Top 50 Songs of the Decade, #9 - "Best Years of My Life," Pistol Annies

"Hankering" is such a great word.  I'm not exactly sure why it appeals to me so much, but it's one of the words that I try to work into a conversation, or online dialogue, as often as I can.

The fact that "hankering" is used in "Best Years of My Life," however, is not why it made the Top Ten.  It made the Top Ten because it's a truly great song by one of the truly great groups - and I mean, really really great - of the entire decade.

For the uninitiated, Pistol Annies is comprised of, from left to right in the video, Ashley Monroe, Angaleena Presley, and Miranda Lambert.  In total, the trio released twelve albums during the decade of the 2010s: three Pistol Annies albums, four solo albums by Lambert, three solo albums by Monroe, and two solo albums by Presley.  Two of those albums (Presley's "American Middle Class" and Pistol Annies' "Interstate Gospel") made my Top 30 of the Decade, and if I expanded that list to 50, Lambert's "Platinum" and Monroe's "The Blade" would have joined them.

In short, they're great.  As in, great on an historical scale.  They are at the vanguard of the new wave of women country artists that have scorched the musical world with their boldness, their brilliance, in recent years.  Although you may not know it, since country radio is still loathe to give them the spotlight they deserve.

"Best Years of My Life" is a great place to begin diving into their catalog.

Top 50 Songs of the Decade, #9 - "Best Years of My Life," Pistol Annies.