George Strait Album Series

[bboat11]

"Baby Your Baby" bows out next, which I find incredibly disappointing despite the fact that I got a perfect ranking out of the deal... I am not entirely sure why, but this has long been one of the very first songs I always think of when I think of George's music. It is undoubtedly due in part to the clever wordplay in the hook, which is one of my favorite things about George's musicianship. But also the melody is just insanely catchy for me. I pretty much never do not have this song stuck in my head, lol.

Unfortunately I have started to feel in recent years like this song is aging harder than the rest of the album. It sounds very much like the early '90s now, whereas some of the other songs like "I Cross My Heart" or "The King of Broken Hearts" still sound like they could have been recorded at any point in George's entire career.

[bboat11]

I know your heart is fragile,

So I'll handle it with care.

There ain't no doubt

I know love's route,

So baby let me take you there.

I'll bring you cards and flowers,

But I know just what you need.

Just give me 24 hours,

Satisfaction guaranteed.

6. "Overnight Male"

Track #6

Runtime: 2:37

Songwriters: Richard Fagan, Kim Williams, Ron Harbin



Total: 94
Average: 6.71
Std Dev: 2.87 (2nd largest!!)


George Strait Junkie - 1
.indulgecountry - 3
Cody Wants Out... - 3
ClevelandRox - 5
gonecountry - 5
fearlessarrow - 6
tim - 8
LBTrocks - 8
lady𝓐fan - 9
bboat11 - 9
taylor is terrified - 9
gardyfan - 9
castleoblivion26 - 9
Kanenrá:ke - 10

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
Heartland
I Cross My Heart
The King Of Broken Hearts
When Did You Stop Loving Me
Where The Sidewalk Ends

[bboat11]

"Overnight Male" is one of the most pun-tastic songs of George's entire career!!! The references to his gender giving out love being like a mailman delivering letters are corny af in the most amazing way possible! This song slays melodically and vocally and in pretty much every way. I may have put it in my bottom 3, but that's just because this album is so loaded. I'm excited to see how this will do in the album tracks rd!

[bboat11]

When did you stop loving me?

How long have I been a memory?

I've gotta know for my own sanity.

Tell me, when did you stop loving me?

Was it that night that you stayed out until dawn?

You know that night has haunted me for so long.

Or was your love already cold?

Tell me please, I've gotta know!

Darling, when did you stop loving me?

5. "When Did You Stop Loving Me"

Track #4

Runtime: 2:50

Songwriters: Donny Kees, Monty Holmes


Placement in the Singles Rankdown: #77 out of 100





Total: 72
Average: 5.14
Std Dev: 2.03 (3rd smallest!)


gardyfan - 1
George Strait Junkie - 2
gonecountry - 3
fearlessarrow - 5
LBTrocks - 5
bboat11 - 5
taylor is terrified - 5
Kanenrá:ke - 5
.indulgecountry - 6
Cody Wants Out... - 6
tim - 6
castleoblivion26 - 7
ClevelandRox - 8
lady𝓐fan - 8

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
Heartland
I Cross My Heart
The King Of Broken Hearts
Where The Sidewalk Ends

[gardyfan]

WHAT????????????

[bboat11]

Our first single bows out at #5, with "When Did You Stop Loving Me". I honestly have no idea why this does not seem to be very well-loved as a single. It sounds like classic George at his absolute best! I LOVE his vocal performance here. The lyrics are super strong as well. Wondering when your lover fell out of love with you sounds simple on the surface, but it is so unique for a song topic, and the little barbs like "Was it that night that you stayed out until dawn? Or was your love already cold?" make it just scandalous enough to give a hint at what a personal hell he has been going through as he watches his relationship fall apart.

I think the only reason this one is not as well loved as his other hits from this time period is just due to low familiarity. It may have been a #6 peaking hit, but it has very much been dwarfed by "Heartland" and "I Cross My Heart" coming right before it.

It actually did way better in this rankdown than it has ever done in a rankdown before though, as it is one of the very few songs that didn't even receive a single bottom 3 rank! It was on pace to finish at #4 for nearly the entire rankdown, until lady𝓐fan's final list bumped it back at the last second :( It still finished a whopping 22 points higher than "Overnight Male" though, so there was never any real risk of it missing the top 5. This top 5 ran away with it, tbh.

[bboat11]

I'll go ahead and take a pause there. Hopefully more people will follow along tomorrow ;)

Heartland
I Cross My Heart
The King Of Broken Hearts
Where The Sidewalk Ends

[tim]

I saw you getting ready to reveal the next few songs last night and I would've stayed up for them, but I was already on my way to bed lol. Anyways, here's some thoughts:

“Baby Your Baby” was one of the more harder songs to rank and I believe I initially had it a bit higher on my list before it ended up falling down into my bottom 3. I agree with bboat11 that while this song is very catchy it’s also very much a product of its time as it sounds very early ‘90s. That said, I always thought this had single potential and I think it easily would’ve been a top three or top five hit back then. There’s a couple of stations here in Austin that for whatever reason still love this song as I’ll randomly hear it come on every once in a while.

Wait, I thought Buddy Jackson wrote “Overnight Male”??? All jokes aside, I knew this would have its share of fans and I honestly wasn’t anticipating on seeing this as one of the most polarizing songs. This is a fun song but I definitely have to be in the right mood to want to hear it. If my memory serves me right, this is one of the tracks from the album that George would usually sing live back in the mid too late ‘90s. I’m sure had they gone with a fourth single they may have chosen this one because George also personally selected this song to be included on Strait Out of the Box, so all things considered it seems like an all-around favorite of his.

As much as I love “When Did You Stop Loving Me” I just wasn’t able to find room for it in my top five, but that doesn’t take away from how great and underrated I think this song is. I personally probably would’ve gone with a different song for the third single, though, and as our host mentioned this usually gets overlooked or forgotten about due to the albums two biggest hits. When George co-hosted the ACM’s in 1993 with Reba and Randy Owen he gave a gorgeous performance of this song (quality isn't great unfortunately).

[bboat11]

The king of broken hearts is so sad and wise.

He can smile while he's crying inside.

We know he'll be brave tonight,

'Cause he's the king of broken hearts.

4. "The King Of Broken Hearts"

Track #9

Runtime: 3:10

Songwriters: Jim Lauderdale



Total: 69
Average: 4.93
Std Dev: 2.20


Kanenrá:ke - 1
George Strait Junkie - 3
fearlessarrow - 3
lady𝓐fan - 3
gardyfan - 4
LBTrocks - 4
castleoblivion26 - 4
.indulgecountry - 5
gonecountry - 6
bboat11 - 6
taylor is terrified - 6
tim - 7
Cody Wants Out... - 8
ClevelandRox - 9

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
Heartland
I Cross My Heart
Where The Sidewalk Ends

[bboat11]

"The King Of Broken Hearts" is a really unique song melodically, and incredibly difficult to sing! However, this is a real standout moment. It brings a tangible moment of flair to an album that was already really good. To me this is a perfect song for George's style. The steel guitar on this song just JUMPS out at you, and George's velvety baritone is absolutely on point here.

Lee Ann Womack also did a great job with this song a few years later. I prefer George's slightly, just because I feel like his voice has a bit more texture that really helps to sell it, plus his version seems to be a little bit faster. Still, we did her version HELLA dirty in the album rankdown that we just finished, so I am thrilled to see that we allowed the song to get its due here!

Edit: Also, with that reveal, Kanenrá:ke is the only person of the rankdown to lose his #1 before his last place...

[tim]

Other than the hit singles from this album, I think "The King of Broken Hearts" has really gone on to become of the more timeless classics in terms of album tracks. I actually feel quite embarrassed I couldn't rank this any higher than I did, but again that's only due in part to the overall strength of the record.

[tim]

I'm personally rooting for "Where the Sidewalk Ends" to be in the top two, but I have this gut feeling a fellow poster tanked it.

[bboat11]

Hide from the future, run from the past.

I guess I'll stay here as long as I can last.

Whistle still blowin', but the train is gone.

Ain't no wheels gonna take me from my home.

3. "Where The Sidewalk Ends"

Track #10

Runtime: 3:10

Songwriters: Jim Lauderdale, John Leventhal





Total: 67
Average: 4.79
Std Dev: 1.81 (2nd smallest!!)


tim - 2
castleoblivion26 - 3
taylor is terrified - 3
George Strait Junkie - 4
fearlessarrow - 4
gonecountry - 4
bboat11 - 4
ClevelandRox - 4
lady𝓐fan - 5
gardyfan - 5
LBTrocks - 7
.indulgecountry - 7
Cody Wants Out... - 7
Kanenrá:ke - 8

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
Heartland
I Cross My Heart

[tim]

Well dang, I was kinda sorta hoping that it wouldn't come down to "Heartland" vs. "I Cross My Heart" as I figured "Where the Sidewalk Ends" stood the best chance of making in into the top two. This song played an important role in the movie as one of my favorite scenes comes from when Dusty is singing this and puts his finger in the air while fireworks are going off with sparks falling down in front of him. Later on in the movie this is also the song he's performing when he realizes that no one would even realize if stopped singing and said to his manager, "I stopped singing out there for three bars. Three bars, and nobody even noticed!"

[bboat11]

There was little doubt in my mind going into this thing that "Where The Sidewalk Ends" would end up being the highest album track here. Out of all the songs on the album, THIS is the one that carries the most weight in the movie, alongside "Heartland" and "I Cross My Heart". In fact, in the movie, this is the song that George (sorry, Dusty) is singing when he seems to realize how far he is getting from his roots in his attempts to please everybody. He's singing this fast, rocking song (by George's standards), with all the flashing lights and huge production, but his heart isn't in it. That was kinda the point of this song and "Heartland"; they are both so far out of George's usual comfort zone, because they are supposed to be songs that Dusty was singing as he felt all this pressure to be a Garth-style superstar entertainer. Most of the other songs in the movie seem to be used as background music, but this one is prominently performed several times.

Ironically, the song is freaking incredible, so for it to cause an artist like George to have an identity crisis for getting too far from his roots is not super believable. I think George loves this song in real life!

This should have been the 3rd single, without a doubt. Would have probably been another huge #1 on the heels of "Heartland"!!

[tim]

Sept 4, 2020 13:28:56 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

This should have been the 3rd single, without a doubt. Would have probably been another huge #1 on the heels of "Heartland"!!

Agreed. I never understood why this wasn't released as a single as hey easily could've gone four singles deep with this album and yet we only got three before George quickly moved onto the next era. This is hands down one of my all-time favorite album tracks from George.

[tim]

So it really had to come down to the two biggest hits huh?! I still say this is "Heartlands" to lose as "I Cross My Heart" will likely come out as the most polarizing song of the rankdown.

[taylor is terrified]

"Heartland" for the win!!!

[tim]

Sept 4, 2020 13:39:14 GMT -5 taylor is terrified said:

"Heartland" for the win!!!

I second this!!

[bboat11]

I'm typing it up, but I got caught up looking at live videos of the two

[bboat11]

I cross my heart and promise to
Give all I’ve got to give to make all your dreams come true.
In all the world, you’ll never find
A love as true as mine.

2. "I Cross My Heart"

Track #3
Runtime: 3:32
Songwriters: Steve Dorff, Eric Kaz

Placement in the Singles Rankdown: #45 out of 100

Total: 44
Average: 3.14
Std Dev: 3.03 (Largest!!!)


fearlessarrow - 1
bboat11 - 1
ClevelandRox - 1
castleoblivion26 - 2
taylor is terrified - 2
gonecountry - 2
lady𝓐fan - 2
LBTrocks - 2
.indulgecountry - 2
Cody Wants Out... - 2
gardyfan - 3
tim - 4
George Strait Junkie - 9
Kanenrá:ke - 11

---

When you hear twin fiddles and a steel guitar,
You’re listenin’ to the sound of the American heart.
And Opry music on a Saturday night
Brings a smile to your face and a tear to your eye.

1. "Heartland"

Track #1
Runtime: 2:18
Songwriters: Steve Dorff, John Bettis

Placement in the Singles Rankdown: #22 out of 100

Total: 29
Average: 2.07
Std Dev: 1.77 (Smallest!!!)


castleoblivion26 - 1
taylor is terrified - 1
gonecountry - 1
lady𝓐fan - 1
LBTrocks - 1
.indulgecountry - 1
Cody Wants Out... - 1
tim - 1
fearlessarrow - 2
bboat11 - 2
gardyfan - 2
ClevelandRox - 3
George Strait Junkie - 6
Kanenrá:ke - 6

[tim]

YAS!

[tim]

Sept 4, 2020 13:47:20 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

I'm typing it up, but I got caught up looking at live videos of the two

By the way, in all of the live concert footage from the movie those in attendance are from George's fan club!

[tim]

I should also add that all of the songs from the concert footage were recorded live as well. I remember the director mentioning that this wasn't necessarily an easy task as they wanted the best quality possible since it was for a motion picture, but I believe this is something that George wanted done. Earl Blackstock's character (who plays the dummer and Dusty's best friend) is performed by John Doe who is himself both a musician/actor, so that is actually him playing the drums. Anyways, I could go on and on with tidbits about the movie lol which I hope some of you were finally able to see for the first time!

[bboat11]

In the movie, while "Heartland" and "Where The Sidewalk Ends" represent the breakdown of Dusty's career, "I Cross My Heart" really represents his new direction in his approach to superstardom. It is a song that is just very REAL. His emotions are on full display. There are no flashing lights and gimmicks meant to draw a crowd. It is 100% about Dusty and his ability to capture attention by focusing on the music. Of course it's sung to his love interest in the movie (followed by the infamous hug scene because George refused to kiss another woman besides his wife Norma), but it still captivated the entire crowd. This was a perfect lead single for this project, both because of its ability to captivate the masses and because of the artistic transformation it represented for Dusty in the movie.

"I Cross My Heart" is also most likely my personal favorite love song of all time. The whole thing is just SO well crafted! While the phrase "I cross my heart" is pretty commonly used to make promises in real life, it packs an astonishing and unexpected amount of punch when put to music, especially when you watch the movie and he is singing it directly to his love interest.

This is a really easy song to under-appreciate because of just how huge it has become.


"Heartland" is, of course, the MOST famous song from this movie/album, so it is a very fitting winner!!! The song has kinda come to be synonymous with George's career, which is pretty ironic considering that it was meant to be unlike anything he had ever done before. The rocking guitars are supposed to be out of character for him, because this is supposed to be music that Dusty put out at his commercial peak. I remember reading once that George was worried it would be TOO out of character and his fans would freak out, but I'd say just the opposite was true. This is one of the examples of George taking a bold risk, and having it pay off. It might seem silly now because this song has come to be so quintessential in retrospect, but in the 1992 country landscape this is NOT what people were expecting to hear!

[bboat11]

Sept 4, 2020 13:56:45 GMT -5 tim said:

Sept 4, 2020 13:47:20 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

I'm typing it up, but I got caught up looking at live videos of the two

By the way, in all of the live concert footage from the movie those in attendance are from George's fan club!

OMG imagine being famous enough to fill an entire arena with just members of your fan club!

[bboat11]

Also, I think this might be the first time in country rankdown history that the same song has finished in both first and last place...

[tim]

Sept 4, 2020 14:11:52 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

Sept 4, 2020 13:56:45 GMT -5 tim said:

By the way, in all of the live concert footage from the movie those in attendance are from George's fan club!

OMG imagine being famous enough to fill an entire arena with just members of your fan club!

Well, I'm sure they had to bring in some extras but if I'm correct the concert footage was filmed in Fort Worth so they wouldn't have had to go far to round up some George Strait fans for the movie lol.

[tim]

If there is one song that defines my childhood it would be "Heartland", so I'm thrilled to see it win! I love this song just as much today as I did back then and I honestly never get tired of hearing it. It's certainly gone on to become one of George's most recognizable and signature hits, which I'm sure going into this project they never would've foreseen happening as bboat11 made reference to above. I don't think I've ever been to a George Strait concert where he didn't sing this.

[taylor is terrified]

Glad the right song won!! Although to be honest I wouldn't have been too upset to see my #2 take it either. Both songs were big standouts for me and it was overall a very solid album! Thanks for hosting bboat11