Clint Black’s “Killin’ Time” Really Is The Perfect Country Song

I’ve been listening to country music as long as I can remember. I grew up listening to country – and I mean real country music, from artists like Conway Twitty, Keith Whitley and Travis Tritt. But one of the first songs I remember listening to was Clint Black’s “Killin’ Time.”

And now, almost 30 years after I first heard it, I’ve realized that this may actually be the perfect country song.

It really has everything you could ask for in a great country song. First, it has that killer opening guitar riff, that deep baritone riff that hits you right off the bat. The second you hear it, you can just tell that it’s going to be a drinking song, and you’re right. More so, this song also has two of the themes that make for a great country song: Drinking and heartbreak. That’s classic country right there. It doesn’t get any more country than a song about drinking yourself blind to cure a broken heart. Even if your heart isn’t broken, you’re going to want to drink anytime you hear this song.

But what really takes this song from a great country song to the perfect country song is Clint Black’s unmistakably country twang. Have you ever heard a more country voice than that? His voice is what other people think of when you tell them you listen to country music.

Put it all together and you get what may be the perfect country song. Sure, he doesn’t say anything at all about mama, or trains, or trucks, or prison, but sometimes the perfect country song is just about getting drunk – and I think Clint Black nailed it.

A beer bottle on a dock

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