Top Ten Songs by Collin Raye

Collin Raye is a country artist who has somewhat fallen out of the limelight in the past few years. However, many of his songs are very enduring and are still commonly heard on country music stations today. These are my top ten Collin Raye songs in no particular order.

1. If I Were You (Extremes 1994)- Collin Raye's gorgeous tenor just soars on this song. This song tells the story of a relationship that is just starting and the doubts one can have about whether it will last. You can't help but put yourself in the story the song invokes. The chorus encourages you to make the most of life and the last line basically says the best thing you can do is fall in love. I love this song because every time I get caught up in the emotions of new love and it's a nice trip down memory lane.

2. That Was A River (In This Life 1992)- When I met my husband, I was able to look back on past relationships and realized how insignificant they were compared to the love I had found. This song speaks to that feeling. The song compares an old relationship to a river, which is strong and powerful in its own right, but when it is compared to the new relationship, the ocean, it is nothing.

3. Love, Me (All I Can Be 1991)- This song tells such a vivid story. It is so easy to image the young boy sitting with his grand praying for his dead grandmother. You follow the grandfather down memory lane as he tells the story of when he and his love were going to run away together and she couldn't make it and asked him to wait for her.

4. I Think About You (I Think About You 1995)- Collin Raye sings this song with his daughter in mind. It is an interesting song about how any time he sees any woman, he thinks about his daughter and how things could turn out for her. He thinks about how all women used to be someone's daughter and that when things turn out badly for them, the same thing could easily happen his daughter. It's an interesting point that even though women grow up, they were all once a small innocent child.

5. My Kind Of Girl (Extremes 1994)- If you are in the mood for something a little faster paced, this is the song for you. I think of this song as somewhat of a precursor to a song like "Redneck Woman", only told from a man's point of view. This song lauds that kind of woman who is feminine, but also somewhat rough and tumble. This song is fun and upbeat. Even with silly lyrics like "You sent my head a-spinnin' just like a tilt-a-whirl" you can't help but love this song.

6. One Boy, One Girl (I Think About You 1995)- This song is very clever in its story telling. Each verse is a different moment in the life of a couple. It starts with the couple meeting each other for the first time. The next verse is about their wedding day. The third verse is about when they have twin, a boy and a girl. It is a little bit contrived, but I'm a sucker for sentimentality. The stories are all tied together by the line, "For a moment the whole world revolved around one boy and one girl".

7. Little Rock (Extremes 1994)- This song is an interesting take on a recovering alcoholic. The man in the song has left home to try to clean up his act. The song is addressed to the one he left behind. There is a lot of regret about how the situation turned out but a lot of hope for the future in this song.

8. That's My Story (Extremes 1994)- This silly song about a man trying to hide a poker game from his wife cracks me up every time. He tells her he slept outside on the hammock without realizing that she put it up in the attic. He eventually gives in and tells her the truth. The song is really pretty cheesy if you think about it, but sometimes country music can be that way. It's upbeat and fun and sometimes that's all that matters.

9. In This Life (In This Life 1992)- Another classic Collin Raye love song, this is a lovely ballad about how being loved has made all the difference in his life. If everything goes bad in life it really wouldn't matter because he had been loved.

10. I Volunteer (I Think About You 1995)- On the surface, this song is a song about romantic love, however if you think about the words it works on other levels as well. This song is about supporting someone you love, whether that person is your lover, your friend, or a family member.