An American Songwriter feature revisits three country hits from the 1960s that turned divorce and heartbreak into some of the genre's most memorable storytelling. The article highlights how these songs, despite their gloomy subject matter, became chart-topping favourites and remain regarded as classics decades on, reflecting how country music of the era often mined difficult relationships for compelling narrative songwriting.

The list includes Tammy Wynette's "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" (1968), which spelled out the pain of a divorce affecting a child and won her a Grammy after reaching No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart; Loretta Lynn's defiant "You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Man)", which peaked at No. 2; and Conway Twitty's "Next in Line", sung from the perspective of a suitor waiting to console a newly single woman, which topped the US country chart and reached No. 2 in Canada.