"Already Gone," Sugarland (2008)

A heartbreaking masterpiece, plain and simple

Peak: #1 on the country chart (#41 on the Hot 100)
Streams: 8.4 million

I do not say this lightly: Sugarland’s “Already Gone” is one of my favorite country songs of this century. I’m never able to listen to it just once. At the very least, I listen to the concluding section twice in a row, because the vocal arrangement is just…

… okay. I’m getting ahead of…