“Friends in Low Places”

A critic once said that “Friends in Low Places” is a depressing song that makes you feel better. Garth Brooks played it for all it was worth on his second album No Fences as well as a popular sing-along at his concerts.

“Friends” was written by Dewayne Blackwell and Earl Bud Lee, and with names like that, they were either going to be in country music or drive race cars for a living. They asked Garth, then a no-name wannabe to sing a demo of the song for them, and he did. It was the last demo he ever recorded; his first album came out weeks later and he went straight to the top. It was too late to get “Friends” on his first album, so he got Dewayne and Earl to hold it for his second album.

The song stayed at number one on the Billboard Country Chart for four weeks. Rolling Stone named it the number 91 Country song of all time. CMT was a lot more generous – it placed the song at number six.