Country Songs That Tell Stories of Family Loss and Grief

Country music is a diverse genre. If you’re nursing a broken heart and plotting revenge on a cheating ex, there’s a country song for that. If you find yourself missing your first love and wondering how they’re doing, there’s a track for that, too. And when it comes to dealing with loss, country music has an uncanny ability to tug at heartstrings. Many artists have written powerful songs about family loss and grief, often from their personal experiences. These tracks aren’t just sad ballads; they’re lifelines and coping tools, helping both listeners and artists process the pain of losing parents, siblings, or children.  

In this post, we’ll delve into country songs that tell stories of family loss and grief and examine how they demonstrate that music is indeed a universal language, particularly when it comes to expressing grief.  

Some country artists have also experienced the loss of a parent, channeling their grief into heartfelt songs about their pain and how they’ve coped with it. Cole Swindell, who lost his father suddenly shortly after signing his record deal, co-wrote “You Should Be Here” with Ashley Gorley.  

The song’s chorus goes: “You should be here/Standing with your arm around me here/Cuttin' up crackin' a cold beer/Sayin' cheers/ Hey y'all, it's sure been a good year/It's one of those moments/That's got your name written all over it/And you know that if I had just one wish/It'd be that you didn't have to miss this/You should be here.”  

The chorus hits even harder when you realize that Swindell’s father never got to see his son achieve fame, with Cole seemingly saying, “You should be here,” to witness the fruits of his labor. The song became a No. 1 on both the Billboard Country Airplay and Hot Country Songs charts.  

Tim McGraw’s “Grown Men Don’t Cry” was inspired by a conversation songwriter Steve Seskin had about fathers. Seskin, who co-wrote the song with Tom Douglas, was estranged from his own father, who died of a heart attack before they could reconcile.  

The song’s second verse perfectly captures his regret over not having the chance to reconnect: “Keep having this dream about my old man/I am 10 years old, and he is holding my hand/We are talking on the front porch watching the sun go down/But it was just a dream he was a slave to his job and he could not be around/So many things I want to say to him/But I just placed a rose on his grave, and I talk to the wind.”  

There are also country songs about losing siblings. Miranda Lambert, who co-wrote the song “Over You” with then-husband Blake Shelton, was about the death of Shelton’s older brother Richie, who died in a car accident in 1990, when Richie was 24 years old and Blake was 14. After its release, the song reached No. 1 for four weeks and won both CMA and ACM Song of the Year awards.   

Shelton asked Lambert to record the song because he said it would be too hard for him to sing. Shelton’s father also said of missing his son: “You don’t get over it. You just get used to it.”  

Luke Bryan also lost an older brother to a car accident and a sister who died unexpectedly. Bryan described his song “Drink a Beer” as the “coolest sad song ever” and dedicated his 2013 CMA performance to the siblings he lost.  

For parents, losing a child is one of the most devastating experiences imaginable; even the thought of it is unbearable. Craig Morgan’s “The Father, My Son and the Holy Ghost,” released in 2019, details his grief following the death of his son Jerry, who died in 2016 at the age of 19 in a drowning and boating accident.  

The song’s third verse reflects how Morgan’s previous experiences with loss can’t compare to the pain of losing his son: “I've been beat up, I've been pushed and shoved, but never-ever really knocked down/Between mom and dad, Uncle Sam and friends, I somehow always pulled out/But the pain of this was more/Than I'd ever felt before, yeah, I was broke.”  

Morgan wrote and produced the song, describing it as both difficult to write and sing, if it weren’t for his faith.   

Country music has a way of helping people through their darkest moments. Case in point: the phenomenal success of The Band Perry’s “If I Die Young.” Songs about grief and loss serve many purposes, honoring those we’ve lost, comforting those of us left behind, and fostering connections between people who share similar pain.  

Take a listen to these heartfelt tracks and see which ones resonate with your own experience of loss, whether you’re on the path to healing, cherishing the memory of a departed loved one, or simply looking for a reminder that you’re not alone in your grief.