3 Country Songs From 1973 That Every Small-Town Kid Still Knows by Heart

Were you born and raised in a small town, or somewhere in rural America? If you enjoyed your simple childhood during the 1970s, I bet these three small-town country songs from 1973 still sit heavy in your heart today. Some would consider them anthems. Let’s take a look and get a little nostalgic, shall we?

“Country Sunshine” by Dottie West from ‘Country Sunshine’

“I was raised on country sunshine, green grass beneath my feet / Runnin’ through fields of daisies a wadin’ through the creek.”

Remember this little Dottie West ditty from 1973? A standout “Countrypolitan” tune from the early 1970s, “Country Sunshine” is a song about being raised out in the country, and it was used for a series of Coca-Cola commercials back in the day. In the years since it was released, “Country Sunshine” has become one of West’s signature songs. It was a hit, too, peaking at No. 2 on the Hot Country Songs chart.

“I Love” by Tom T. Hall from ‘For The People In The Last Hard Town’

“I love little country streams, sleep without dreams / Sunday school in May and hay.”

Tom T. Hall always seems to make it to our lists of small-town anthems. He simply knew how to tug at the heartstrings of rural America, after all. He makes it to this list of small-town country songs from 1973 with the children’s novelty tune “I Love”. It’s as simple as it gets, but the lyrics are clear as day to listeners of any age: things like country streams, spending time with friends, and living life slowly really are worth loving. “I Love” was a successful one for Hall, peaking at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. It remains his only Top 40 hit on that coveted chart.

“Lord, Mr. Ford” by Jerry Reed from ‘Lord, Mr. Ford’

“Well, now, how I yearn for the good old days / Without that carbon dioxide haze / A-hanging over the roar of the interstate / Well, if the Lord that made the moon and the stars.”

This one’s a bit of a stretch, but it’s funny enough to many a small-town car owner that I think it deserves to be on this list. Jerry Reed’s “Lord, Mr. Ford” pokes a lot of fun at car culture and the social and economic influence that cars had come to have in the 1970s. Reed wasn’t pleased with the direction transportation had taken, as the quality of automobiles had taken a nosedive and ended up becoming more expensive than they were worth. It’s a workin’ man’s theme, for sure, one that likely got a chuckle out of more than a few small-towners back in the day.

Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

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