The Big One - A George Strait Rankdown (Revealing)

[LBTrocks]

I LOVE the instrumental on "I Believe" and that's why it made it as high as it did on my list, but the melody totally falls flat and I don't think this is a good song for his voice at all.

DistrictTwelve ouch man I'm sorry! I've been there though lol. It sucks, but it happens to the best of us sometimes.

[countrymusicjunkie]

How "River Of Love", "Don't Make Me Come Over There And Love You" and "We Really Shouldn't Be Doing This" all escaped the bottom 5 is beyond me.

[LBTrocks]

Dec 7, 2017 0:13:49 GMT -5 countrymusicjunkie said:

How "River Of Love", "Don't Make Me Come Over There And Love You" and "We Really Shouldn't Be Doing This" all escaped the bottom 5 is beyond me.

Because they're all great

[countrymusicjunkie]

Dec 7, 2017 0:14:27 GMT -5 LBTrocks said:

Dec 7, 2017 0:13:49 GMT -5 countrymusicjunkie said:

How "River Of Love", "Don't Make Me Come Over There And Love You" and "We Really Shouldn't Be Doing This" all escaped the bottom 5 is beyond me.

Because they're all great

Maybe you should have your ears checked  

[bboat11]

Anyway guys, like I said before, DistrictTwelve entered this rankdown with no prior experience with George. Yet this song that most of George's fans take for granted managed to move him enough to put it at #1. I have been talking about it with him in Discord recently. He didn't even know that it was written in response to the Sandy Hook tragedy, or that it was the first real flop of George's career so most people don't like it; he was just blown away by the words and the overall vibe of the song! That is the power of music, folks. I know George would be thrilled that that song could have such an impact on somebody who wasn't even previously a fan of his music.

Also, for all those who tanked this song, I would be interested in hearing your thoughts... I knew this one wouldn't do well, but I was not really expecting the bottom 5!

[LBTrocks]

Dec 7, 2017 0:17:07 GMT -5 countrymusicjunkie said:

Dec 7, 2017 0:14:27 GMT -5 LBTrocks said:

Because they're all great

Maybe you should have your ears checked   

However, if I'm being honest, I won't be at all shocked if "We Really Shouldn't Be Doing This" is out sooner rather than later. I don't know how the other two will fare, but I think "River of Love" will have a fairly high standard deviation. That seems to either be one you love or hate.

[fearlessarrow]

To answer your question bboat11, I just didn't enjoy the song musically as much as other George Strait songs and for me that takes precedence over the lyrics in most cases. Now I didn't know it was about the Sandy Hook incident either, so maybe if I had known that it would've pushed my rank for this song up, but I can't imagine myself putting it a lot higher than I did.

[castleoblivion26]

"I Believe" was a much better song than I remembered. It deserved way better than Bottom 5. I feel like everything about the song worked towards the emotions of the lyrics so I'm a fan and definitely sad to see it go already.

Also those saying "Don't Make Me Come Over There and Love You" and "We Really Shouldn't Be Doing This" should be out soon are evil lol. I love both songs and have them very high so I hope they are not going anytime soon!

though "River of Love" going soon would definitely be liked as that is easily one of my least favorite from him

[.indulgecountry]

lolwut @ someone having "I Believe" at #1. The way he stretches out the title into like 8 syllables alone is grounds for this to the worst song not featuring Kenny Chesney he's ever recorded. Awful. And the fact that it was released as a single after "Give It All We Got Tonight" over a bunch of obvious hits was a mess. Luckily "I Got a Car" was still able to limp into the Top 20 after, but it should've been released right after the lead single and it might've made it even further.

[LBTrocks]

bboat11 I don't pay attention to lyrics if a song doesn't captivate me musically, that's my problem. Melodically and vocally I think the song is awful. However, like I said, the instrumentation is beautiful, so that brings it up several notches for me. Lyrical content in this case wouldn't make me rank it any higher than I did though.

[bboat11]

Drift away from all these city lights.

Might rock a little bit, so hold on tight.

Let’s get carried away with the gentle flow.

Might get caught up in its undertow.

We’ll go rollin’ on the river of love.

95. "River Of Love"

Album: Troubadour
Year: 2008





Total: 1503
Average: 75.15
Std Dev: 24.76


DistrictTwelve - 3
CoJoFan - 40
LBTrocks - 51
gardyfan - 51
codyj100 - 60
tim - 64
BackwoodsBarbie - 69
fearlessarrow - 71
mamasaid - 80
sabre14 - 81
@adam1995 - 83
carriekins - 87
Cody Wants Out... - 90
.indulgecountry - 92
castleoblivion26 - 92
bboat11 - 94
Kanenrá:ke - 98
George Strait Junkie - 99
zaclord 🌈 - 99
countrymusicjunkie - 99






In what should come as a surprise to nobody, "River Of Love" is out sooner rather than later. I am impressed it managed to escape the bottom 5! The song is not bad by any means, in my opinion, but it is unfortunately one of the weak links in George's stellar career. And as you can see, we mostly agreed, because this song never even came close to escaping the bottom 10. Unfortunately, somebody loses their #3......

[fearlessarrow]

Lol LBTrocks and I have similar criteria when it comes to music... I wonder why one of us flops in rankdowns more than the other does :kii:

[LBTrocks]

Dang DistrictTwelve I'm sorry that you've lost another top 5. This ain't fair to you! Or George for that matter lol.

"River of Love" is GREAT and I can't believe it is so disliked! My mom hated it too... and she loved George. I never understood. I always thought this sounded like one of his 'older' songs. It's just fun. I love the instrumentation and catchiness of it, and I think it's melodically very strong. LOVE that chorus. But like I said, this seems to be one you either love or hate.

[DistrictTwelve]

This rankdown seems to hate me so far, lol. Sadness. 

[bboat11]

Dec 7, 2017 0:40:26 GMT -5 DistrictTwelve said:

This rankdown seems to hate me so far, lol. Sadness. 

Lol I promise the next reveal will be a little kinder to you. A little...

[bboat11]

Hey, I’m in love,

I’m in love with a beautiful gal.

That’s what’s the matter with me.

Hey, I’m in love,

I’m in love with a beautiful gal,

But she don’t care about me.

94. "Lovesick Blues"

Album: Chill Of An Early Fall
Year: 1992





Total: 1502
Average: 75.10
Std Dev: 22.71

mamasaid - 23
gardyfan - 27
George Strait Junkie - 39
DistrictTwelve - 59
@adam1995 - 61
LBTrocks - 66
Kanenrá:ke - 75
.indulgecountry - 76
codyj100 - 80
bboat11 - 82
countrymusicjunkie - 85
carriekins - 86
sabre14 - 88
castleoblivion26 - 88
fearlessarrow - 89
Cody Wants Out... - 95
BackwoodsBarbie - 95
CoJoFan - 95
zaclord 🌈 - 95
tim - 98






So, if you look at the rankings you will notice that we haven't even left the bottom 10 yet but we are already at the point where the majority of the rankings come from the middle of the pack rather than the bottom 20... It's just crazy how quickly these songs increase in quality as we proceed with this!

Anyway, I love "Lovesick Blues" so much, but I am not surprised to see it low. It really allows George to demonstrate vocal skill in a way that his songs don't usually do. He is an A+ yodeler! Lol honestly his version is like 150% better than Hank Williams' original as well...

[.indulgecountry]

"River of Love" isn't a good song on its own, but having it picked as the third and final single from an album as strong as Troubadour was shameful and it's a crying shame that it went down as his final solo #1 on Billboard seeing as he came up short like 6 different times after this one while there was still a chance. *sigh*

[bboat11]

Dec 7, 2017 0:53:39 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

"River of Love" isn't a good song on its own, but having it picked as the third and final single from an album as strong as Troubadour was shameful and it's a crying shame that it went down as his final solo #1 on Billboard seeing as he came up short like 6 different times after this one while there was still a chance. *sigh*

Oh yeah, thanks for pointing that out! I forgot to mention that "River Of Love" was the first #1 loss! So to anyone who predicted that, good job

[LBTrocks]

Wow, I only ranked "Lovesick Blues" at 66, yet I love it. I know I keep saying how strong his catalog is, but dang.

I love the instrumentation and the yodeling on this one. I need to look over my list cuz I have to wonder if I underranked this lol. Be right back...

I mean, maybe a little? Not much, though. lol.

ETA: Yeah no I didn't lmao. Such. A. Strong. Set. Of. Songs.

[castleoblivion26]

another first time listen for me. "Lovesick Blues" was good, but it isn't a song I would rush out to listen to again

[.indulgecountry]

Dec 7, 2017 0:56:16 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

Oh yeah, thanks for pointing that out! I forgot to mention that "River Of Love" was the first #1 loss! So to anyone who predicted that, good job

Dec 4, 2017 18:24:53 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

9. Out of George's 60 #1 singles, which will be the first to go? Maybe "River of Love."

[bboat11]

Yeah, I’m down at the bar,

 Out of my mind.

 Tighter than an eight-day clock 

With no way to unwind. 

Well, that jukebox cries the blues 

Like it knows what I’m about. 

Since my woman left, I’m down and out.

93. "Down And Out"

Album: Strait Country
Year: 1981





Total: 1456
Average: 72.80
Std Dev: 24.20


LBTrocks - 10
codyj100 - 32
Kanenrá:ke - 43
George Strait Junkie - 49
fearlessarrow - 62
DistrictTwelve - 64
carriekins - 70
sabre14 - 71
zaclord 🌈 - 73
mamasaid - 74
Cody Wants Out... - 74
countrymusicjunkie - 83
castleoblivion26 - 86
bboat11 - 91
gardyfan - 91
BackwoodsBarbie - 91
.indulgecountry - 93
CoJoFan - 99
@adam1995 - 100
tim - 100





It's LBTrocks' turn to be mad!!! We knew that was inevitable George's 2nd single leaves us next, which is also the first song from his debut album to leave. Unfortunately this song never really stood a chance at leaving the bottom 10. It was also never really a contender for the bottom 5, so you can rest easy LBT!!!

[fearlessarrow]

Of course, it's not a country rankdown unless LBTrocks loses a high-ranked song early, right!?

[bboat11]

So, disregard my #91 ranking of "Down And Out". I love this song! LMAO that's just how strong this list of songs is! Anyway, the hook of this one is sort of a glimpse at what George was going to ultimately become as an artist. "I'm down and out" being used as a pun to represent the fact that he is "down at the bar" and "out of my mind" is so witty, and is one of my favorite aspects of George as an artist.

[LBTrocks]

THIS HAD BETTER BE THE LAST TOP 10 THAT I LOSE FOR A LONG LONG WHILE. YOU HEATHENS. However.... I'll just be grateful for however much longer I have left to enjoy my #1 still being in.

"Down and Out" is stellar though, so I'm not sure what's up with it being out in the bottom 10. I don't even know what else to say about it because it's perfect on every level. Instrumentation, melody, vocals. Everything. I listened to his Greatest Hits cassette tape on repeat as a kid. This song is so damn nostalgic for me and has always been in my life. This is one of his all-time best songs for me, and one of my personal all-time favorite songs. I would say the same thing for every song in my top 13.

i'm lowkey convinced that those who tanked this did not know this song 'way back when' lol. Therefore they don't have nostalgia attached to it. That's my theory anyway and I'm stickin' to it! :kii:

[bboat11]

You guys thought the reveals were painful already, right? Well, it gets worse! The next song will come whining through and take TWO top 10s with it! And if that doesn't lift your spirits, it will also take a top 40 or two with it as it goes! Dang! That being said, somebody will also lose their #100, so it will all be worth it for them.

[Deleted]

Dec 7, 2017 1:29:58 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

You guys thought the reveals were painful already, right? Well, it gets worse! The next song will come whining through and take TWO top 10s with it! And if that doesn't lift your spirits, it will also take a top 40 or two with it as it goes! Dang! That being said, somebody will also lose their #100, so it will all be worth it for them.

One of the highest SDs I assume?

[LBTrocks]

Dec 7, 2017 1:22:12 GMT -5 fearlessarrow said:

Of course, it's not a country rankdown unless LBTrocks loses a high-ranked song early, right!?

Even when it's completely unwarranted, lol.

[bboat11]

Dec 7, 2017 1:32:04 GMT -5 @walker9 said:

Dec 7, 2017 1:29:58 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

You guys thought the reveals were painful already, right? Well, it gets worse! The next song will come whining through and take TWO top 10s with it! And if that doesn't lift your spirits, it will also take a top 40 or two with it as it goes! Dang! That being said, somebody will also lose their #100, so it will all be worth it for them.

One of the highest SDs I assume?

Yes, the next song is our 5th highest SD!

[bboat11]

They got a jukebox in the corner

Full of old country tunes.

Feed it five dollars’ worth of quarters

Is the first thing I always do.

92. "Twang"

Album: Twang

Year: 2009





Total: 1451
Average: 72.55
Std Dev: 30.52 (5th Largest!!!)


George Strait Junkie - 6
.indulgecountry - 10
gardyfan - 23
LBTrocks - 36
sabre14 - 48
mamasaid - 71
@adam1995 - 75
bboat11 - 77
tim - 81
codyj100 - 85
CoJoFan - 86
countrymusicjunkie - 90
Kanenrá:ke - 91
BackwoodsBarbie - 93
castleoblivion26 - 95
DistrictTwelve - 95
fearlessarrow - 96
Cody Wants Out... - 96
zaclord 🌈 - 97
carriekins - 100





Finally, we have a song with an interesting trajectory!!! This song rose and fell quite a bit, but trended upwards for the first half of the rankdown. It made it up to 62 at one point, before zaclord 🌈 gave it a death blow that it never recovered from. carriekins also loses her #100, and her notes while submitting were that her #100 is the only George song she hated from the moment it was released.