Heartbreak hits differently when it’s delivered through the crestfallen croon of a country singer. Laid over swells of pedal steel, that unabashedly earnest delivery has always set country’s ballads apart. While sounds and styles have evolved since the golden days of artists like Porter Wagoner and Loretta Lynn, some things never change—the songs tend to burn slow, they’re heavy with feelings, and they draw out some of the most stirring vocal performances the genre’s ever known. As always, when it comes to country music, it’s the lyrics that elevate the music. The best songwriters can make listeners swear a song’s images were lifted straight from their own lives, whether those narratives find their homes in the shuffling vintage of the genre’s early ballads, countrypolitan’s sentimental arrangements, or the ambitious production of pop-country torch songs in the ‘90s and beyond. Regardless of era, the country ballad’s allure is eternal—people will always seek to hear that they aren’t alone in their feelings.