Chances are if you’ve spent any amount of time in Nashville, you’re familiar with Broadway.
The famous strip of bars in downtown Nashville plays host to thousands of tourists, bachelorette parties and visitors every night of the week, all packing into one of the dozens of bars on Broadway to hear live music and (in most cases) drink their faces off.
Broadway has really exploded in popularity among visitors in recent years, to the point that they’ve had to start shutting down the street on weekends to make more room for pedestrians who are bar-hopping.
One of the things that makes Broadway so popular is that every bar has live music, all the time. From the time they open at 10 AM until they close at 3 AM, there’s a band on stage – and most bars have multiple levels, thus multiple stages.
But can you imagine working in one of those bars? Not just dealing with the woo-girls in their brand new cowboy boots or the dudes who think Florida Georgia Line is country and Axe body spray is a shower, but having to hear the same songs over and over again, night after night?
Seems like it could get pretty brutal.
And one bartender in Nashville made his own list of the top 10 most overplayed songs on Broadway.
Jake Puliti, who was also a contestant on American Idol during season 17, posted a video on TikTok, saying that he’s been a bartender and server on Broadway for three years (God bless him), and then he dives into what he says are the most overplayed songs in downtown Music City.
So let’s take a look at his list:
10. Jolene – Dolly Parton
Sure, this one’s a classic (and Puliti admits that it still rocks after all these years), but when you have a bunch of people who claim to be fans of Dolly Parton but this is the only song they know to request, I can imagine it gets worn out after a while.
9. Feathered Indians – Tyler Childers
I have a feeling this one falls into the same category as “Jolene.” You get a bunch of people who claim to be huge Tyler Childers fans, but the only songs they actually know are “Feathered Indians” or “Whitehouse Road,” so you end up hearing them over and over. You’re not impressing anybody by claiming to be a Tyler Childers fan and then turning around and requesting this one. Ask for “Shake the Frost” or “Bottles and Bibles” and then we’ll talk.
8. Country Girl (Shake It For Me) – Luke Bryan
Puliti says this one gets all the moms on the dance floor, which makes sense because Luke Bryan is kinda like the dorky (but loveable) dad in country music these days.
7. Chicken Fried – Zac Brown Band
This is one of those songs that everybody goes crazy for when it’s played after a few drinks, so it’s not surprising that it’s one of the most overplayed. It’s also got the patriotic element to it which is kinda like a cheat code to get drunk people off their asses and singing along.
6. Before He Cheats – Carrie Underwood
The favorite of bachelorette parties everywhere. And they’ll scream out EVERY. SINGLE. WORD.
5. Sweet Home Alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd
This is another one’s that’s kinda like a cheat code. Everybody will sing along to this one so bands know that it’s an easy one to play to get the crowd going. Rednecks and Alabama fans will go insane. Which results in the song being insanely overplayed.
4. Friends In Low Places – Garth Brooks
I’m at the point with this song that I just roll my eyes any time it comes on. Not just because Garth is so damn cheesy these days, but also because everybody has heard it a million times. But it’s another easy one to play that’s sure to fire up a crowd. Can it still be fun to sing along with? Sure. Is it played out? Absolutely.
3. Folsom Prison Blues – Johnny Cash
I have a feeling this one’s going to be controversial. Probably a lot of comments along the lines of “YOU CAN NEVER PLAY TOO MUCH JOHNNY CASH.”
Yes, yes you can. The problem with this one is it’s the ONLY Johnny Cash song I ever hear on Broadway (not that I go down there much anyway). It’s another one of those songs that people will request trying to show off how much they know about “classic country,” but I guarantee those same people would look at you with a blank stare if you played “Misery and Gin” by Merle Haggard or even Cash’s “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down.”
Any time I’ve been on Broadway in the last year, I can pretty much guarantee that I heard this song at least once in every bar I stepped into. It’s insanely overplayed down there, but for all the wrong reasons.
2. Whiskey Glasses – Morgan Wallen
You knew there was going to be some Morgan Wallen on this list, right? You get a bunch of 20-something year olds in a bar and it’s inevitable that they’ll want to hear something from one of the most popular artists in country music right now, and it’s usually this one. It’s also a crossover hit, so even if the bar doesn’t play exclusively country, “Whiskey Glasses” is usually a safe bet with any crowd, which means it’s played to death.
1. Tennessee Whiskey – Chris Stapleton
There really is no other choice for the top song on this list. Ever since Chris Stapleton released his cover of this song back in 2015, it’s been on a nonstop loop on Broadway. My friends and I even used to have a “Tennessee Whiskey” drinking game on Broadway: We’d go to a bar, drink until we heard “Tennessee Whiskey” and then move to another bar. We never had to stay in one place very long.
Artists love to show off how much they sound like Chris Stapleton (they never do) with this one, and drunk people love to find somebody to slow dance to. Honestly, the song is just so overplayed in general that it’s gotten to the point that I’m sick of hearing it, and not just on Broadway. But there, it’s an easy pick for the most overplayed song.
So that’s a list straight from a bartender on Broadway. But I have to mention a few that it feels like should have been included on this list:
First is “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” by Pat Benatar. I don’t know why bands choose this song in particular, but especially at the bars that don’t play strictly country, you’re almost guaranteed to hear this one.
Then of course there’s “Don’t Stop Believin'” by Journey. Another one that’s played solely for the purpose of firing up the crowd, but one that’s been driven into the ground to the point that I would be fine if I never heard it again.
Then there are a couple of pop-punk songs that I would throw in there too: “My Own Worst Enemy” by Lit, and “All the Small Things” by Blink 182. These are songs that were popular when a lot of the people who visit Broadway were kids, so they’re easy nostalgic choices when a band wants to play something that’s not country (which, let’s be honest, they do a lot).
And last but not least: “Wagon Wheel.” How did this one not make the list? I absolutely despise “Wagon Wheel” because of how many times I’ve had to hear it on Broadway, and if I never heard that damn song again it would be too soon.
It’s gotten to the point that there are bars that actually ban the song altogether. “Wagon Wheel” is the definition of overplayed, and deserves to be right there at #2 on the list (and could arguably take the top spot, although maybe it’s not played as much these days as it was when I was on Broadway more often).
So what else should be on the list? If you’re a Nashville native, or even just a visitor who’s got your own additions, let us know which songs you think are overplayed on Broadway.
Because at this point, there are a ton of them to choose from.
@jakepuliti Tell me im wrong. #top10 #overplayed #broadwaynashville #nashville #tennessee #fyp #jakepuliti ♬ original sound – Jake Puliti
