Carrie Underwood is one of country music’s greatest assets. Since her American Idol days, she has crushed our hearts, torn an exe’s laundry to shreds, and shared the deepest parts of her faith. Through numerous studio albums, including such standouts as 2012’s Blown Away and Storyteller (2015), the superstar has always followed her muse, weaving between blockbuster hits to deliver some of her best vocals.
When she’s not singing about a cheating boyfriend, she’s tearing our hearts from our chests. In her career, she’s managed to amass an impressive catalog of tearjerkers that’ll leave you breathless. Below, NashvillGab compiles a list of her most emotional songs, from her early days singing about Jesus to opening up about a relative’s alcoholism.
Grab your tissues; you’re gonna need ’em.
Image credit @carrieunderwood Instagram.
“See You Again”
From 2012’s Blown Away, “See You Again” pounds with tremendous heart. Underwood’s voice soars to the heavens, as she regales a tale about losing someone. As seen in the music video, the superstar explores what loss means in various forms and how to be thankful for the little things. “Said goodbye, turned around, and you were gone, gone, gone,” she sings. From losing someone in battle to being reunited, the song speaks to the ephemeral nature of human existence.
“Spinning Bottles”
“Round and round and round they go / Will it end, nobody knows,” aches Underwood. With “Spinning Bottles,” a cut from Cry Pretty, the singer-songwriter tells a story about alcoholism and its rippling effects on those around the afflicted. Over piano, it’s a stunning performance, among Underwood’s most nuanced and emotive on this list; it’s like a bulldozer over the senses. Even if you’ve never experienced a situation like this, Underwood invites you to express empathy and find yourself wrapped up in the song’s thorny layers.
“Wine After Whiskey”
One thing about Carrie Underwood is her ability to pull in the reins and hyperfocus on delivering the lyrics with galvanized emotion. “Wine After Whiskey,” a Blown Away era deep cut, finds the superstar mourning a past relationship. From its soft sizzle to Underwood’s crackling vocal performance, it goes down smooth as whiskey. The pain hangs off her lips, and she emotes with every bone in her body. It’s like lighting a fire and letting it burn until there’s nothing else left.
Image credit @carrieunderwood Instagram.
“I Just Can’t Live a Lie”
With its slow-moving melody “I Just Can’t Live a Lie” is among Underwood’s most fine-tuned melodic and vocal inventions. Each mechanism, from its searing lyrics to production, fits into place to make a masterful performance, packed inside Underwood’s propulsive lung power. It might not have the undeniable identity of other Some Hearts songs like “Whenever You Remember” and the title track, but it’s an unmistakable recording that affirms the beauty of real vocals.
“Something in the Water”
Faith runs deep in her bones. With “Something in the Water,” off her Greatest Hits compilation, Underwood tells the story of a young man who comes to Jesus and is baptized in the river. “Now I’m stronger / There must have been something in the water,” she sings. Even though she was pregnant at th time, which puts a strain on breath control, Underwood is at the top of her vocal game. She’s sharp, alluring, and powerful.
“Cry Pretty”
Underwood lets her perfectly-constructed mask slip a bit with “Cry Pretty,” a powerhouse ballad about pain and recovery. “You can’t cry pretty,” she sings, delicately decorating her vocal with a raw, jagged edge. With a flurry of drums and guitars, the singer-songwriter doesn’t fake her way through a single frame. Where some artists may have been paint-by-the-numbers, Underwood makes sure you feel every single sting coursing in her veins. “Cry Pretty” pops and sizzles, and once again testifies to Underwood’s place as one of music’s greatest.
“Someday When I Stop Loving You”
From Underwood’s most uneven record to date, Play On, “Someday When I Stop Loving You” showcases Underwood at her very finest. Feeling the sting of heartbreak coursing in her chest, she unleashes every ounce of emotion in a story about emotional recovery and moving on. “I’ll move on, baby, just like you / When the desert floods and the grass turns blue,” she weeps, her breathiness coating the song in puffs of smoke. It’s one of those classic, should-have-been-a-smash performances that demonstrates exactly how Underwood continues to be this generation’s best vocalist.
“I Know You Won’t”
If you want to talk about completely pulverizing performances, look no further than “I Know You Won’t.” You may even be out of breath listening to this one. While the lyrics are a bit pedestrian, Underwood sells every single word. She begins by caressing the melody, as though it’s made of silk before her voice explodes into the stratosphere with the chorus. “I buy into those eyes / And into your lies,” she sings, her voice crescendoing into the hook. When she does take flight, it’s an acrobatic and totally unbelievable vocal routine. You’ll have to pick your jaw up off the floor after this one.
“Good in Goodbye”
With its soft emotional flicker, “Good in Goodbye” finds Underwood realizing that pain is necessary in life. “As bad as it was, as bad as it hurt, I thank God I didn’t get what I thought that I deserved / Sometimes, life leads you down a different road,” she sings. Lifted from her excellent Blown Away, the mid-tempo ballad thumps with evocative percussion and instrumentation, allowing for the emotional throughline to poke through the static. Underwood speaks quietly yet commands the story. It just might be Underwood’s most underrated performance, that’s for sure.
“The Bullet”
“The Bullet” aims to bring a bit of humanity to the barrage of mass shootings in the United States. “You can blame it on hate or blame it on guns / But mommas ain’t supposed to bury their songs,” she sings. It’s a bold move, especially for a country artist, but Underwood has time and again demonstrated how much empathy she carries around in her heart. This Cry Pretty deep cut is sure to turn up the tears and never let up.
“Temporary Home”
In a three-verse structure, Underwood unspools tales about accepting one’s lot in life and realizing how fleeting any given moment really is. “I’m not afraid because I know this is my temporary home,” she sings, the refrain the connective tissue between all three tales. Even the darkest, most grueling tribulations in life never last; there’s always hope glistening just over the horizon. From Play On, “Temporary Home” stands as among Underwood’s most timeless records.
“What Can I Say,” featuring Sons of Sylvia
The little-known “What Can I Say,” a duet with Sons of Sylvia, features one of the singer’s most addicting melodies. As she crescendos throughout the song, it becomes clear what you’re witness is a vocalist in their prime. Underwood’s voice rings loud and clear, as though her life depends on delivering a knock-you-on-your-back performance. “And you should know, please believe me / I picked up the phone a thousand times and tried to dial your number,” she bellows. The power Underwood wields is a marvelous thing.
“Jesus Take the Wheel”
Everyone knows “Jesus Take the Wheel,” or at least recognizes the saying popularized by Underwood’s first proper radio single. Telling the story about a young woman who skids on the snow heading home for Christmas, the sappy ballad sees Underwood planting her flag in country music history. Her run on American Idol was impressive, but it was her first outing here that demonstrated she not only respected the genre but had the vocal prowess to compete with the best of them.