This richly orchestrated soft-rock ballad sounds like it was written to be played at weddings while the father of the bride is dancing with his little girl. He just happens to miss the old, outdated way of life, "back when a hoe was a hoe / Coke was a coke / And crack's what you were doing / When you were cracking jokes / Back when a screw was a screw / The wind was all that blew / And when you said I'm down with that / Well it meant you had the flu." This one topped the country charts. And the honky-tonk flavor of the music definitely suits that tone. Nostalgia for the way life used to be has been a common country them since long before the times McGraw proclaims nostalgia for in "Back When." But he gets the tone right – more bittersweet man out of time reading "Street Slang For Dummies" than raging cantankerous coot. But it ended up topping the charts and staying there for three weeks, so at least he got away with it. He recorded the song for inclusion on "Number One Hits," which is kind of a risky move. "But it felt good on my lips." The stadium-rocking chorus lays it on a little thick, but the scrappy guitar solo more than makes up for it. Then, the drums kick in and the song settles into a countrified power-pop groove as McGraw spins a yarn about a Spanish girl who "tipped the DJ to play her favorite song / A Spanish little number that was a-rockin' on strong." He doesn't understand a word but he finds himself singing along by the second chorus. The atmospheric opening has a moody U2 quality. With McGraw on his way to the Valley for a Thursday performance at Ak-Chin Pavilion, here's a playlist of his 25 best singles, from "Don't Take the Girl" and "It's Your Love" to "Diamond Rings and Old Barstools," his current hit. 1 last year with "Shotgun Rider," one of four hit singles from his latest album, "Sundown Heaven Town." 1 on Billboard's country chart with a heartbreaking ballad called "Don't Take the Girl." And he was back at No. Last year marked the 20th anniversary of Tim McGraw's first trip to No.
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