Narrowing the videos down to 50

So before I start counting down my top 50 videos, I thought I'd write a bit about what I'm looking for and how I narrowed the field down from over 120 videos to 50. I was going through and making a list of all the videos that came out in 2011 and could not believe how many there were! It didn't take too long for me to figure out that I couldn't possibly put all of them on the list or I'd be doing this forever. So I decided to mostly stick to artists that were the most likely to be known by the average country fan. Some are country music superstars and others are just starting to get their name out there, but they all are pretty close to what I'd consider to be pretty mainstream. As in people whose videos are the most likely to be shown on CMT and GAC. So that's how the original list came together, a list made up of 123 videos.

From there I had to figure out how I wanted to go about eliminating videos until I got the list down to 50. What are the kinds of things that separate the good videos from the great ones? What kinds of things matter to me in a video? And this is what I came up with:

1) The video must represent both the song and the artist well.

2) The video must be well made.

3) Bonus points are given for originality and whether or not the video enhanced or deepened the meaning of the song. The latter part of this point is a huge deal for me and there were some videos this year that did that beautifully.

4) This one didn't really play much of a factor, but how often did or does it get shown. This is a minor point because a great video is a great video regardless of how popular it is or how well known an artist is.

And...that's about it. To be perfectly honest a lot of this depended solely on my personal tastes, which was probably to be expected. I think I'm going to wrap this post up by posting the list of the 123 videos that made the original list. A lot of strong contenders here and there were so many that I really didn't want to cut. I made the decision early on to get rid of videos that were strictly concert or award show performances with nothing else added in favor of videos that featured a story line. The are two videos in my top 50 that include concert footage and each had things about it that set them apart from the others of this type. One included non-concert images and one that managed to include highlights from an entire tour in a way that really gave me a feel for the tour as a whole. I think I'll do a post at some point highlighting some videos that just barely missed being included in the top 50 with brief explanations as to why they got cut. But that's later. For now, without further ado, here is the list of the 123 videos that made my original list. I'll list them in alphabetical order by song title, including first the name of the artist(s) and then the name of the director(s).

Here we go:

(Kissed You) Good Night – Gloriana, TK McKamy

1,000 Faces – Randy Montana, Deaton-Flanigen

A Buncha Girls – Frankie Ballard, Jim Wright

A Little Less Comfortable – Carters Chord, Kristin Barlowe

A Woman Like You – Lee Brice, Eric Welch

All Your Life – The Band Perry, David McClister

Alone with You – Jake Owen, Mason Dixon

Always a Reason – The Dirt Drifters, Andi Zack

Am I the Only One – Dierks Bentley, Deaton-Flanigen

Amen – Eden’s Edge, Roman White

Back To December – Taylor Swift, Yoann Lemoine

Baggage Claim – Miranda Lambert, Paul Miller

Bait a Hook – Justin Moore, Shane Drake

Barefoot Blue Jean Night – Jake Owen, Mason Dixon

Beautiful Every Time – Lee Brice, Eric Welch

Beautiful Lies – Jaron and the Long Road to Love w/Big Kenny, Jaron Lowenstein

Bleed Red – Ronnie Dunn, Thien Phan

Brown Chicken, Brown Cow – Trace Adkins, Michael Salmon

Bulletproof – Steel Magnolia, Aaron Thomas

Colder Weather – Zac Brown Band, Darren Doane

Collide – Kid Rock w/Sheryl Crow, Deaton-Flanigen

Cost of Livin’ – Ronnie Dunn, Thien Phan

Country Girl (Shake it for Me) – Luke Bryan, Shaun Silva

Country Must Be Country Wide – Brantley Gilbert, Shane Drake

Crazy Girl – Eli Young Band, Brian Lazzaro

Didn’t I – James Wesley, Marcel

Dirt Road Anthem – Jason Aldean, Deaton-Flanigen

Don’t You Want to Stay – Jason Aldean w/Kelly Clarkson, CMA broadcast

Drink in My Hand – Eric Church, Peter Zavadil

Easy – Rascal Flatts w/Natasha Bedingfeld, Peter Zavidil

Everything and All – Randy Travis, Peter Zavadil

Fake I.D. – Big & Rich, ?

Ferris Wheel – Jason Jones, Kristin Barlowe

Fish – Craig Campbell, Wes Edwards

Footloose – Blake Shelton, Shaun Silva

Generation Love – Jennette McCurdy, Roman White

Give – LeAnn Rimes, Nigel Dick

God Gave Me You – Blake Shelton, Trey Fanjoy

Headache – Joey + Rory, Bryan Allen

Heart like Mine – Miranda Lambert, Justin Luffman

Hell on Heels – Pistol Annies, Becky Fluke

Hell Yeah, I Like Beer – Kevin Fowler, Kevin Fowler

Home – Dierks Bentley, Deaton-Flanigen

Homeboy – Eric Church, Peter Zavadil

Honey Bee – Blake Shelton, Trey Fanjoy

Hunt You Down – JT Hodges, Marcel

I Am Strong – The Grascals with Dolly Parton, David Corlew

I Do but Do I – Katie Armiger, Stephen Shepherd

I Don’t Want This Night to End – Luke Bryan, Shaun Silva

I Got Nothin’ – Darius Rucker

I Got You – Thompson Square, Wes Edwards

I Love You This Big – Scotty McCreery, Shane Drake

I Won’t Let You – Rascal Flatts, George Flanigen

I’m Gonna Love You Through It – Martina McBride, Roman White

If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away – Justin Moore, Peter Zavadil

If I Run – The Harters, Wes Edwards

If I Were a Boy – Reba McEntire, Peter Zavadil

If You Ain’t Here to Party – Luke Bryan, Michael Monaco

It’s a Shore Thing – Luke Bryan, Potsy Ponciroli

Just a Kiss – Lady Antebellum – Shaun Silva

Just Fishin’ – Trace Adkins, Trey Fanjoy

Keep Me in Mind – Zac Brown Band, Fenton Williams

Kiss My Country Ass – Blake Shelton, Jon Small

Knee Deep – Zac Brown Band w/Jimmy Buffet, Darren Doana

Let It Rain – David Nail, Stephen Shepherd/David Nail

Let Me Down Easy – Billy Currington, Potsy Ponciroli

Let’s Don’t Call it a Night – Casey James, Roman White

Let’s Get Together – Phil Vassar, Mason Dixon

Like My Mother Does – Lauren Alaina, Shaun Silva

Long Hot Summer – Keith Urban, Trey Fanjoy

Long Way to Go – Alan Jackson, Steven Goldmann

Look It Up – Ashton Shepherd, Michael Salomon

Looking for America – Mark Wills, Matt McQueen

Love Don’t Run – Steve Holy, Eric Welch

Love Done Gone – Billy Currington, Potsy Ponciroli

Made in America – Toby Keith, Michael Salomon

Mary was the Marrying Kind – Kip Moore, Michael Maxxis

Mean – Taylor Swift, Declan Whitebloom

My Heart Can’t Tell You No – Sara Evans, Trey Fanjoy

Old Alabama – Brad Paisley w/Alabama, Jim Shea

Old School – Chuck Wicks, Marcel

One More Drinkin’ Song – Jerrod Niemann, Brian Lazzaro

Ours – Taylor Swift, Declan Whitebloom

Paper Airplane – Alison Krauss & Union Station, Randee St. Nicholas

Reality – Kenny Chesney, Shaun Silva

Red Solo Cup – Toby Keith, Michael Salomon

Remind Me – Brad Paisley w/Carrie Underwood, Deaton-Flanigen

Scream – Katie Armiger, Ryan Hamblin

Second Chance – Burns & Poe, Kelly Brooks

Shotgun Girl – the JaneDear Girls, Deaton-Flanigen

Shut Up Train – Little Big Town, Becky Fluke

Somebody’s Chelsea – Reba McEntire, Trey Fanjoy

Somethin’ Bout a Truck – Kip Moore, Roger Pistole

Something Better – The Dirt Drifters, Wes Edwards

Something to Do with Your Hands – Sarah Darling, Stephen Shepherd

Sparks Fly – Taylor Swift, Christian Lamb

Staying’s Worse than Leaving – Sunny Sweeney, Roman White

Storm Warning – Hunter Hayes, Brian Lazzaro

Take a Back Road – Rodney Atkins, Andy Tennant

Take it Off – Joe Nichols, Posty Ponciroli

Tattoos on This Town – Jason Aldean, Wes Edwards

Teenage Daughters – Martina McBride, Roman White

That Girl – Kevin Fowler, Potsy Ponciroli

The Letter – Bill Gentry, ?

The Shape I’m In – Joe Nichols, Trey Fanjoy

The Story of Us – Taylor Swift, Noble Jones

The Trouble with Girls – Scotty McCreery, Roman White

This – Darius Rucker, Trey Fanjoy

Today Is Your Day – Shania Twain, ?

Together You and I – Dolly Parton, Trey Fanjoy

Tomorrow – Chris Young, Trey Fanjoy

Tonight – Sugarland, Marcus Raboy

Tough – Kellie Pickler, Roman White

Wanna Take You Home – Gloriana, TK McKamy

We Owned the Night – Lady Antebellum, Shaun Silva

When Love Gets a Hold on You – Reba McEntire, Glenn Weiss

Where I Come From – Montgomery Gentry, Potsy Ponciroli

Without You – Keith Urban, Chris Hicky

Won’t Be Lonely Long – Josh Thompson, Wes Edwards

You – Chris Young, Chris Hicky

You and Tequila – Kenny Chesney w/Grace Potter, Shaun Silva

You Don’t Know Her Like I Do – Brantley Gilbert, Justin Key or Shane Drake

You Lie – The Band Perry, David McClister