Dierks Bentley’s 15 Sexiest Songs
Whether he’s ogling a “little white tank top” in his passenger seat or laying his lady down on a “bed of sweet surrender,” Dierks Bentley has a way with sexy words. Sure, the country star is known for his beer-soaked party songs, but he has far from pigeonholed himself as just a good-time guy. In fact, eight studio albums into his career, Bentley has created quite the sensitive — and sensual — soundtrack for a romantic party for two. As we count down to the May 27th release of the singer-songwriter’s new album, Black — with its track list of tunes about relationships — we sweat through the most seductive songs of his catalog.
Apple Music has created a playlist to accompany our list of sexy Dierks Bentley songs. Listen to all 15 tracks here, or scroll below.
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“Come a Little Closer”
Thanks to the line about little white tank tops in his debut hit, "What Was I Thinkin'," Bentley quickly got used to the sight of female concertgoers wearing them. But when he sang "I feel like strippin' it down," in this 2005 chart-topper, much to the ladies' chagrin the singer didn't take the idea quite as literally. Yes, there would be some PG-rated, Conway Twitty-style lovin' ("layin' you down in a bed of sweet surrender"), but the idea behind this paean to propinquity was more about taking the love story back to its uncomplicated beginning. The steamy make-up sex was just a nice bonus.
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“Here She Comes”
Bentley's always been able to pack as much punch in a barn-burning honkytonk number as a blistering ballad, and his 2009 LP Feel That Fire was even more proof of how varied and diverse his playbook could be. On "Here She Comes," he swirls southern rock into classic fast-picking country – and though the tempo sets boots tapping, the lyrics suggest that those boots might be the only thing he's still wearing when the song is through. Armed with some of his naughtiest double entendres ("when she pulls the trigger, I'm a load of buckshot" or, well, the title itself) it's a tribute to fast cars and faster moves in the bedroom — i.e., if the truck's a-rockin', don't come a-knockin'.
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“I Wanna Make You Close Your Eyes”
Cut from the same Downy-soft cloth as John Mayer's "Your Body is a Wonderland," "I Wanna Make You Close Your Eyes" finds Bentley in full-on Cowboy Casanova mode. "If you need a little bit of help from me, babe, there's not a button I can't reach," he promises, managing to sound selfless and boastful at the same time. Does his lover give in? The song ends before we find out, although an appearance on the Today show in February 2009 — where Bentley crooned the song for a swooning Kathie Lee Gifford — seems to stack the cards in his favor.
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“I’ll Be the Moon”
With help from duet partner Maren Morris, Bentley turns this Black ballad into a back-and-forth between two cheating lovers who meet up after dark, once the girl's unsuspecting boyfriend has fallen asleep. Bentley plays the villain — the guy who willingly sleeps with someone else's partner — but you still feel a pang of sympathy once the chorus hits. "You can leave me in the dark, if that's all I get from you," he sings, knowing he'll never be the biggest star in her sky.
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“Say You Do”
Love and lies intersect in this Riser chart-topper, where Bentley begs a former flame to stay the night. He knows she's already moved on. He knows she doesn't need him. The guy is desperate, though, and he can't help asking her to sweep aside reality for one more evening. "Say it feels good to be back in my arms," he demands, "and then don't call me." Ouch.
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“Soon as You Can”
When 2006's Long Trip Alone was released, it was Bentley's first LP as a married man – he and girlfriend Cassidy eloped right before Christmas in 2005, tying the knot by themselves in Mexico. So that makes a song like "Soon as You Can," one of Long Trip's album cuts, even more emotionally charged. Written by Bentley with Brett Beavers and Tony Martin, it's a steel guitar-laced midtempo chugger about a man who can't wait one more minute to spend the rest of his life with the lady he loves (speeding tickets and maxed-out gas cards be damned). And, as evidenced by how he swapped a sweeping gala for a simple south-of-the-border celebration, he's a man of his word.
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“Breathe You In”
A mellow ballad with a carnal core, "Breathe You In" finds Bentley wooing his lover with unexpected lines like, "I wanna be so close, you can wear my skin like a new set of clothes." A bit reminiscent of Silence of the Lambs, perhaps? Sure. But there's a balance to "Breathe You In" that's hard to deny, with Bentley's voice adding grit and gravel to an otherwise soft-spun mix of Stratocaster guitars and brushed percussion.
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“Feel That Fire”
Written with help from Brett Beavers and the Warren Brothers, the title track from 2009's Feel That Fire finds Bentley rattling off a long list of his lady friend's demands. She wants to take a joyride in his truck. She wants to adopt the stray cat running across the street. And most importantly, she wants a love that really burns. Backed by pedal steel riffs and a tangle of electric guitars, Bentley gets to work, eager to check off every item on the list.
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“Pick Up”
A phone rings and rings throughout this yearning power ballad, with Bentley begging the woman on the other line to answer. There's a mention of a pickup truck somewhere in the chorus, but "Pick Up" is about the demands of a relationship — the need to communicate, to forgive, to pick up and move forward — rather than the thrill of barreling down the highway. By the song's end, though, Bentley is still in the same spot where we first sound him, dialing those seven digits once again and repeating his first three lines.
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“What Was I Thinkin'”
When Bentley picks up an Alabama bombshell without asking for her daddy's permission, things get ugly. By the end of the night, he's taken a punch to the jaw and a round of buckshot to the tailgate. . . and he's ready to do it all over again, just so he can spend one more night with his shotgun rider. The whole thing is a bit ill-advised, perhaps, but when does young love ever make sense? "I know what I was feelin,'" he sings of the "little white tank top"-clad lady, "But what was I thinkin'?"
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“Black”
There's bound to be a lot of weight placed on the title track from Bentley's forthcoming Black, his eighth album that pays tribute to the many sides of romance through a nod to his wife Cassidy's maiden name. And "Black," a song that's as steamy as it gets, does not disappoint. With downright direct lyrics ("Knock me flat on my back, yeah/Just keep doing that/That thing you're doing there"), it still manages to stay smooth and sensual in the hands of Bentley: He makes the whole thing feel like a set of sweaty, charged whispers between two lovers looking not just for a few moments of euphoria but a way to drown out the realities of a world that's often more bleak than black.
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“Sweet and Wild”
For his first greatest hits compilation, Greatest Hits/Every Mile a Memory 2003–2008, Bentley knew he had to do something special – especially because he only had three albums under his belt at this point. So he chose to include two new tracks, one of which was this Jay Clementi and Radney Foster-written duet that let Bentley croon along with Sarah Buxton to a swift picking banjo, landing in his perfect wheelhouse where love and lust float equally in balance. "Every breath fanned the flame," he sings to a suggestive, thumping beat, "your warm body drove me insane." Bentley being Bentley, it's the polar opposite from the LP's other exclusive song, the raucous "With the Band" about his romance with a more elusive suitor: rock & roll glory.
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“Draw Me a Map”
Bentley is lost. Literally. While mandolins, fiddles and acoustic guitars twang in the background, he sings to a long-gone lover, hoping against hope that she'll allow him back into her good graces. "Draw me a map that leads me back to you," goes the lonely refrain, featuring harmony vocals from bluegrass queen Alison Krauss.
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“Settle for a Slowdown”
Like a clip from a Nicholas Sparks film, "Settle for a Slowdown" opens with a rain-soaked Bentley standing in the middle of the road, watching his lover drive away. He knows she's gone for good, but he can't help squinting into the distance, hoping to see something — a brake light, maybe — to indicate some sort of hesitation on her part. "I keep looking for the slightest sign that you might miss what you left behind," he admits during the song's chorus.
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“Pretty Girls”
Bentley and his buddies hit up a dive bar during two-for-one night, looking to enjoy a little people-watching. There's no posturing, no pick-up lines, no macho-man swagger in this Riser deep cut — just genuine appreciation for the titular "Pretty Girls" who drink just as hard as the boys. "You can't beat this view," Bentley admits, while the band kicks into an appropriately lazy groove behind him.