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“Thrilling Songs All About the Town (Part I),” features 11 ‘town-centric’ songs courtesy of Adam Lambert, Doja Cat, Kacey Musgraves, Lil Nas X & The Weeknd.

As country duo Montgomery Gentry once sang, “This is my town (Nana nan a na).” Sigh, R.I.P. Troy Gentry. Country artists are known for singing about home, hometowns, and towns a lot.  But country musicians aren’t the only ones who sing about some of the smallest places in the country, or where all the buzz is going down.  Sure, there are plenty of country musicians who appear on Thrilling Songs All About the Town (Part I), but there are also pop, R&B, and rap artists in the mix as well.  And just in case you were wondering, because there are so many town songs, we’ve split this playlist into parts.  Thrilling Songs All About the Town (Part I)  features 11 ‘town-centric’ songs courtesy of Adam Lambert (“Ghost Town”), Doja Cat (“Go to Town”), Kacey Musgraves (“This Town”), Lil Nas X (“Old Town Road”), and The Weeknd (“The Town”).

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1. Lil Nas X, “Old Town Road (Remix)”

Ft. Billy Ray Cyrus

Old Town Road • Columbia • 2019

“Yeah, I’m gonna take my horse to the old town road / I’m gonna ride ‘til it can’t go no more.” Country and hip-hop seem like they would never, ever work together, at least convincingly.  Apparently, rapper Lil Nas X has different ideas. Lil Nas X is responsible for the brief record that everybody is talking about and has caused its fair share of controversy.  That would be the Billboard Hot 100 no. 1 hit “Old Town Road”, that manages to fuse melodic rap (trap precisely) and country music.  It’s crazy mind you, but the result is a song that no one is sure to forget.  Adding to the sensation is the “Old Town Road – Remix,” which features country artist Billy Ray Cyrus, singing the aforementioned refrain (once), as well as the third verse.  Also, worth noting, the remix extends the length to north of two-and-a-half minutes.

“Old Town Road” is successful for a variety of reasons.  Lil Nas X opts for a more melodic approach, intentionally trying to sound like a country singer, yet remain idiomatic of the autotuned heavy nature of modern rap. Furthermore, the lyrics play off of clichés associated with country music. On the second verse, he kicks things off pop-rapping, “Ridin’ on a tractor” and later adds, “Bull ridin’ and boobies / Cowboy hat from Gucci / Wrangler on my booty.” ‘Boobies’ aren’t idiomatic of country mind you, but the other stuff is.  Adding to the reasons why “Old Town Road” works is the hip-hop beat, coupled with ‘country-folk’ guitars, which are fueled by a thoughtful Nine Inch Nails sample (“34 Ghosts IV”).

“Old Town Road,” a novel cut by all means, lacks substance, but this breakthrough hit initiates important discussion. Not only is it a musical discussion about how much genre-bending is acceptable, it also dives into race.  It  was controversially removed from Billboard’s country charts, which caused an uproar to say the least. If nothing else, this brief number is definitely infectious.

2. Doja Cat, “Go to Town”

Amala • Kemosabe / RCA • 2018

“Go to town with it / And she shave it all off, Charlie Brown with it / … He ain’t ever caught a whiff … / This incredible, this shit edible / It’s like cannibal, kiss my genital.” Rapper-singer Doja Cat is unapologetic as albeit on her filthy, hyper-sexual single, “Go to Town”, a highlight from her debut album, Amala. The accompanying music video further highlights the heavy innuendo and explicit vibes. Hey, there isn’t a guy locked in a cage stripped down to his boxers for no reason.  “Go to Town” features sleek, modern production work, in the urban-contemporary, hip-hop style.

“Go down, go down, go down, yeah / Let me see you go to town, yeah / Go down, go down, go down, yeah / Let me see you go to town…” Prior to becoming too filthy, Doja Cat serves up an infectious refrain (or post-chorus, etc.), which is introduced at the top of the record, sung with some international flare. The ‘chorus’ arrives after the intro, but generally precedes it throughout the record.

“If you’re down, boy, really down
Baby let me watch you go to town
It’s your one chance, baby, never or now, yeah
Let me see you go to town, baby…”

Following the chorus sections, the innuendo graduates to full-blown explicitness.  On the first verse (excerpted at the top of the blurb), Dojo Cat raps about shaving her private parts and encouraging her man to enjoy them. Later, on the second verse, she obviously disguises dirty pictures: “He text me an eggplant, I text him a peanut.”  Different sort of town with this song…

3. Cole Swindell, “I’ll Be Your Small Town”

All of It • Warner Music Nashville • 2018

Although he maintained consistency and his lovable personality, country music’s favorite ginger, Cole Swindell, delivered a pleasant third studio album with All of It without “moving the needle.” Basically, All of It is a good album, but lacks innovative spirit.  Nonetheless, the “Break Up in the End” country singer is a perfect fit for this town-centric affair thanks to “I’ll Be Your Small Town.”

In the context of All of It, “I’ll Be Your Small Town” follows the aforementioned highlight, “Break Up in the End.” Here, Swindell keeps the tempo on the slower side of the metronome. Expectedly, Cole keeps it southern – thinking intimately like a small town where everybody knows everybody else. Rather than focusing explicitly on the actual small town, he suggests as her man, he’ll be as warm and inviting as a small town is.  Of course, she’ll be his whole world.  It’s cliché, but ultimately, it works out well for Swindell and appeals to his base.

4. Kanye West, “Ghost Town”

Ft. PARTYNEXTDOOR

Ye • G.O.O.D / Def Jam • 2018

“Ghost Town” serves as the penultimate cut of Ye, the seven-track, 2018 album by the ever-polarizing Kanye West. The sound of this record serves as its best attribute, with its throwback, soulful, gospel sampling. Kid Cudi, PARTYNEXTDOOR, and 070 Shake appear on the record, with PND specifically credited as a featured guest.

PARTYNEXTDOOR appears on the first verse, notably slurring his words at the close.  West drops only one verse, singing as opposed to rapping.  Besides the unique overall sound of the record, the extended outro, performed by 070 Shake, is a defining feature.

“I put my hand on a stove, to see if I still bleed

And nothing hurts anymore, I feel kinda free.”

“Ghost Town” previously appeared on the playlist 13 Songs All About Ghosts… Sort of.

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5. Sam Hunt, “Downtown’s Dead”

Downtown’s Dead [Single] • MCA Nashville • 2018

“Everywhere I go looks like the place to be / I see people that I know, and I feel like there’s no one here but me.” In 2018, Grammy-nominated country musician Sam Hunt dropped his third, post-Montevallo single, “Downtown’s Dead”. Hunt experienced his breakthrough in 2014 with his pop, urban-infused country debut, which had no shortage of hits (“Take Your Time,” “Leave the Night On,” and “Break Up in a Small Town”).  Despite the release of the song at hand, no new Sam Hunt album arrived in 2018.

“Downtown’s Dead” is styled in the contemporary country vein, incorporating an expanded palette of sounds and styles.  Even so, it’s relatively tame in its experiments, despite not being overtly ‘country.’  Thematically, the big picture finds Sam Hunt is lost without ‘her.’  On the chorus, he asserts “Friday night it might as well be just another / Tuesday night without you.”  That occurs after he sings the titular lyric, attaching identity to it: “Downtown’s dead without you.” Cleverly, the lyrics reference things associated with nightlight, city life, and illustrating the desire for a more personal as opposed to generic connection. Ultimately, “Downtown’s Dead” isn’t nearly as exciting as the aforementioned gems from his debut album, but it’s respectable and enjoyable enough.

6. Dustin Lynch, “Small Town Boy”

Current Mood • Broken Bow • 2017

Tennessee country artist Dustin Lynch amps up the southern charm on “Small Town Boy”, the second single from his third album, Current Mood. “Small Town Boy” has ample pros.  First and foremost, it plays directly to his southern roots.  Rather than trying to employ the modern bag of country tricks – rather pop tricks – Lynch keeps it country.  He’s southern, he’s from a small town, and that’s what she wants.  Not only is that what she wants, but for the traditional country audience, that’s what they want too.  Perhaps it’s cliché, even platitudinous, but isn’t southern charm and southern-ness huge in country music?  That’s rhetorical by the way.

The chorus is a huge selling point:

“She loves a small-town boy like me

She’s my ride or die baby

She’s my cool, she’s my crazy

She’s my laid back in the front seat

She’s my with me to the end girl

I’m turning it up to ten, girl

She can have anybody that she wants

Or be anywhere she wants to be

She loves a small-town boy like me.”

Of course, Dustin, there’s lots of girls that feel that way, and plenty of guys who envy you. Just saying! “Small Town Boy” previously appeared on the playlists, Songs About Boys, Vol. 1, 14 Songs That Are About Boys or Girls, and  13 Little or Small Songs That Transcend Size.

7. Adam Lambert, “Ghost Town”

The Original High • Warner Bros. • 2015

Adam Lambert is a beast when it comes to singing – understatement.  Amazingly, Lambert failed to win the eighth season of American Idol, coming in as the runner-up to Kris Allen (yeah, still salty years later).  Nonetheless, Lambert has done well for himself with some pop success and performing with the iconic rock band, Queen.  Take that haters.  One of the more notable hits of Lambert’s career hails from his well-rounded third album, The Original High (debuted at number one on the Billboard 200), “Ghost Town.”

“Died last night in my dreams / Walking the streets / Of some old ghost town / In God and James Dean / But Hollywood sold out…” Initially, “Ghost Town” commences as a folk-pop cut of sorts, with guitar accompaniment.  There’s a ‘cool’ about this number that bodes well in the pop Lambert’s favor. He shows incredible poise vocally, making you lean on his every lyric and note.  By the end of the first verse, “Ghost Town” transforms into a more danceable, modern pop record, yet never gets ‘out of control.’  The second verse successfully blends a dance beat with the folk-pop sensibilities, before Lambert ascends into his upper register on the simple, yet effective and memorable chorus.

“And now I know my heart is a ghost town

My heart is a ghost a town.”

Aside from the chorus, the most memorable moment of “Ghost Town” is arguably it’s most explicit – the bridge.  Lambert asserts, “I don’t give a fuck if I go / Down, down, down / I got a voice in my head that keeps singing.”

8. Kacey Musgraves, “This Town”

Pageant Beauty • MCA Nashville • 2015

“Aw, but don’t you forget it, as ‘big’ as we’re getting / This town’s too small to be mean / Yeah, it’s too dang small to be mean.” Sigh, the small town may be expanding, but certain things don’t seem to change. Before she’d win the coveted Grammy for Album of the Year for her 2018 album, Golden Hour, Kacey Musgraves was a Pageant Beauty, or so her 2015 album was titled.  There’s a chillness about Musgraves when she sings that’s almost hypnotizing. It appeals to the traditional country audience, yet also has a place outside of country music. One of the more unique numbers from her sophomore album is “This Town,” which fits the criteria for inclusion on this most town-centric list.

“And everybody got real happy when the grocery store got beer / And last time the census men came a-knockin’, we were busting at the seams.”  Those lyrics alone should speak to the personality and southern awareness that Kacey Musgraves showcases on “This Town.” Anyone from the south understands the southernisms that she captures like a champ including the emphasis on religion.  In this case, choosing a specific church in the ‘Bible belt’ is limited to merely three: “Got a Methodist, a Baptist, and a Church of the Nazarene.”  The chorus really sums up “This Town” though:

“Too small to be lying

Way too small to cheat

Way too small for secrets

Cause they’re way too hard to keep

And somebody’s mama knows somebody’s cousin

And somebody’s sister knows somebody’s husband

And somebody’s daughter knows somebody’s brother

And around here, we all look out for each other.”

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9. Brantley Gilbert, “Small Town Throwdown”

Ft. Justin Moore & Thomas Rhett

Just As I Am • Valory • 2014

“It’s a small-town throwdown / It’s time to tallboy up, let them tailgates down.” Hmm, for Brantley Gilbert, “Small Town Throwdown” is sort of like the countrified version of going to the club, getting wasted, and so on and so forth.  Yep, it’s one big ole party!  On this gem from his 2014 album, Just As I Am, he enlists assists from fellow country artists Justin Moore (yeah the one who boasts “I Could Kick Your Ass”) and Thomas Rhett (wants to “Die a Happy Man”).

Naturally, Brantley Gilbert is the star, appearing on every section of “Small Town Throwdown.” Thomas Rhett sings the second half of the first verse, trailing Gilbert, before singing with him on the chorus.  On the second verse, Justin Moore gets the start, while Gilbert finishes up, before both sing the chorus (see where this is going).  All three bros join forces on the final chorus to “Crack that country up loud, it’s a small-town throwdown.”  How does one sum up the verses? Well, it comes down to drinking, girls, and “Raisin’ a little hell” basically.

10. The Weeknd, “The Town”

Kiss Land • Republic • 2013

“I remember on the bathroom floor / Before I went on tour / When you said we couldn’t do it again / ‘Cause you had a thing with another man.” Hmm, interesting. Before The Weeknd would develop into a pop superstar with hits like “Can’t Feel My Face”, “The Hills” and “Starboy”, he released his proper debut album, Kiss Land, in 2013. While Kiss Land actually followed the commercial release of three of his mixtapes, (Trilogy, 2011), it was supposed to be his ‘big moment.’  While the album debuted respectfully, it wouldn’t earn gold certification until  2019.  Enough background, let’s just dive into the song at hand, “The Town.”

“I haven’t been around my town in a long while / I apologize, but I / I’ve been trying to get this money like I got a couple kids who rely…” Yeah, that’s what precedes the aforementioned lyrics from the first verse. Compared to the music of Abel Tesfaye from 2015 and beyond (Beauty Behind the Madness), “The Town” still contains some of his raw, alternative R&B sensibilities.  This isn’t a pop record in the least – it’s not ‘commercial hit.’ That said, it exemplifies the sound that helped to gain The Weeknd attention the first place – slow tempo, druggy sound, and those distinct, high-pitched pipes.  “The Town” arguably doesn’t pack quite the same punch The Weeknd showcases on say “Wicked Games” from Trilogy, or the later “The Hills” or even “Call Out My Name” from My Dear Melancholy, but it’s still a worthwhile, if overly-long listen.  It’s all about love.

11. 2 Chainz, “In Town”

Ft. Mike Posner

Based on a T.R.U. Story • Def Jam • 2012

“Girl I’m on that clean shit, you already know / You ain’t never seen this, I’m ready to go / …I’m in your city today.” Sigh, an excellent harmonic progression, played by the piano, supports the soulful opening vocals by alternative/pop singer/songwriter Mike Posner on “In Town.” Later, Posner goes on to nail the memorable chorus like a champ with his distinct pipes – who else sounds like him? “I know you love me / And I know you’re down,” he sings on the chorus, continuing, “Cuz we always end up fucking every time I’m in town / Every time I’m in town.” With all these accolades, it would seem that “In Town” is a Mike Posner record from a Mike Posner album. Not the case.

“In Town” appears at the 11^th track on Based on a T.R.U. Story, the debut album by southern rapper 2 Chainz.  While Mike Posner gets the early spotlight, which continues with each iteration of the chorus, 2 Chainz gets his bars into the mix.  He doesn’t say much mind you, but that’s kind of what we’ve come to expect from 2 Chainz. On the first verse he raps, “Baby I just landed, you gon’ pick me up / Heard you like to squirt, I might lick it up.” Wow! On the second verse he spits, “Met her once and you missed me, girl you crazy / No make-up on, you still pretty lady.” The whole point of “In Town?” Sex every time Mike/2 Chainz are in town.  Yep.

[Photo Credits: Broken Bow, Columbia, Def Jam, G.O.O.D., Kemosabe, Pexels, Pixabay, RCA, Republic, Valory, Warner Bros., Warner Music Nashville]

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