The Big One - A George Strait Rankdown (Revealing)

[.indulgecountry]

I'm so READY!

[bboat11]

I made a break with the money i saved.
It took me to the beach to have a beer by the edge of the sea.
In this 'round a clock place
I drank my money away.


100. "Shiftwork" - Kenny Chesney ft. George Strait

Album: Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates (Kenny Chesney album)

Year: 2007





Total: 1779
Average: 88.95
Std Dev: 17.35

DistrictTwelve - 30
@adam1995 - 70
CoJoFan - 72
George Strait Junkie - 75
fearlessarrow - 79
mamasaid - 83
countrymusicjunkie - 87
bboat11 - 96
castleoblivion26 - 96
sabre14 - 96
carriekins - 98
Cody Wants Out... - 99
LBTrocks - 99
tim - 99
BackwoodsBarbie - 100
Kanenrá:ke - 100
.indulgecountry - 100
codyj100 - 100
zaclord 🌈 - 100
gardyfan - 100




I am sure it comes as a surprise to nobody that this is #100. In fact, this song did not have a single vote outside of the bottom 30, other than DistrictTwelve ! His vote was enough to bump this song out of last place for 3 whole submissions. Personally I do not find this song to be that bad; in fact I actually enjoy it quite a bit when I am in the right mood. Still I am not mad to see it leave now. It was a very predictable #100.

[Deleted]

Country posters to DT are like - STICK TO POP RANKDOWNS!!!

Jk Jk they ain't like the Rock Posters. XD

[.indulgecountry]

Yassssssssssssss! The only correct choice for #100!

[bboat11]

So now that the obvious elimination is gone, the important question is, what will be next???

[.indulgecountry]

I beli-e-yee-hee-yiee-ieee-ieeve can go next plz

[mamasaid]

Mama be (im)patiently waiting!

[countrymusicjunkie]

Dec 6, 2017 21:10:49 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

So now that the obvious elimination is gone, the important question is, what will be next???

"We Really Shouldn't Be Doing This" would be my guess.

[bboat11]

I will just leave this thought for y'all to ponder while I type up the reveal, this next song had a chance to escape the bottom 10 once, but you guys really cut it down...

[bboat11]

You left with him last night,

Then daylight told the rest.

And if you planned on hurtin’ me,

You had overnight success.

99. "Overnight Success"

Album: Beyond The Blue Neon
Year: 1989





Total: 1681
Average: 84.05
Std Dev: 17.37


countrymusicjunkie - 35
codyj100 - 43
castleoblivion26 - 64
tim - 80
sabre14 - 83
BackwoodsBarbie - 84
zaclord 🌈 - 84
Cody Wants Out... - 85
fearlessarrow - 86
CoJoFan - 89
bboat11 - 90
carriekins - 94
@adam1995 - 94
George Strait Junkie - 95
Kanenrá:ke  -95
gardyfan - 95
.indulgecountry - 95
LBTrocks - 95
mamasaid - 97
DistrictTwelve - 98




With our second elimination, DistrictTwelve goes from being the highest ranker to the lowest ranker! Unfortunately, the reveals are already getting painful for countrymusicjunkie and codyj100 , who both take a hit to their top 50... (And maybe for castleoblivion26 as well) However, this song was pretty much always destined to be towards the bottom. It was never not in the bottom 10, and trended downwards very steadily, despite never receiving a #100 vote or taking the #100 slot.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
A Fire I Can’t Put Out
Ace In The Hole
Adalida
All My Ex’s Live In Texas
Am I Blue
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
Cold Beer Conversation
Cowboys Like Us
Desperately
Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind
Don’t Make Me Come Over There And Love You
Down and Out
Drinkin’ Man
Drinking Champagne
Easy Come, Easy Go
Famous Last Words Of A Fool
Fool Hearted Memory
Give It All We Got Tonight
Give It Away
Go On
Goin’ Goin’ Gone
Gone As A Girl Can Get
Heartland
Here For A Good Time
How ‘Bout Them Cowgirls
I Believe
I Can Still Make Cheyenne
I Cross My Heart
I Got A Car
I Gotta Get To You
I Hate Everything
I Just Want To Dance With You
I Know She Still Loves Me
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 Ain’t Lovin’ (You Ain’t Livin’)
If You Can Do Anything Else
If You’re Thinking You Want A Stranger
It Ain’t Cool To Be Crazy About You
It Just Comes Natural
King Of The Mountain
Lead On
Let It Go
Let’s Fall To Pieces Together
Living And Living Well
Living For The Night
Love Without End, Amen
Love’s Gonna Make It Alright
Lovebug
Lovesick Blues
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
Right Or Wrong
River Of Love
Round About Way
Run
She Let Herself Go
She’ll Leave You With A Smile
So Much Like My Dad
Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa
Texas
The Best Day
The Big One
The Breath You Take
The Chair
The Chill Of An Early Fall
The Cowboy Rides Away
The Fireman
The Man In Love With You
The Seashores Of Old Mexico
Today My World Slipped Away
Troubadour
True
Twang
Unwound
We Really Shouldn’t Be Doing This
What Do You Say To That
What’s Going On In Your World
When Did You Stop Loving Me
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
You’re Something Special To Me

[countrymusicjunkie]

Geez, I had no idea "Overnight Success" was so hated.

[bboat11]

Dec 6, 2017 21:34:08 GMT -5 countrymusicjunkie said:

Geez, I had no idea "Overnight Success" was so hated.

I ranked it at #90, but that looks a lot less condemning when you consider that my entire top 80 were top 10 contenders for me... Lol! I have always loved the steel guitar in this one, and the lyrics are fantastic. I will admit it is a little bit melodically boring when compared to the rest of George's stuff, which may be what people voted it down for here.

[bboat11]

Guilty conscience I guess,
Though I must confess
I never loved you much when you were mine.

98. "Drinking Champagne"

Album: Livin' It Up
Year: 1990





Total: 1645
Average: 82.25
Std Dev: 19.00


gardyfan - 17
castleoblivion26 - 65
Cody Wants Out... - 67
BackwoodsBarbie - 67
fearlessarrow - 72
CoJoFan - 76
zaclord 🌈 - 78
sabre14 - 85
George Strait Junkie - 86
bboat11 - 86
tim - 87
DistrictTwelve - 91
countrymusicjunkie - 92
mamasaid - 95
carriekins - 96
@adam1995 - 96
LBTrocks - 96
Kanenrá:ke - 96
.indulgecountry - 98
codyj100





With the first elimination from the '90s, the pain is real! This was one of the songs that occupied the #100 slot for a certain amount of time. It ousted "Shiftwork" from the bottom, and seemed ready to hang on. However, gardyfan 's top 20 ranking of this song was enough to bump it up to #97, where it almost managed to stay for the rest of the rankdown. Ultimately it was always destined to be a bottom 5 song however, as it spent 80% of the rankdown in the bottom 5.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
A Fire I Can’t Put Out
Ace In The Hole
Adalida
All My Ex’s Live In Texas
Am I Blue
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
Cold Beer Conversation
Cowboys Like Us
Desperately
Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind
Don’t Make Me Come Over There And Love You
Down and Out
Drinkin’ Man
Easy Come, Easy Go
Famous Last Words Of A Fool
Fool Hearted Memory
Give It All We Got Tonight
Give It Away
Go On
Goin’ Goin’ Gone
Gone As A Girl Can Get
Heartland
Here For A Good Time
How ‘Bout Them Cowgirls
I Believe
I Can Still Make Cheyenne
I Cross My Heart
I Got A Car
I Gotta Get To You
I Hate Everything
I Just Want To Dance With You
I Know She Still Loves Me
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 Ain’t Lovin’ (You Ain’t Livin’)
If You Can Do Anything Else
If You’re Thinking You Want A Stranger
It Ain’t Cool To Be Crazy About You
It Just Comes Natural
King Of The Mountain
Lead On
Let It Go
Let’s Fall To Pieces Together
Living And Living Well
Living For The Night
Love Without End, Amen
Love’s Gonna Make It Alright
Lovebug
Lovesick Blues
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
Right Or Wrong
River Of Love
Round About Way
Run
She Let Herself Go
She’ll Leave You With A Smile
So Much Like My Dad
Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa
Texas
The Best Day
The Big One
The Breath You Take
The Chair
The Chill Of An Early Fall
The Cowboy Rides Away
The Fireman
The Man In Love With You
The Seashores Of Old Mexico
Today My World Slipped Away
Troubadour
True
Twang
Unwound
We Really Shouldn’t Be Doing This
What Do You Say To That
What’s Going On In Your World
When Did You Stop Loving Me
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
You’re Something Special To Me

[countrymusicjunkie]

Wasn't "Drinking Champagne" originally meant to be a duet with Frank Sinatra?

[bboat11]

Dec 6, 2017 22:11:55 GMT -5 countrymusicjunkie said:

Wasn't "Drinking Champagne" originally meant to be a duet with Frank Sinatra?

Ooo I don't know! I think I heard once that he had been singing it live for years and then finally added it to an album by popular request.

Regarding Frank Sinatra though, they recorded a duet on "Fly Me To The Moon" that was supposed to go on one of Frank's new duet albums or something, but Frank decided to cut it from the album at the last minute and George was really disappointed. George released the song on his Strait Out of the Box collection though, so the recording is available and findable.

Maybe tim knows more about Frank Sinatra and "Drinking Champagne"?

[bboat11]

So far we have had pretty balanced eliminations throughout his career, having lost 1 song from the '00s, the '80s, AND the '90s. The '10s remain the only decade that is untouched. Will they survive the bottom 5?

Regarding the next song, I find it to be such a mystery that it managed to make it this far... I've never felt that way about a George song before. Stay tuned for the reveal in about an hour!

[LBTrocks]

"Shiftwork" being 100 was SO expected and I'm definitely not complaining! Don't like the song, but the 7-3, 3-11, 11-7 part is catchy.

I'm fine with "Overnight Success" it's just not a standout, especially in context of his other songs in this rankdown. I like it fine... but wouldn't go out of my way to hear it unless it was on the album I was playing.

"Drinkin' Champagne" I am less fond of in general. I mean, again, don't necessarily dislike it. It's hard to dislike George lol. But again, not a standout by any means and something I may shut off depending on my mood.

It is nice that the first 3 eliminations thus far have all been in my bottom 5, lol. And nothing shocking so far.

[LBTrocks]

Dec 6, 2017 21:34:08 GMT -5 countrymusicjunkie said:

Geez, I had no idea "Overnight Success" was so hated.

See that's the thing. Is it hated though? I can't speak for others in this rankdown, but even though it was in my bottom 5 I far from hate it. I like it fine, actually. That's what's so weird about this rankdown lol. The songs are all so strong, objectively speaking. Sure, I have my favs and others that are just kind of 'there' for me (like "Overnight Success") but overall I can't and would not want to argue the fact that these are a damn good set of songs.

[Cody Wants Out...]

Although not an instant fave of mine, "Drinkin' Champagne" being out already kinda hurt me. I think everything around my lower 50s to my #80 was songs I liked, but not loved.

"Overnight Success" never clicked with me.

[bboat11]

Dec 6, 2017 22:36:10 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

Regarding the next song, I find it to be such a mystery that it managed to make it this far... I've never felt that way about a George song before. Stay tuned for the reveal in about an hour!

"It's all such a mystery. You're something special to me."........................................................"There's no doubt it's love alright, 'cause I've never felt this way."

---

An angel’s what you are,
And now I see.
You’re not just someone else,
You’re somethin’ special to me.


97. "You're Something Special To Me"

Album: Something Special
Year: 1985





Total: 1644
Average: 82.20
Std Dev: 16.45 (4th Smallest)


DistrictTwelve - 28
mamasaid - 58
sabre14 - 72
codyj100 - 74
fearlessarrow - 74
countrymusicjunkie - 78
BackwoodsBarbie - 81
Kanenrá:ke - 82
.indulgecountry - 83
zaclord 🌈 - 86
LBTrocks - 86
gardyfan - 87
Cody Wants Out... - 88
carriekins - 91
@adam1995 - 93
tim - 93
castleoblivion26 - 94
George Strait Junkie - 96
CoJoFan - 100
bboat11 - 100






Even though this song had the 4th lowest Standard Deviation of the rankdown, meaning we for the most part agreed about it deserving a low ranking, I still was surprised that this was not even a #100 contender. Other than my #100 ranking at the very beginning, it never even came close to last place! That said, it only finished one point ahead of "Drinking Champagne", causing this one to escape #98 at the last possible moment.

[bboat11]

I definitely don't find this to be a terrible song by any means. It just kinda plods for me. I am a sucker for ballads, but this one is written in a minor key that is not particularly pleasing to the ear, resulting in an annoying melody and an overall boring vibe. Hell, this is probably my least favorite song on the entire Something Special album, which is unusual for one of his singles!

[bboat11]

I just have to say, I am so so so so sorry about this upcoming last reveal in the bottom 5... Somebody is in for a rude surprise...

[Cody Wants Out...]

Again, like "Overnight Success", "You're Something Special to Me" never clicked with me.

[castleoblivion26]

Gonna start with saying that there was actually quite a few songs I had never heard before so some songs were first time listens so it is possible that over time my feelings on those songs will change and that goes for 3 of the 4 songs eliminated so far.

"Shiftwork" is a song I've just never been able to care for one bit, even with George participating on it because by the time this song came out I was sick of the island theme from Kenny and just never been able to like this. I don't really dislike it, just meh about it really.

"Overnight Success" and "Drinking Champagne" are both first time listens for me but I enjoyed them well enough to rank them 64 and 65 but honestly not one bit sad to see them out

Same with "You're Something Special To Me" in that this was a first time listen. I feel meh about it just as I did with "Shiftwork". Remains to be seen if it'll grow on me at some point though but I'm not a fan of my Bottom 10. The only songs I outright dislike are my 100 + 99 which I expect to last a while but I'm praying my 100 comes sooner than later!

[LBTrocks]

I like the melody of "You're Something Special To Me" but there's something about the beat and 'swing' of the song that brings it down for me, and makes it impossible to compete with a large portion of his songs.

[bboat11]

The night’s as clear as a big desert sky,

But it’s hard to see stars with these tears in my eyes.

Yeah, it’s hard not to cry.

There’s twenty-six reasons why.

96. "I Believe"

Album: Love Is Everything
Year: 2013





Total: 1539
Average: 76.95
Std Dev: 25.72


DistrictTwelve - 1
castleoblivion26 - 38
countrymusicjunkie - 42
zaclord 🌈 - 55
BackwoodsBarbie - 65
CoJoFan - 73
LBTrocks - 77
@adam1995 - 77
bboat11 - 79
Kanenrá:ke - 85
Cody Wants Out... - 89
codyj100 - 89
tim - 89
sabre14 - 91
fearlessarrow - 94
George Strait Junkie - 98
.indulgecountry - 99
gardyfan - 99
carriekins - 99
mamasaid - 100






Unfortunately, our resident Pop poster, DistrictTwelve, is losing his #1 as the last reveal in the bottom 5... I am so sorry District! Along with District, 2 other people accrue significant top 50 damage, and zaclord 🌈 comes close himself. On the other hand, mamasaid loses her #100, making this the only song in the rankdown that was ranked at both #1 and #100 by somebody. This song has the largest standard deviation we have seen so far, but is not one of the highest of the rankdown!

[Deleted]

Wait, his 1 ranking did not push the song up any ranks?

[fearlessarrow]

The fact that DistrictTwelve's #1 rank couldn't even push it up 1 spot is kind of sad...

[bboat11]

Dec 7, 2017 0:10:02 GMT -5 @walker9 said:

Wait, his 1 ranking did not push the song up any ranks?

Nope! That's how poorly this song was already doing at the time of his submission... But he definitely closed the gap enough for the next submission to bump it up a position!

[DistrictTwelve]