admitting he was singing to God. “Sam [Phillips] never knew it, but I Walk the Line was my first gospel hit,” said Cash. Crazy by Patsy Cline came in third place. “Written for Billy Walker, this jukebox jackpot got to Patsy Cline through husband Charlie Dick — a Willie Nelson crony from Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge on Nashville’s Music Row,” said Rolling Stone contributor Richard Gehr. “After hearing Nelson’s demo (an emulation of Floyd Tillman’s I Gotta Have My Baby Back), Dick immediately drove the songwriter home to wake up Cline.”While Cline had indicated the tune was unflattering, Gehr said she “nailed her heart-stopping, self-interrogating vocal in a single.” Crazy became her signature song, a part of the Great American Songbook, and former US Independent presidential candidate Ross Perot’s campaign song. After Crazy was I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry by Hank Williams. This was followed by He Stopped Loving Her Today by George Jones, You Don’t Know Me by Ray Charles, and Standing on the Corner (Blue Yodel #9) by Jimmie Rodgers.
