The Big One - A George Strait Rankdown (Revealing)

[tim]

Hmm I’d have to guess the picture of a Coke can is referencing “The Best Day.”

[bboat11]

Jan 3, 2018 21:53:37 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

Hint for the next song:

"Some fishin' poles, a cooler of Cokes, three days before we had to be back."

---

When you’re in your teens, your dreams revolve

Around four spinnin’ wheels.

59. "The Best Day"

Album: Latest Greatest Straitest Hits

Year: 2000





Total: 1084
Average: 54.20
Std Dev: 29.75


gardyfan - 4
sabre14 - 8
CoJoFan - 24
Kanenrá:ke - 24
countrymusicjunkie - 25
Cody Wants Out... - 26
.indulgecountry - 34
carriekins - 39
castleoblivion26 - 40
LBTrocks - 59
George Strait Junkie - 65
zaclord 🌈 - 68
DistrictTwelve - 71
tim - 75
codyj100 - 76
bboat11 - 78
BackwoodsBarbie - 88
mamasaid - 91
fearlessarrow - 92
@adam1995 - 97




With multiple top 10 and bottom 10 losses, this is the highest SD song we have seen in awhile! In fact, gardyfan loses a top 5, while @adam1995 loses a bottom 5. This song did manage to make a very solid climb towards the top 50, after a rough start, but unfortunately it was not able to sustain it positioning, pushing it towards the bottom of the top 60 towards the end.

Personally I think this is a really cute song, but vocally and instrumentally it has not aged for me as well as most of George's other #1 hits have. His voice almost sounds whiny in places on this song, while the piano intro sounds way more depressing than the song should actually sound imo. I still like it a lot, but it was easy to put it towards the bottom of my list because of those things.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
A Fire I Can’t Put Out
Adalida
All My Ex’s Live In Texas
Amarillo By Morning
Baby Blue
Baby’s Gotten Good At Goodbye
Blue Clear Sky
Carried Away
Carrying Your Love With Me
Check Yes Or No
Cowboys Like Us
Desperately
Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind
Easy Come, Easy Go
Fool Hearted Memory
Give It Away
Go On
Heartland
Here For A Good Time
How ‘Bout Them Cowgirls
I Can Still Make Cheyenne
I Cross My Heart
I Got A Car
I Hate Everything
I Just Want To Dance With You
I Saw God Today
I’d Like To Have That One Back
I’ve Come To Expect It From You
If I Know Me
If You Can Do Anything Else
It Just Comes Natural
Living And Living Well
Living For The Night
Love Without End, Amen
Marina Del Rey
Meanwhile
Murder On Music Row
Nobody In His Right Mind Would’ve Left Her
Ocean Front Property
One Night At A Time
Round About Way
Run
She Let Herself Go
She’ll Leave You With A Smile
The Big One
The Chair
The Cowboy Rides Away
The Fireman
Today My World Slipped Away
Troubadour
True
Unwound
Wrapped
Write This Down
You Can’t Make A Heart Love Somebody
You Know Me Better Than That
You Look So Good In Love
You’ll Be There

[tim]

Although not a favorite of mine, “The Best Day” was a stellar song compared to everything else that we got from country music in 2000.

In regards to the album Latest Greatest Straitest Hits, I’ve long been perplexed as to why “I Just Want to Dance With You” was omitted...and obviously I’m still thinking about that after all these years lol.

[bboat11]

If I’d have only known then what I know now,

I’d never open that door.

Oh, they just don’t make hearts like hers anymore.

58. "I'd Like To Have That One Back"

Album: Easy Come, Easy Go

Year: 1993

Total: 1080
Average: 54.00
Std Dev: 26.40


DistrictTwelve - 8
BackwoodsBarbie - 15
countrymusicjunkie - 22
bboat11 - 24
CoJoFan - 30
carriekins - 33
gardyfan - 41
tim - 42
sabre14 - 50
.indulgecountry - 51
@adam1995 - 59
zaclord 🌈 - 62
Cody Wants Out... - 65
codyj100 - 71
fearlessarrow - 75
Kanenrá:ke - 79
castleoblivion26 - 82
mamasaid - 88
LBTrocks - 89
George Strait Junkie - 94




Ugh, this is such an amazing song! This was one of the songs that I was most disappointed about while watching the results unfold. After my top 25 ranking, this fell very quickly, getting as low as #80. Fortunately it started rebounding at that point, almost making the top 50 before settling into the lower 50s. I am MUCH happier with this placement than I would have been before it made that rebound

Anyway, this is such a beautiful song, with a strong lyrical message. Songs about regretting a love that they lost due to their own neglect are usually pretty good, but George Strait does that theme better than almost anybody else.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
A Fire I Can’t Put Out
Adalida
All My Ex’s Live In Texas
Amarillo By Morning
Baby Blue
Baby’s Gotten Good At Goodbye
Blue Clear Sky
Carried Away
Carrying Your Love With Me
Check Yes Or No
Cowboys Like Us
Desperately
Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind
Easy Come, Easy Go
Fool Hearted Memory
Give It Away
Go On
Heartland
Here For A Good Time
How ‘Bout Them Cowgirls
I Can Still Make Cheyenne
I Cross My Heart
I Got A Car
I Hate Everything
I Just Want To Dance With You
I Saw God Today
I’ve Come To Expect It From You
If I Know Me
If You Can Do Anything Else
It Just Comes Natural
Living And Living Well
Living For The Night
Love Without End, Amen
Marina Del Rey
Meanwhile
Murder On Music Row
Nobody In His Right Mind Would’ve Left Her
Ocean Front Property
One Night At A Time
Round About Way
Run
She Let Herself Go
She’ll Leave You With A Smile
The Big One
The Chair
The Cowboy Rides Away
The Fireman
Today My World Slipped Away
Troubadour
True
Unwound
Wrapped
Write This Down
You Can’t Make A Heart Love Somebody
You Know Me Better Than That
You Look So Good In Love
You’ll Be There

[fearlessarrow]

Jan 3, 2018 22:02:08 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

Jan 3, 2018 21:55:12 GMT -5 Cody Wants Out... said:

Yeah...I'm gonna keep my mouth shut from here on out...

But I like it when you make guesses!

Yes at that Modern Family gif!!!

[bboat11]

Jan 3, 2018 23:23:58 GMT -5 fearlessarrow said:

Jan 3, 2018 22:02:08 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

But I like it when you make guesses!

Yes at that Modern Family gif!!!

I am Phil.

[LBTrocks]

"The Best Day" I got a P-P-P-P ranking thing yaaas!

[bboat11]

Jan 3, 2018 23:25:28 GMT -5 LBTrocks said:

"The Best Day" I got a P-P-P-P ranking thing yaaas!

AND your #1 is still in!!!!!

[LBTrocks]

Jan 3, 2018 23:27:09 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

Jan 3, 2018 23:25:28 GMT -5 LBTrocks said:

"The Best Day" I got a P-P-P-P ranking thing yaaas!

AND your #1 is still in!!!!!

But for how long?! That is the question...

[bboat11]

Meanwhile, up next, is the 5th smallest Standard Deviation!

[bboat11]

Jan 3, 2018 23:30:31 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

Meanwhile, up next, is the 5th smallest Standard Deviation!

Meanwhile, back in the back of my memory

You’ll always be with me.

But I’ll never hold you again.

57. "Meanwhile"

Album: Always Never The Same
Year: 1999





Total: 1059
Average: 52.95
Std Dev: 17.16 (5th smallest!!)


DistrictTwelve - 29
castleoblivion26 - 30
codyj100 - 35
Kanenrá:ke - 36
tim - 39
mamasaid - 43
gardyfan - 46
carriekins - 48
BackwoodsBarbie - 48
bboat11 - 49
CoJoFan - 49
fearlessarrow - 52
LBTrocks - 53
countrymusicjunkie - 55
.indulgecountry - 58
sabre14 - 65
zaclord 🌈 - 76
Cody Wants Out... - 77
George Strait Junkie - 80
@adam1995 - 91




This was a song which I honestly had no expectations for, as I had no clue what to expect. This is one that it seems like nobody ever talks about. Which is too bad, because it is really good! This song was George's only song to miss #1 in the U.S. yet hit #1 in Canada. I am so thrilled it almost made the top 50, because almost everything remaining is a hard-hitter!

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
A Fire I Can’t Put Out
Adalida
All My Ex’s Live In Texas
Amarillo By Morning
Baby Blue
Baby’s Gotten Good At Goodbye
Blue Clear Sky
Carried Away
Carrying Your Love With Me
Check Yes Or No
Cowboys Like Us
Desperately
Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind
Easy Come, Easy Go
Fool Hearted Memory
Give It Away
Go On
Heartland
Here For A Good Time
How ‘Bout Them Cowgirls
I Can Still Make Cheyenne
I Cross My Heart
I Got A Car
I Hate Everything
I Just Want To Dance With You
I Saw God Today
I’ve Come To Expect It From You
If I Know Me
If You Can Do Anything Else
It Just Comes Natural
Living And Living Well
Living For The Night
Love Without End, Amen
Marina Del Rey
Murder On Music Row
Nobody In His Right Mind Would’ve Left Her
Ocean Front Property
One Night At A Time
Round About Way
Run
She Let Herself Go
She’ll Leave You With A Smile
The Big One
The Chair
The Cowboy Rides Away
The Fireman
Today My World Slipped Away
Troubadour
True
Unwound
Wrapped
Write This Down
You Can’t Make A Heart Love Somebody
You Know Me Better Than That
You Look So Good In Love
You’ll Be There

[LBTrocks]

Jan 3, 2018 23:30:31 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

Meanwhile, up next, is the 5th smallest Standard Deviation!

Oh. So you WERE being THAT obvious, lol.

[bboat11]

Jan 3, 2018 23:51:47 GMT -5 LBTrocks said:

Jan 3, 2018 23:30:31 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

Meanwhile, up next, is the 5th smallest Standard Deviation!

Oh. So you WERE being THAT obvious, lol.

It's just my round about way of trying to leave hints that are so obvious that they are confusing!

[LBTrocks]

Jan 3, 2018 23:53:27 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

Jan 3, 2018 23:51:47 GMT -5 LBTrocks said:

Oh. So you WERE being THAT obvious, lol.

It's just my round about way of trying to leave hints that are so obvious that they are confusing!

[bboat11]

If you can do anything else, do it.

But if you can’t,

Baby, you can stay right here.

56. "If You Can Do Anything Else"

Album: George Strait

Year: 2001





Total: 1056
Average: 52.80
Std Dev: 23.34


DistrictTwelve - 20
CoJoFan - 22
Cody Wants Out... - 29
castleoblivion26 - 33
carriekins - 34
.indulgecountry - 35
BackwoodsBarbie - 36
tim - 40
fearlessarrow - 41
sabre14 - 43
LBTrocks - 55
countrymusicjunkie - 56
codyj100 - 59
zaclord 🌈 - 66
George Strait Junkie - 67
bboat11 - 68
Kanenrá:ke - 77
gardyfan - 79
@adam1995 - 98
mamasaid - 98





Another song that I had no expectations for, because it is among George's more forgotten singles. His self-titled album from 2000 is definitely one of his more forgotten albums for whatever reason, and with this elimination, "Go On" is the only song remaining from the album. This song put in a pretty strong showing, rising almost constantly the whole time other than a brief setback in the beginning.

I have always thought this song was super catchy, but it is not one that I ever seem to seek out to listen to, or one that I would have chosen to be released to radio. I'm not really sure why!

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
A Fire I Can’t Put Out
Adalida
All My Ex’s Live In Texas
Amarillo By Morning
Baby Blue
Baby’s Gotten Good At Goodbye
Blue Clear Sky
Carried Away
Carrying Your Love With Me
Check Yes Or No
Cowboys Like Us
Desperately
Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind
Easy Come, Easy Go
Fool Hearted Memory
Give It Away
Go On
Heartland
Here For A Good Time
How ‘Bout Them Cowgirls
I Can Still Make Cheyenne
I Cross My Heart
I Got A Car
I Hate Everything
I Just Want To Dance With You
I Saw God Today
I’ve Come To Expect It From You
If I Know Me
It Just Comes Natural
Living And Living Well
Living For The Night
Love Without End, Amen
Marina Del Rey
Murder On Music Row
Nobody In His Right Mind Would’ve Left Her
Ocean Front Property
One Night At A Time
Round About Way
Run
She Let Herself Go
She’ll Leave You With A Smile
The Big One
The Chair
The Cowboy Rides Away
The Fireman
Today My World Slipped Away
Troubadour
True
Unwound
Wrapped
Write This Down
You Can’t Make A Heart Love Somebody
You Know Me Better Than That
You Look So Good In Love
You’ll Be There

[bboat11]

When she’s not around

I come unwound,

And my heart breaks.

55. "Round About Way"

Album: Carrying Your Love With Me
Year: 1998





Total: 1054
Average: 52.70
Std Dev: 28.06


LBTrocks - 1
castleoblivion26 - 18
George Strait Junkie - 19
gardyfan - 26
.indulgecountry - 27
fearlessarrow - 29
codyj100 - 30
sabre14 - 35
carriekins - 44
mamasaid - 48
tim - 61
@adam1995 - 71
zaclord 🌈 - 72
bboat11 - 73
BackwoodsBarbie - 74
Cody Wants Out... - 78
DistrictTwelve - 79
Kanenrá:ke - 88
countrymusicjunkie - 89
CoJoFan - 92




After weeks of stressful waiting, LBTrocks can finally stop worrying about his #1 leaving soon!!! Coming in at #55, we say goodbye to "Round About Way", the 4th and final single from the Carrying Your Love With Me album. It is also the first song we have lost from that album. This song uses George's classic tasty wordplay, and manages to accumulate quite a few top 40 placements! It even made a run at the top 40, at one point, but looked like a lock for the top 50 for most of the rankdown. Unfortunately it was not able to hold on with the last two submissions from BackwoodsBarbie and Kanenrá:ke.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
A Fire I Can’t Put Out
Adalida
All My Ex’s Live In Texas
Amarillo By Morning
Baby Blue
Baby’s Gotten Good At Goodbye
Blue Clear Sky
Carried Away
Carrying Your Love With Me
Check Yes Or No
Cowboys Like Us
Desperately
Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind
Easy Come, Easy Go
Fool Hearted Memory
Give It Away
Go On
Heartland
Here For A Good Time
How ‘Bout Them Cowgirls
I Can Still Make Cheyenne
I Cross My Heart
I Got A Car
I Hate Everything
I Just Want To Dance With You
I Saw God Today
I’ve Come To Expect It From You
If I Know Me
It Just Comes Natural
Living And Living Well
Living For The Night
Love Without End, Amen
Marina Del Rey
Murder On Music Row
Nobody In His Right Mind Would’ve Left Her
Ocean Front Property
One Night At A Time
Run
She Let Herself Go
She’ll Leave You With A Smile
The Big One
The Chair
The Cowboy Rides Away
The Fireman
Today My World Slipped Away
Troubadour
True
Unwound
Wrapped
Write This Down
You Can’t Make A Heart Love Somebody
You Know Me Better Than That
You Look So Good In Love
You’ll Be There

[LBTrocks]

SIGH. "Round About Way" couldn't even make the top 50.

[BackwoodsBarbie]

Wait why is "I'd Like To Have That One Back" out already?!!? I love how great the production of this song is - in verses when he talks about what happened pedal steel makes a perfect, heartbreaking atmosphere and then on chorus when violins kick in and perfectly complement the sadness in his voice (And if my lips had said, "I'm sorry" - this line sounds simply amazing).

[Kanenrá:ke]

Ouch I knew "The Chill Of An Early Fall" wouldn't make it anywhere close to the top but I didn't expect it to fall below the top 50.

[LBTrocks]

Lol @ us all being upset with how this Rankdown is unfolding for different reasons.

[Kanenrá:ke]

Jan 4, 2018 15:21:13 GMT -5 LBTrocks said:

Lol @ us all being upset with how this Rankdown is unfolding for different reasons.

I know guess we all like George's music for different reasons lol

While I'm not sad your #1 is gone (my rank of 88 means I wanted it gone long ago), I'm shocked, I had that one pegged for a top 30 spot at least.

[tim]

Dec 31, 2017 4:39:32 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

The Christmas Albums

Honestly, I don't have too much to say about any of these albums. George is definitely not one of my go-to Christmas artists. He sounds fine on these songs, of course, but when it comes to Christmas music I am not really a big fan of a traditional country instrumentation. Which is ironic, because I don't think anybody does Christmas music as well as country artists do! But to me most of George's Christmas output is the definition of forgettable. That is why I am not going to post any album tracks from any of these albums.

I'm a few days late getting back around to replying to this, but was hoping you'd do a highlight of George's Christmas albums! And I have to disagree...George is definitely one of my go-to artists for Christmas music...especially since I'm a fan of the traditional country instrumentation ! One of my first Christmas albums that I remember listening to growing up was for sure Merry Christmas Strait to You and therefore a lot of Christmas classics like "White Christmas" and "Away In a Manager" were first time listens for me so I always find myself comparing other versions to George's. Fresh Cut Christmas is also an album I put on every year for the holidays; I remember when that first got released I couldn't get to Hallmark fast enough to pick up a copy!

[gardyfan]

I am not upset about any of his songs being gone. The Best Day is a bummer for me being gone ealy though. The day my dad died I played that and AJ's "Drive" over and over sobbing.

[Cody Wants Out...]

Boo!-Hiss! @ "The Best Day" leaving us already; thought that'd be a top 40 candidate. Man, I s'pose losing amything in my top half will be painful somewhat. Oh well, at least my top 20 is still intact, even with a few guilty pleasures of mine in there.

[bboat11]

Anybody around to get down to the top 50???

[bboat11]

Jan 7, 2018 22:08:44 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

Anybody around to get down to the top 50???

The answer to the question is: NO!! I will NOT catch you if you fall for me! You can lead my heart to love, but you can't make it fall!

---

You can’t make a heart love somebody.
You can lead a heart to love,
But you can’t make it fall.

54. "You Can't Make A Heart Love Somebody"

Album: Lead On

Year: 1994





Total: 1049
Average: 52.45
Std Dev: 27.28


CoJoFan - 6
gardyfan - 8
Kanenrá:ke - 9
fearlessarrow - 13
bboat11 - 42
Cody Wants Out... - 47
DistrictTwelve - 49
BackwoodsBarbie - 49
countrymusicjunkie - 50
@adam1995 - 50
castleoblivion26 - 50
tim - 53
mamasaid - 64
.indulgecountry - 65
codyj100 - 68
carriekins - 73
sabre14 - 78
LBTrocks - 82
zaclord 🌈 - 93
George Strait Junkie - 100




After a strong top 50 start, I was absolutely appalled at how miserably this song started performing for the first half of the submission process! It became a bottom 20 contender! Fortunately it made an epic comeback in the second half, getting almost close enough to make a return to the top 50.

Three people lose a top 10 here, making this one of the heaviest losses of the rankdown. However, George Strait Junkie loses his #100 here for whatever reason!

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
A Fire I Can’t Put Out
Adalida
All My Ex’s Live In Texas
Amarillo By Morning
Baby Blue
Baby’s Gotten Good At Goodbye
Blue Clear Sky
Carried Away
Carrying Your Love With Me
Check Yes Or No
Cowboys Like Us
Desperately
Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind
Easy Come, Easy Go
Fool Hearted Memory
Give It Away
Go On
Heartland
Here For A Good Time
How ‘Bout Them Cowgirls
I Can Still Make Cheyenne
I Cross My Heart
I Got A Car
I Hate Everything
I Just Want To Dance With You
I Saw God Today
I’ve Come To Expect It From You
If I Know Me
It Just Comes Natural
Living And Living Well
Living For The Night
Love Without End, Amen
Marina Del Rey
Murder On Music Row
Nobody In His Right Mind Would’ve Left Her
Ocean Front Property
One Night At A Time
Run
She Let Herself Go
She’ll Leave You With A Smile
The Big One
The Chair
The Cowboy Rides Away
The Fireman
Today My World Slipped Away
Troubadour
True
Unwound
Wrapped
Write This Down
You Know Me Better Than That
You Look So Good In Love
You’ll Be There

[fearlessarrow]

The gap in the four top rankers and the rest 

[bboat11]

I must say, melodically I get tired of "You Can't Make A Heart" sometimes. But the lyrics are SO solid! OMG!! The story that it tells is so heartbreaking, but so realistic, and it is a topic that pretty much never gets sang about, especially from this perspective. "You can lead a heart to love, but you can't make it fall" is such a heartbreaking hook.

[castleoblivion26]

this is a great song, not entirely sad to see it out though, though it being out before my 100 is sad because that song is just not good imo and I'm surprised it is still in. Guess I shouldn't be surprised but I just don't understand how anyone can enjoy it, I've tried many times.

[bboat11]

And now I know there’s no reason to smile.

It’s gonna take me awhile,

‘Cause I still love you desperately.

53. "Desperately"

Album: Honkytonkville

Year: 2004





Total: 1039
Average: 51.95
Std Dev: 23.63


sabre14 - 13
countrymusicjunkie - 13
BackwoodsBarbie - 14
LBTrocks - 22
DistrictTwelve - 33
mamasaid - 45
Kanenrá:ke - 45
fearlessarrow - 46
gardyfan - 50
zaclord 🌈 - 52
bboat11 - 56
CoJoFan - 57
carriekins - 59
.indulgecountry - 64
George Strait Junkie - 68
Cody Wants Out... - 69
castleoblivion26 - 79
@adam1995 - 82
codyj100 - 84
tim - 88




This was another song that made an impressive comeback towards the end! After falling to the bottom 20 towards the beginning, it made it back towards the top 50. This song performed way better than I expected, honestly, but I am not upset about it. This song is so catchy and easy to listen to! Definitely one of George's more underrated hits. It was a really big hit, but kinda got forgotten in between "Cowboys Like Us" and "I Hate Everything", imo.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
A Fire I Can’t Put Out
Adalida
All My Ex’s Live In Texas
Amarillo By Morning
Baby Blue
Baby’s Gotten Good At Goodbye
Blue Clear Sky
Carried Away
Carrying Your Love With Me
Check Yes Or No
Cowboys Like Us
Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind
Easy Come, Easy Go
Fool Hearted Memory
Give It Away
Go On
Heartland
Here For A Good Time
How ‘Bout Them Cowgirls
I Can Still Make Cheyenne
I Cross My Heart
I Got A Car
I Hate Everything
I Just Want To Dance With You
I Saw God Today
I’ve Come To Expect It From You
If I Know Me
It Just Comes Natural
Living And Living Well
Living For The Night
Love Without End, Amen
Marina Del Rey
Murder On Music Row
Nobody In His Right Mind Would’ve Left Her
Ocean Front Property
One Night At A Time
Run
She Let Herself Go
She’ll Leave You With A Smile
The Big One
The Chair
The Cowboy Rides Away
The Fireman
Today My World Slipped Away
Troubadour
True
Unwound
Wrapped
Write This Down
You Know Me Better Than That
You Look So Good In Love
You’ll Be There