The Big One - A George Strait Rankdown (Revealing)

[Cody Wants Out...]

Jan 27, 2018 18:48:38 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

Jan 27, 2018 18:43:12 GMT -5 Cody Wants Out... said:

Well, some of us have either rocky or non-existent relationships with their dad; I'm in the former.

Was this posted in the wrong thread? Lol I didn't see anyone mention their dad... 

This was actually in response to those that were surprised to see "Love Without End, Amen" miss the top 10.

Isn't that a part of what that song's about?
"Let me tell you a secret/About a father's love...Daddies don't just love their children every now and then/It's a love without end, amen"

[bboat11]

Jan 27, 2018 19:07:53 GMT -5 Cody Wants Out... said:

Jan 27, 2018 18:48:38 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

Was this posted in the wrong thread? Lol I didn't see anyone mention their dad... 

This was actually in response to those that were surprised to see "Love Without End, Amen" miss the top 10.

Isn't that a part of what that song's about?
"Let me tell you a secret/About a father's love...Daddies don't just love their children every now and then/It's a love without end, amen"

Oh I see the connection now.

Although you only ranked it as low as #21, so it's not like you actively helped push it out of the top 10. Lol

[.indulgecountry]

I know they're topically different, but I always just think of how Randy's "Forever and Ever, Amen" is much better song every time I see/hear the similarly-titled George Strait tune.

[bboat11]

Is anybody around for me to start the top 10?

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

[castleoblivion26]

I'm here!

[bboat11]

Sorry, my mom called. Lol NOW I'll get started! For #10, let's kick things off with a surprise...

[bboat11]

“Do you love me? Do you wanna be my friend?

And if you do,

Well then don’t be afraid to take me by the hand

If you want to.

I think this is how love goes.

Check yes or no.”

10. "Check Yes Or No"

Album: Strait Out Of The Box

Year: 1995



Total: 601
Average: 30.05
Std Dev: 31.42 (4th largest)


zaclord 🌈 - 1
CoJoFan - 1
Kanenrá:ke - 3
fearlessarrow - 4
tim - 5
codyj100 - 6
gardyfan - 7
Cody Wants Out... - 7
bboat11 - 10
@adam1995 - 13
.indulgecountry - 16
LBTrocks - 20
mamasaid - 28
sabre14 - 40
George Strait Junkie - 48
DistrictTwelve - 72
BackwoodsBarbie - 73
castleoblivion26 - 74
countrymusicjunkie - 81
carriekins - 92




How about we kick off the top 10 with multiple #1s rankings, and the song that a few people assumed might be the overall #1? Here it is! Coming in at #10, we say goodbye to what is probably George's most universally-known and widely-acclaimed song. He had a major string of success in the '90s, and this was truthfully the song that kicked it all off. I may have gotten a perfect ranking here, but I am definitely disappointed to see it go now. I figured this would be a top 5 contender.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
Amarillo By Morning
Blue Clear Sky
Carried Away
Carrying Your Love With Me
I Can Still Make Cheyenne
Ocean Front Property
Run
True
Write This Down

[Cody Wants Out...]

bboat11, check your tags!

[.indulgecountry]

I love this (thus my Top 20 ranking) but it is very overplayed and it would've been rather predictable for this to have won the RD, so I'm okay with it bowing out now. It's probably his definitive career hit, but it's definitely not his best song ever imo despite being a damn fine tune.

[bboat11]

Album Spotlight: Strait Out Of The Box

Released: September 12, 1995

Label: MCA Nashville

Producer: George Strait, Phil Ramone, Blake Mevis, Don Daily, Hank Cattaneo, Tony Brown, Jimmy Bowen, Ray Benson, Ray Baker, Joe Barnhill

Runtime: 3 hr. 37 min. 15 sec.

Country Albums Chart: 9

Certification: 8x Platinum


Singles/Rankdown Placements:
Check Yes Or No (10)
I Know She Still Loves Me (85)

Average Placement: 47.50


Tracklist:

Disc 1:
1. I Just Can't Go On Dying Like This
2. (That Don't Change) The Way I Feel About You
3. I Don't Want To Talk It Over Anymore
4. Unwound
5. Blame It On Mexico
6. Her Goodbye Hit Me In The Heart
7. If You're Thinking You Want A Stranger (There's One Coming Home)
8. Any Old Love Won't Do
9. Fool Hearted Memory
10. Marina Del Rey
11. I Can't See Texas From Here
12. Heartbroke
13. What Would Your Memories Do
14. Amarillo By Morning
15. I Thought I Heard You Calling My Name
16. A Fire I Can't Put Out
17. You Look So Good In Love
18. 80 Proof Bottle Of Tear Stopper

Disc 2:
1. Right Or Wrong
2. Let's Fall To Pieces Together
3. Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind
4. The Cowboy Rides Away
5. The Fireman
6. The Chair
7. You're Something Special To Me
8. Haven't You Heard
9. In Too Deep
10. Lefty's Gone
11. Nobody In His Right Mind Would've Left Her
12. It Ain't Cool To Be Crazy About You
13. Ocean Front Property
14. Rhythm of the Road
15. Six Pack To Go (w/ Hank Thompson)
16. All My Ex's Live In Texas
17. Am I Blue
18. Famous Last Words Of A Fool

Disc 3:
1. Baby Blue
2. If You Ain't Lovin' (You Ain't Livin')
3. Baby's Gotten Good At Goodbye
4. Bigger Man Than Me
5. Hollywood Squares
6. What's Going On In Your World
7. Ace In The Hole
8. Love Without End, Amen
9. Drinking Champagne
10. I've Come To Expect It From You
11. If I Know Me
12. You Know Me Better Than That
13. The Chill Of An Early Fall
14. Lovesick Blues
15. Milk Cow Blues
16. Gone As A Girl Can Get
17. So Much Like My Dad
18. Trains Make Me Lonesome

Disc 4:
1. Wonderland Of Love
2. I Cross My Heart
3. Heartland
4. When Did You Stop Loving Me
5. Overnight Male
6. The King Of Broken Hearts
7. Where The Sidewalk Ends
8. Easy Come, Easy Go
9. I'd Like To Have That One Back
10. Lovebug
11. The Man In Love With You
12. Just Look At Me
13. Stay Out Of My Arms
14. Big Ball's in Cowtown (ft. Asleep at the Wheel)
15. The Big One
16. Fly Me To The Moon (ft. Frank Sinatra)
17. Check Yes Or No
18. I Know She Still Loves Me

Bold = Previously unreleased

---

Album Tracks:

"I Just Can't Go On Dying Like This"

This song is one of the few songs George wrote before his career really got started, before he gave up songwriting. He put this super old recording on this album, and it is awesome! He also recorded this same song for his 2013 Love Is Everything album, but it was super slow and stripped down. It actually worked really well as a ballad too!


"I Don't Want To Talk It Over Anymore"

This song just feels extra epic because of the echoey production, and it is definitely good enough that I wish George had recorded a more polished version for one of his early albums.


"Any Old Love Won't Do"

This is one of my favorites on this album. It is just so simple, yet so catchy. And the constant key changes towards the end are super entertaining!


"Six Pack To Go" ft. Hank Thompson

I have no idea who Hank Thompson is, but he has an excellent voice, and this is an excellent song. He and George sound super good together!


"Big Ball's In Cowtown" ft. Asleep At The Wheel

This is an excellent cover of this classic tune. It is SO catchy, and a perfect song for George. It's a little "weird", like it's definitely not a song that has much potential for non-country fans to like it. But George and Asleep at the Wheel do an amazing job with this, and I have so much fun listening to it!

---

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]

The next song has the 2nd smallest standard deviation...and also has almost 100 points less than "Check Yes Or No"! This top 9 started running away with their top 10 positions, for sure!

[zaclord 🌈]

This rankdown is canceled. Bye.

[bboat11]

True, not another minute on this earth can be borrowed,

So there’s no way to know when I’ll live my last tomorrow.

But every day I get, I’ll share with you.

9. "True"

Album: One Step At A Time

Year: 1998

Total: 504
Average: 25.20
Std Dev: 14.67 (2nd lowest!!!!)


bboat11 - 3
CoJoFan - 7
Cody Wants Out... - 8
castleoblivion26 - 11
Kanenrá:ke - 14
zaclord 🌈 - 16
carriekins - 16
George Strait Junkie - 20
@adam1995 - 22
sabre14 - 22
codyj100 - 25
.indulgecountry - 28
fearlessarrow - 31
LBTrocks - 31
tim - 33
BackwoodsBarbie - 33
DistrictTwelve - 36
countrymusicjunkie - 36
mamasaid - 49
gardyfan - 63




No #1 ranks are lost here, but I lose a top 3. This song did so well here! It was only ranked in the bottom half by literally one person, gardyfan , and even then it was only in his 60s. This song was the first song we have seen that was a top 10 contender for literally the entire rankdown. The amazing thing is that that consistency was only enough to get this the 2nd lowest SD... The lowest SD is still coming!

This has always been one of my favorite George songs, mostly because of that belted chorus. Y'all know I am a fan of belting, and in this song George proves just how strong his voice can be on a song that requires a bit of belting. I am so glad that this song was overall well-regarded by all of us

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
Amarillo By Morning
Blue Clear Sky
Carried Away
Carrying Your Love With Me
I Can Still Make Cheyenne
Ocean Front Property
Run
Write This Down

[bboat11]

Jan 27, 2018 22:09:15 GMT -5 zaclord 🌈 said:

This rankdown is canceled. Bye.

And to think you thought LBTrocks would be the one to tank your #1!! Little did you know it would be the supposed George superfan, carriekins

[bboat11]

So, remember at the beginning of the rankdown, when I talked about how there was a song that was at #1 for a loooooooong time, that ended up being tanked all the way to #8? Well, you'll finally get to find out what it was!

[Cody Wants Out...]

Jan 27, 2018 22:09:15 GMT -5 zaclord 🌈 said:

This rankdown is canceled. Bye.

DON'T LET THE DOOR HIT YA ON THE WAY OUT!!!!

---

I can see #8 being "Blue Clear Sky", "Run", "Carrying Your Love With Me", "Carried Away", "Ocean Front Property", or "Amarillo By Morning". Holy crap! That's 75% of the songs remaining!! :o

[bboat11]

She never knew what his calls might bring.
With a cowboy like him, it could be anything,
And she always expected the worst in the back of her mind.

8. "I Can Still Make Cheyenne"

Album: Blue Clear Sky

Year: 1996

Total: 476
Average: 23.80
Std Dev: 25.73


sabre14 - 1
countrymusicjunkie - 1
@adam1995 - 2
BackwoodsBarbie - 3
Cody Wants Out... - 5
castleoblivion26 - 5
.indulgecountry - 5
bboat11 - 6
tim - 7
codyj100 - 21
mamasaid - 21
zaclord 🌈 - 23
Kanenrá:ke - 23
fearlessarrow - 23
George Strait Junkie - 24
carriekins - 31
LBTrocks - 46
DistrictTwelve - 67
CoJoFan - 81
gardyfan - 81




Out of 20 participants, literally 15 of us put this in our top 25. I thought for sure this one was set to hold onto that #1 slot until the end! Unfortunately DistrictTwelve closed the gap that this had built over the #2 song, allowing this to fall a position, and then the double-whammy of gardyfan and CoJoFan ranking it at #81 came very shortly thereafter. It was never able to recover.

9 people ranked this in their top 10, including 2 #1s from sabre14 and countrymusicjunkie, as well as 5 other top 5s.

This song is such an underrated, amazing classic. The lyrics are so heartbreaking, and George's voice is the definition of morose. I wish this had been able to at least hang on to the top 5, but unfortunately that was not meant to be.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
Amarillo By Morning
Blue Clear Sky
Carried Away
Carrying Your Love With Me
Ocean Front Property
Run
Write This Down

[Cody Wants Out...]

OUCH! That one hurt! *whimperslikealonelypuppy*

[sabre14]

Wow, people actually ranked this #81?!?!

[castleoblivion26]

how could anyone rank "I Can Still Make Cheyenne" that low really shocks me, I love this song and would have LOVED to see this one by #1.

Glad "Check Yes or No" didn't win because while I love the song it is definitely overrated at the same time. There are so many songs from him I would rather listen to over that one.

"True" almost made my Top 10 but I decided to keep "Unwound" as my #10 which I really shouldn't have because I definitely like "True" more.

[bboat11]

Up next, a song that was a top 5 contender for quite some time. In fact, this one made a strong bid for #1 when "Cheyenne" started floundering! It never quite made it there, but it occupied the #2 spot for 3 consecutive lists.

[bboat11]

I got some ocean front property in Arizona.

From my front porch, you can see the sea.

I got some ocean front property in Arizona.

If you’ll buy that, I’ll throw the Golden Gate in free.

7. "Ocean Front Property"

Album: Ocean Front Property

Year: 1986





Total: 462
Average: 23.10
Std Dev: 24.89


codyj100 - 1
tim - 4
@adam1995 - 5
mamasaid - 5
carriekins - 5
Kanenrá:ke - 8
Cody Wants Out... - 9
countrymusicjunkie - 9
DistrictTwelve - 10
CoJoFan - 11
sabre14 - 19
gardyfan - 20
zaclord 🌈 - 20
BackwoodsBarbie - 22
.indulgecountry - 23
George Strait Junkie - 34
castleoblivion26 - 43
bboat11 - 45












LBTrocks - 70






fearlessarrow - 99





Lol it looks like LBTrocks and especially fearlessarrow should probably start running... This song is also one of the most iconic songs of George's career. In fact, it's one of the most iconic country songs of the '80s, period. Like I mentioned, it mad a strong bid for the #1 spot, but unfortunately fearlessarrow and LBTrocks submitted back-to-back and spoiled this one's top 5 chances.

Oh well, I didn't want to see this one winning anyway, and I feel like #7 is a totally reasonable placement for it. The way the lyrics are set up here is really strong, but it is a bit of a novelty song, so I can understand the fact that it got a little bit of hate.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
Amarillo By Morning
Blue Clear Sky
Carried Away
Carrying Your Love With Me
Run
Write This Down

[bboat11]

With that, "Amarillo By Morning" is now the final song representing the '80s! "Run" is still the lone song from the '00s, and then there are 4 songs from the '90s.

Any predictions for which will be the one to miss the top 5?

[sabre14]

"I Can Still Make Cheyenne" was trending #1 for so long too. Damn. :(

[fearlessarrow]

*waits for people to yell at me for my #99 rank of "Ocean Front Property"*

See a few pages back for reasons why I'm not a fan of this song.

[bboat11]

I never saw the end in sight;

Fools are kind’ve blind.

Thought everything was goin’ alright,

But I was runnin’ out of time.

6. "Write This Down"

Album: Always Never The Same

Year: 1999





Total: 459
Average: 22.95
Std Dev: 20.16


George Strait Junkie - 1
fearlessarrow - 1
.indulgecountry - 2
zaclord 🌈 - 6
codyj100 - 9
Kanenrá:ke - 10
@adam1995 - 11
DistrictTwelve - 11
Cody Wants Out... - 13
LBTrocks - 14
BackwoodsBarbie - 19
carriekins - 23
mamasaid - 26
tim - 30
bboat11 - 32
sabre14 - 33
gardyfan - 34
castleoblivion26 - 49
CoJoFan - 58
countrymusicjunkie - 77




Another of George's most iconic hits departs just outside the top 5, much to the dismay of George Strait Junkie and fearlessarrow, who placed it at #1. This song seemed like a likely top 5 contender very early on, but unfortunately just could not hold on. Still, 18/20 of us put it in our top 50, so it's definitely still well-liked overall.

For me I may have underranked this at #32, but it is honestly a song that has kinda burned on me thanks to overplay. It is an amazing song, but I am just kinda tired of it lately.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
Amarillo By Morning
Blue Clear Sky
Carried Away
Carrying Your Love With Me
Run

[LBTrocks]

"Check Yes Or No" is another excellent George tune. I do prefer "Write This Down" though.

"True" is great! But it made it high enough lol.

"I Can Still Make Cheyenne" is also great, but yeah, it overstayed lol.

"Ocean Front Property" as I said before has never been a favorite. I like it better than I think I do when I actually hear it, but definitely not top 10 worthy my gosh lol.

[bboat11]

I want a new page.

[bboat11]

oiadjf aoijaoidjf a

[bboat11]

*Incoherent babbling*