The Big One - A George Strait Rankdown (Revealing)

[.indulgecountry]

[tim]

[bboat11]

On the Richter scale of romance

You hit twelve, and you don’t stand a chance.

This is the big one;

I’m fallin’ in love.

50. "The Big One"

Album: Lead On
Year: 1994





Total: 1016
Average: 50.80
Std Dev: 25.38


castleoblivion26 - 12
bboat11 - 15
carriekins - 20
codyj100 - 29
.indulgecountry - 32
fearlessarrow - 34
gardyfan - 37
LBTrocks - 38
CoJoFan - 38
DistrictTwelve - 43
tim - 50
George Strait Junkie - 52
@adam1995 - 63
Cody Wants Out... - 63
Kanenrá:ke - 64
zaclord 🌈 - 74
BackwoodsBarbie - 75
mamasaid - 87
sabre14 - 95
countrymusicjunkie - 95




At the midpoint of the rankdown, we say goodbye to the theme song for this whole shebang! And honestly, even with my #15 rank, I feel like I underhanded this song... This is SUCH a jam. The whole "Now it's beat, beat, beat, my heart's sendin' out a message" lyric is quite possibly the catchiest line in all of country music.

I know George regrets singing the high note at the end of this song because he "feels like Tarzan sometimes" when he tries to sing it in concert, as per an interview I read once with him, but literally everything about this song is perfect to me so I don't care!

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
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 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 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

[tim]

Ohhhh I got another P-P-P-P-PERFECT RANKING!!

I remember George mentioning that initially they added a sound effect to the end of the song to resemble an earthquake or something, but then he remembered how much he disliked hearing the seagulls at the end of "Marina Del Rey" that he had his producer Tony Brown take the sound effect out.

Oh...and to add to my fan anecdotes:

#78: "The Big One" is the first song I ever called in to request at a local country radio station...they even played my voice requesting it before it went on! How I do miss when country stations weren't conglomerates.

[bboat11]

Nobody in his right mind would’ve left her.

Even my heart was smart enough to stay behind.

49. "Nobody In His Right Mind Would've Left Her"

Album: #7

Year: 1986

Total: 1009
Average: 50.45
Std Dev: 27.82


countrymusicjunkie - 8
tim - 9
bboat11 - 16
CoJoFan - 16
@adam1995 - 16
BackwoodsBarbie - 18
mamasaid - 37
George Strait Junkie - 44
DistrictTwelve - 50
Kanenrá:ke - 55
.indulgecountry - 60
gardyfan - 60
castleoblivion26 - 68
carriekins - 71
Cody Wants Out... - 73
fearlessarrow - 77
sabre14 - 79
zaclord 🌈 - 82
codyj100 - 83
LBTrocks - 87




Yet another song that was done dirty by all of us. This has always been one of my very favorite songs from George, so I was very disappointed with how close it came to missing the top 50. I figured it would be one of the higher-placing songs from the '80s! Unfortunately that was not the case, as it leaves while there are still 14 songs from the '80s left.

My favorite aspect of this song has honestly always been the production. It has an echoey quality to it that nothing else that George has ever recorded has had. Plus the simple melody is extremely effective, and George turns in an earnest and convincing vocal performance.

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
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 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
Ocean Front Property
One Night At A Time
Run
She Let Herself Go
She’ll Leave You With A Smile
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

[tim]

Jan 12, 2018 0:43:29 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

49. "Nobody In His Right Mind Would've Left Her"

carriekins - 71
Cody Wants Out... - 73
fearlessarrow - 77
sabre14 - 79
zaclord 🌈 - 82
codyj100 - 83
LBTrocks - 87

Me: Kramer; The rest of you: Jerry

This is classic...no vintage 80's George! This song went on to receive multiple CMA nominations that year and one that I still hear currently on Texas radio today. Boo!

This also means the album #7 is done

[BackwoodsBarbie]

This is another one of George's beautiful ballads that were eliminated too soon. There is just something in his voice that makes me believe that he really does miss this girl and that he really has a broken heart. Such a great song and vocal performance.

[bboat11]

Album Spotlight: #7

Released: May 14, 1986
Label: MCA Nashville
Producer: Jimmy Bowen, George Strait
Runtime: 27 min. 00 sec.
Country Albums Chart: 1
Certification: Platinum


Singles/Rankdown Placements:
Nobody In His Right Mind Would've Left Her (49)
It Ain't Cool To Be Crazy About You (73)

Average Rank: 61.00


Tracklist:
1. Deep Water
2. Nobody In His Right Mind Would've Left Her
3. Rhythm Of The Road
4. I'm Never Gonna Let You Go
5. You Still Get To Me
6. Stranger Things Have Happened
7. It Ain't Cool To Be Crazy About You
8. Why'd You Go And Break My Heart
9. My Old Flame Is Burnin' Another Honky Tonk Down
10. Cow Town


This is frankly one of George's weaker albums imo, so I am not disappointed that it is only like the 4th one to leave us. There are some real gems here of course, just like all of his albums! I just felt like this one did not have as many memorable album tracks as many of his other ones do. I will therefore only be highlighting two of them:

---

Album Tracks:

"Rhythm Of The Road"

This catchy uptempo about life on the road as a touring artist is one of the clear standouts, and perhaps one of the only potential missed single opportunities on the album. It is short but sweet, and paints a picture of the crazy whirlwind of emotions and experiences that an artist experiences during a tour. I think it is a song that George does not entirely relate to, because of lines like "My life's a string of one-night-stands strung together by a center line," but for somebody like Kenny Chesney this would be a great autobiographical song! :kii:


"I'm Never Gonna Let You Go"

There has always been a hazy and dusky romantic feeling to this song that has always felt sexy to me. For whatever reason this song just always makes me want to dance with a special someone. George's voice is so velvety and passionate here, and many of the lyrics paint a fascinating picture of a happy relationship.

---

bboat11 @adam1995 Cody Wants Out... .indulgecountry codyj100 sabre14 George Strait Junkie zaclord 🌈 mamasaid castleoblivion26 DistrictTwelve countrymusicjunkie CoJoFan gardyfan carriekins fearlessarrow LBTrocks tim BackwoodsBarbie Kanenrá:ke

[tim]

Hate to see this album leave so soon, but with only two singles it was going to happen sooner than some of the others. For some reason Jimmy Bowen preferred to only release a couple singles from an album back then and moved onto the next project at a much faster pace. This album came out less than nine months after Something Special was released; Ocean Front Property was then released eight months after #7.

On a side note, those were also the same two album tracks I submitted lol.

[bboat11]

A million times, a million lines,
And I bought ‘em, every one.

48. "I've Come To Expect It From You"

Album: Livin' It Up

Year: 1990





Total: 1003
Average: 50.15
Std Dev: 22.87


George Strait Junkie - 3
tim - 22
codyj100 - 22
gardyfan - 24
Cody Wants Out... - 32
bboat11 - 41
carriekins - 42
.indulgecountry - 43
BackwoodsBarbie - 43
fearlessarrow - 48
zaclord 🌈 - 51
LBTrocks - 54
mamasaid - 61
CoJoFan - 61
@adam1995 - 65
sabre14 - 70
castleoblivion26 - 71
countrymusicjunkie - 74
Kanenrá:ke - 80
DistrictTwelve - 96




This song got off to a surprisingly strong start, trending towards the top 30 for the first part of the submission process. I was a little disappointed to see it start plummeting towards the halfway point, falling all the way into the bottom of the 40s, although this was honestly closer to where I thought it would finish. George Strait Junkie loses a top 5 here while DistrictTwelve loses a bottom 5, but for the most part the rest of us did not have this song any lower than bottom 20 or higher than top 20.

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
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 Saw God Today
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
Ocean Front Property
One Night At A Time
Run
She Let Herself Go
She’ll Leave You With A Smile
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

[bboat11]

"I've Come To Expect It From You" was the last song in the rankdown that earned more than 1000 points, so I will go ahead and stop here for the night. Coming up in the near future, my first top 5 loss, the 2nd and 3rd highest SDs of the game, somebody's #100, somebody's #1, and a major career first for George! We will also say goodbye to another album with the next reveal. Any guesses for what any of them will be?

[mamasaid]

The #7 album has some great stuff on it. I'm particularly fond of "Deep Water"...its a great old Bob Wills classic that George covers perfectly.

Deep Water

[George Strait Junkie]

man really i've come to expect it from you is amazing hell everything from that album is

[tim]

Jan 12, 2018 1:32:51 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

We will also say goodbye to another album with the next reveal. Any guesses for what any of them will be?

I’m going with “Murder on Music Row” which would eliminate Latest Greatest Straitest Hits. I’m actually surprised this song has made it this far.

[tim]

I've been taking a bit of a break from Pulse and anything social media related since the new year, but I'm getting behind with my anecdotes so have to catch up lol. Next three will be related to the Ace in the Hole Band:

#77: At my first George Strait concert in 1993 I went to buy a shirt at the merchandise table and who else but Mike Daily sold a shirt to me. Looking back I have no idea why he was at the merchandise table, but I can only assume he used to help out. Why I remember this little tiny detail from a concert I attended as a kid I'll never know.

#76: I got to meet and see guitarist Rick McRae perform twice here in Austin; both were at a local place in town. The first time he did a happy hour guitar set with another musician at a local restaurant; the second time was more of a mini-show at a local grocery chain called Central Market (it's our direct competition to Whole Foods which is also local lol).

#75: I randomly walked by bassist Terry Hale one day in Austin and got his attention (this was shortly after George "retiired"); we kind of joked together that George would probably be back doing something soon...and sure enough not long after the album Cold Beer Conversation was announced along with George's Las Vegas residency.

[tim]

#74: Not to get too much into my work life, but I once did an event right in front of George's residence at the Dominion in San Antonio (which is now for sell). Just to get an idea of how hard it is to get into this part of the Dominion there are at least two security checkpoints.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BEsKSQrSYwl

[tim]

My fan anecdotes continued:

#73: I remember walking home on that Tuesday, April 22nd day in 1997 with an extra skip in my step. We were dismissed early that day from school because of an earlier tornado warning and so I figured I'd just walk on over to the local store and pick up George's latest album. I don't even know why I remember this day as much as I do to be honest; George's career really was at a high moment at this point and the fact that he sold more albums of Carrying Your Love With Me in the second week of its release is testament to that fact. George was selling as many copies as Mary J. Blige and the Spice Girls! I went home that day and listened to the album from front to back over and over and over again. This was the first album George did a radio showcase with to preview the full album before its initial release (Lon Helton interviewed him); I'm not quite sure how many weeks before its launch it was broadcasted on radio but this is one of the first times I can remember that this trend started before it progressed to where we are today with streaming.

#72: Watching the 1997's CMA's will forever be a memorable moment in my life as my mom and I continued our tradition of watching George perform, but now he was winning! I'm not sure if we screamed louder than we did in 1996, but we were still just as ecstatic as ever.

[bboat11]

Jan 12, 2018 1:32:51 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

"I've Come To Expect It From You" was the last song in the rankdown that earned more than 1000 points, so I will go ahead and stop here for the night. Coming up in the near future, my first top 5 loss, the 2nd and 3rd highest SDs of the game, somebody's #100, somebody's #1, and a major career first for George! We will also say goodbye to another album with the next reveal. Any guesses for what any of them will be?

Get it? It's George's very first song!!! Quite possibly the biggest "first" of George's career! :kii:

---

Well, she packed my bag and opened up the door, 

And I got a feelin’ she didn’t want me around no more.

47. "Unwound"

Album: Strait Country

Year: 1981





Total: 985
Average: 49.25
Std Dev: 25.86


LBTrocks - 8
castleoblivion26 - 10
codyj100 - 11
George Strait Junkie - 22
tim - 31
Kanenrá:ke - 37
countrymusicjunkie - 40
mamasaid - 41
DistrictTwelve - 41
Cody Wants Out... - 51
sabre14 - 53
carriekins - 56
zaclord 🌈 - 57
bboat11 - 59
gardyfan - 59
CoJoFan - 64
@adam1995 - 68
.indulgecountry - 84
BackwoodsBarbie - 96
fearlessarrow - 97




For our first song to earn less than 1000 points, we say goodbye to George's debut single. "Unwound" is one of his few songs to miss hitting #1 on the country charts, but it is still one of his biggest classics, no doubt in part because of the epic career that it launched.

This songs was super difficult for me to rank, because I love it, but it is also impossible to compare to more modern classics from the '90s and onward. Overall I was very impressed with how this song ended up performing! It was even a top 40 contender for part of the submission process!

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
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 Saw God Today
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
Ocean Front Property
One Night At A Time
Run
She Let Herself Go
She’ll Leave You With A Smile
The Chair
The Cowboy Rides Away
The Fireman
Today My World Slipped Away
Troubadour
True
Wrapped
Write This Down
You Know Me Better Than That
You Look So Good In Love
You’ll Be There

[bboat11]

Album Spotlight: Strait Country

Released: September 4, 1981
Label: MCA Nashville
Producer: Blake Mevis
Runtime: 27 min. 11 sec.
Country Albums Chart: 26
Certification: Platinum


Singles/Rankdown Placements:
Unwound (47)
Down And Out (93)
If You're Thinkin' You Want A Stranger (64)

Average Rank: 68.00


Tracklist:
1. Unwound
2. Honky Tonk Down Stairs
3. Blame It On Mexico
4. If You're Thinking You Want A Stanger (There's One Coming Home)
5. I Get Along With You
6. Down And Out
7. Friday Night Fever
8. Every Time You Throw Dirt On Her (You Lose A Little Ground)
9. She's Playing Hell Trying To Get Me To Heaven
10. Her Goodbye Hit Me In The Heart

The album that started it all! And this is an absolutely fantastic album. It is not one of those weird dated debut albums that you listen to and think "Yikes, they sure have grown a lot since then..." I mean, it IS dated, but it is also an extremely solid album, and a fantastic introduction to what George has to offer as an artist. Here are 3 of the best album tracks:

---

Album Tracks:

"Blame It On Mexico"

Such a breezy and fun song, that is very unique in George's catalog. This one definitely could have been a hit, as it has always struck me favorably. Interestingly enough, I think George sounds almost exactly like Kenny Chesney in this song But trust me, it's great!!!


"Friday Night Fever"

A good old country song about a relationship where the man feels like he needs to go out on the town on Friday nights. It has an interesting twist, however, because in this case he seems to be in a happy relationship, and his wife is totally okay with it! Rather than escaping a happy home life, it just makes their relationship stronger. Talk about turning a usual country theme on its head!


"Her Goodbye Hit Me In The Heart"

The most undeniably catchy song on the entire album. This would have made a much better followup single to "Unwound" than "Down And Out" did, in my opinion. The simple melody randomly gets stuck in my head all the time, and I love it so much. It's one of those songs that you simply cannot get enough of.

---

bboat11 @adam1995 Cody Wants Out... .indulgecountry codyj100 sabre14 George Strait Junkie zaclord 🌈 mamasaid castleoblivion26 DistrictTwelve countrymusicjunkie CoJoFan gardyfan carriekins fearlessarrow LBTrocks tim BackwoodsBarbie Kanenrá:ke

[bboat11]

Up next, one of the glorious untouched albums will see its first loss!!!

Strait From The Heart
Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind
The Road Less Traveled
50 Number Ones
It Just Comes Natural

Which one will it be???

[bboat11]

Hell, everybody’d like to have a-what I got.
I can cool ‘em down when they’re smolderin’ hot.
I’m the fireman,
That's my name.

46. "The Fireman"

Album: Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind

Year: 1985

Total: 984
Average: 49.20
Std Dev: 29.41


@adam1995 - 8
George Strait Junkie - 8
gardyfan - 14
codyj100 - 16
carriekins - 18
tim - 19
LBTrocks - 37
.indulgecountry - 41
mamasaid - 42
DistrictTwelve - 42
zaclord 🌈 - 58
fearlessarrow - 61
sabre14 - 62
bboat11 - 65
Kanenrá:ke - 65
countrymusicjunkie - 68
CoJoFan - 69
BackwoodsBarbie - 94
Cody Wants Out... - 97
castleoblivion26 - 100




With this reveal, castleoblivion26 FINALLY gets to say goodbye to his #100. With that, I believe LBTrocks is the last person remaining with a #100. Surprise, surprise Anyway, this one was a super consistent performer, placing in the top 50 for the vast majority of the submission process, but seldom much higher.

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
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 Saw God Today
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
Ocean Front Property
One Night At A Time
Run
She Let Herself Go
She’ll Leave You With A Smile
The Chair
The Cowboy Rides Away
Today My World Slipped Away
Troubadour
True
Wrapped
Write This Down
You Know Me Better Than That
You Look So Good In Love
You’ll Be There

[bboat11]

Up next might be a surprise to some of you... I freaking love this next one. In fact, it is my first top 10 loss. Actually, it is also my first top 5 loss

If I had to make a list of George's biggest signature songs, this would definitely be in the top 5...

[bboat11]

As we look into the future,
It’s as far as we can see.
So let’s make each tomorrow
Be the best that it can be.

45. "I Cross My Heart"

Album: Pure Country

Year: 1992





Total: 977
Average: 48.85
Std Dev: 32.08 (3rd largest)


CoJoFan - 3
BackwoodsBarbie - 4
bboat11 - 5
codyj100 - 13
tim - 15
zaclord 🌈 - 19
@adam1995 - 30
Cody Wants Out... - 35
.indulgecountry - 40
carriekins - 53
DistrictTwelve - 55
mamasaid - 57
fearlessarrow - 60
gardyfan - 67
LBTrocks - 74
castleoblivion26 - 80
George Strait Junkie - 88
countrymusicjunkie - 91
sabre14 - 94
Kanenrá:ke - 94




I am giving some of you some MAJOR side-eye right now. I know that love ballads pretty much always perform poorly in rankdowns, but to me this is the mother of all love ballads. This song is literally perfect to me. The instrumentation is especially powerful. That steel guitar solo gives me chills every single time I listen to it. Plus that fiddle intro is just so immediately recognizable and iconic. George's voice is like soft, warm velvet on this song; I would even go so far as to say it is one of my favorite vocal performances from him, as he really hits all the emotions on the head for me. The melody is particularly strong for a slow ballad, and perfectly complements the instrumentation. Finally, the lyrics are just descriptive enough to be poignant rather than cheesy, at least in my opinion. This song perfectly describes love, and it literally makes me melt. If a girl ever asked me to dance to this song, I would marry her on the spot. Lmao

Unfortunately, y'all had other plans. This song started out as a promising top 20 contender, and then after sabre14 tanked it it began a backwards slide that it just could not recover from. This is one of the only songs to move backwards for almost the entire submission process... 

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
Heartland
Here For A Good Time
How ‘Bout Them Cowgirls
I Can Still Make Cheyenne
I Got A Car
I Hate Everything
I Saw God Today
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
Ocean Front Property
One Night At A Time
Run
She Let Herself Go
She’ll Leave You With A Smile
The Chair
The Cowboy Rides Away
Today My World Slipped Away
Troubadour
True
Wrapped
Write This Down
You Know Me Better Than That
You Look So Good In Love
You’ll Be There

[BackwoodsBarbie]

I agree with everything that bboat11 wrote about "I Cross My Heart". It is one of the most beautiful love songs ever. And I expected it to end up in top 10 and not at #41. 

[.indulgecountry]

I put both of these last two in my 40s so I'm fine with them leaving now. Both are solid tunes though.

Also, "I Cross My Heart" should say #45, not #41 btw bboat11 :)

[Deleted]

Jan 17, 2018 0:54:03 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

Hell, everybody’d like to have a-what I got.
I can cool ‘em down when they’re smolderin’ hot.
I’m the fireman,
That's my name.

46. "The Fireman"

Album: Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind

Year: 1985

Total: 984
Average: 49.20
Std Dev: 29.41

.indulgecountry - 41
mamasaid - 42
DistrictTwelve - 42
zaclord 🌈 - 58
fearlessarrow - 61
sabre14 - 62
bboat11 - 65
Kanenrá:ke - 65
countrymusicjunkie - 68
CoJoFan - 69
BackwoodsBarbie - 94
Cody Wants Out... - 97
castleoblivion26 - 100

All of you are trash, lol! How can you not put this song in the top 40?

[Kanenrá:ke]

Jan 17, 2018 1:12:07 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

45. "I Cross My Heart"

Album: Pure Country

Year: 1992



sabre14 - 94
Kanenrá:ke - 94

Yay sabre14 twin rankings!

[castleoblivion26]

Jan 17, 2018 9:16:50 GMT -5 @adam1995 said:

Jan 17, 2018 0:54:03 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

Hell, everybody’d like to have a-what I got.
I can cool ‘em down when they’re smolderin’ hot.
I’m the fireman,
That's my name.

46. "The Fireman"

Album: Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind

Year: 1985

Total: 984
Average: 49.20
Std Dev: 29.41

.indulgecountry - 41
mamasaid - 42
DistrictTwelve - 42
zaclord 🌈 - 58
fearlessarrow - 61
sabre14 - 62
bboat11 - 65
Kanenrá:ke - 65
countrymusicjunkie - 68
CoJoFan - 69
BackwoodsBarbie - 94
Cody Wants Out... - 97
castleoblivion26 - 100

All of you are trash, lol! How can you not put this song in the top 40?

lol I actually like 98 of the songs on this list. Only this one and "Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa" do I dislike so I am glad both are out. I have never liked this one. I've listened to it many times trying to like it but yeah I just cannot get into it at all and think it is easily his weakest single of his career.

As for "I Cross My Heart", I definitely ranked this low due to overplay. I'd honestly be okay with never hearing it again because it is still way overplayed. Definitely a great song lyrically and George sounds great on it, but I also don't think it is among his best songs either so I'm glad it is out now.

Surprised my Top 2 still remain but hopefully they are not coming anytime soon!

[bboat11]

Jan 17, 2018 17:28:34 GMT -5 castleoblivion26 said:

Jan 17, 2018 9:16:50 GMT -5 @adam1995 said:

All of you are trash, lol! How can you not put this song in the top 40?

Surprised my Top 2 still remain but hopefully they are not coming anytime soon!

OMG, I could not have come up with any more perfect segue if I had tried!!

---

Well, you don’t bring nothin’ with you here, and you can’t take nothin’ back.
I ain’t never seen a hearse with a luggage rack.
So I’ve torn my knees up prayin’, scarred my back from fallin’ down.
Spent so much time flyin’ high ‘til I’m face first in the ground.
So if you’re up there watchin’ me, would you talk to God and say,
Tell Him I might need a hand to see you both someday.

44. "You'll Be There"

Album: Somewhere Down In Texas
Year: 2005





Total: 966
Average: 48.30
Std Dev: 33.44 (2nd largest!!!!)


castleoblivion26 - 1
sabre14 - 4
CoJoFan - 4
DistrictTwelve - 9
zaclord 🌈 - 9
fearlessarrow - 28
bboat11 - 30
tim - 34
countrymusicjunkie - 34
Cody Wants Out... - 42
@adam1995 - 51
mamasaid - 55
BackwoodsBarbie - 59
gardyfan - 74
.indulgecountry - 80
LBTrocks - 85
codyj100 - 86
George Strait Junkie - 91
Kanenrá:ke - 93
carriekins - 97




Just after an exclamation of hope and joy, castleoblivion26 has his #1 ripped out right before his eyes. I personally expected this song to be super polarizing, and I was right! It was the 2nd most polarizing song in the entire rankdown! I guess that's what happens when you have 5 top 10 ranks and 3 bottom 10 ranks. My condolences also go to CoJoFan, who loses his #4 right on the heels of his #3.

This song is amazing, and I am a little disappointed to be saying goodbye to it here. The lyrics are among the strongest I have ever heard, and the production is super orchestral in an epic way that really stands out coming from George. One of his most underrated and most emotional songs, for sure.

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
Heartland
Here For A Good Time
How ‘Bout Them Cowgirls
I Can Still Make Cheyenne
I Got A Car
I Hate Everything
I Saw God Today
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
Ocean Front Property
One Night At A Time
Run
She Let Herself Go
She’ll Leave You With A Smile
The Chair
The Cowboy Rides Away
Today My World Slipped Away
Troubadour
True
Wrapped
Write This Down
You Know Me Better Than That
You Look So Good In Love

[Deleted]

For the disrespect castle showed to "The Fireman", this proves there is justice in this world, lol! Just kidding castle!