It’s The Nineties: Number Ones from Clint Black, Joe Diffie, Tim McGraw, Diamond Rio.

By Jonny Brick

1991 Clint Black – Where Are You Now

Black co-wrote this ballad, which looks towards George Strait’s heartbreak songs; indeed, he is ‘unwound’, which quotes the title of an old Strait tune.

A mournful guitar line runs through Black’s complaints about the ‘fine mess’ he’s in.

1994 Joe Diffie – Third Rock from the Sun

The sitcom didn’t come out until 1996, so Diffie was the first to use the phrase about Earth, the third planet from the sun. The song begins with Diffie singing the title through a vocoder, before he narrates a ‘chain of events’ where ‘all of the chaos makes perfect sense’.

It transpires a married man has taken a shine to a woman who has walked into the bar, which prompts his wife to phone her sister, whose boyfriend grabs some beer at a store. Teenagers hijack his car, and their driving causes a truck to hit ‘a big boy’ which hits a clock, which in turn brings down the power lines. The married man, we learn from the town mayor, is the chief of police, which brings the crazy tale full circle.

1995 Tim McGraw – I Like It, I Love It

This song is practically a sports chant, on which McGraw sings ‘I want some more of it!’ It’s a good-time tune about the great aspects of love and what a guy does for a girl.

The narrator spends $48 to win his girl a teddy bear at the county fair, holds umbrellas and keeps his house clean. He’s even forsaking going to baseball to hang out with her.

1997 Diamond Rio – How Your Love Makes Me Feel

This song, from Diamond Rio’s hits compilation, is a typical love song with atypical imagery that tries to ‘put love into words’, albeit not ‘five dollar’ ones as per the opening verse. Instead the narrator explains his ‘true and honest feeling’ by comparing love to driving while eating ice cream and seeing ‘how far we can drive before it melts’, or by swerving to avoid ‘a cow in the road…it scares you to death and you laugh until you cry’.

Throughout the song, the band vocals chime in with ear candy to support the lead singer.