George Strait Album Series

[bboat11]

What’s four down and twelve across?

Two-letter synonym for “lost”, that’s me.

And a three-letter word that rhymes with “through”.

Oh, I get it, that’s you.

12. "Four Down And Twelve Across"

Track #11

Runtime: 2:52

Songwriters: Dean Dillon, Tom Douglas



Total: 105
Average: 8.08
Std Dev: 2.69 (3rd smallest!!)


George Strait Junkie - 3
mamasaid - 5
Kanenrá:ke - 6
castleoblivion26 - 6
gardyfan - 7
collinkottke - 7
Cody Wants Out... - 8
LBTrocks - 9
tim - 10
.indulgecountry - 10
ClevelandRox - 11
gonecountry - 11
bboat11 - 12


Following:
Troublemaker

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
As Far As It Goes
Cowboys Like Us
Desperately
Heaven Is Missing An Angel
Honk If You Honky Tonk
Honkytonkville
I Found Jesus On The Jailhouse Floor
Look Who’s Back From Town
My Infinite Love
She Used To Say That To Me
Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa

[bboat11]

Bowing out first, we say goodbye to "Four Down And Twelve Across"! This is a super clever song that plays with the idea of a failing relationship in terms of a crossword puzzle. As clever as the song is though, I think it has one of the more lackluster melodies on this incredible album. I don't even slightly dislike it, but it still found its way to my last place.

This song was actually TIED with the song at #11! How did I break the tie and decide which song goes to last place? I simply like the song at #11 more...

[bboat11]

It will live on long after we kiss goodbye.

Forever by your side,

My infinite love.

11. "My Infinite Love"

Track #12

Runtime: 3:46

Songwriters: Annette Grossberg, Byron Hill, Billy Yates



Total: 105
Average: 8.08
Std Dev: 3.30


tim - 4
ClevelandRox - 4
bboat11 - 4
Kanenrá:ke - 5
Cody Wants Out... - 6
LBTrocks - 6
mamasaid - 9
George Strait Junkie - 10
gardyfan - 10
castleoblivion26 - 11
collinkottke - 12
.indulgecountry - 12
gonecountry - 12


Following:
Troublemaker

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
As Far As It Goes
Cowboys Like Us
Desperately
Heaven Is Missing An Angel
Honk If You Honky Tonk
Honkytonkville
I Found Jesus On The Jailhouse Floor
Look Who’s Back From Town
She Used To Say That To Me
Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa

[bboat11]

"My Infinite Love" is a tender, beautiful love song. George turns in a passionate vocal performance that makes the song just so darn romantic! I have always found the more stripped down arrangement to be a highlight as well. This song had one of the weirdest runs of the entire rankdown, as it managed to start as a top 3 contender and then plummet for nearly the entire submission period.

Another reason I chose to break the tie this way is because "Four Down and Twelve Across" was much less polarizing, indicating that people were more in agreement that it belonged lower on the list.

[.indulgecountry]

"My Infinite Love" was the only song on this album I didn't care for. "Four Down and Twelve Across" is such a clever, unique song, so I felt a little bad putting it so low on my list, but this album is just stacked with much catchier stuff.

[bboat11]

Heaven is missin’ an angel.

That’s the only thing that it can be.

Heaven is missin’ an angel,

‘Cause you’re right here with me.

10. "Heaven Is Missing An Angel"

Track #10

Runtime: 4:25

Songwriters: Jerome Earnest, Doug Powell




Total: 104
Average: 8.00
Std Dev: 2.92


ClevelandRox - 3
Kanenrá:ke - 3
bboat11 - 6
gardyfan - 6
Cody Wants Out... - 7
LBTrocks - 8
tim - 9
castleoblivion26 - 9
.indulgecountry - 9
collinkottke - 10
gonecountry - 10
mamasaid - 12
George Strait Junkie - 12


Following:
Troublemaker

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
As Far As It Goes
Cowboys Like Us
Desperately
Honk If You Honky Tonk
Honkytonkville
I Found Jesus On The Jailhouse Floor
Look Who’s Back From Town
She Used To Say That To Me
Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa

[bboat11]

As we finish out the bottom 3 of this rankdown, we also finish clearing out the final 3 tracks on this album. And after watching "My Infinite Love" leave previously, it should probably not come as a surprise that this song is next. This is another passionate, tender love song with convincing and earnest vocals from George.

Honestly, as much as I love all three of these songs, I feel like they might be weakened by their locations on the album. After an album full of catchy jams like "She Used To Say That To Me" and "Honk If You Honk Tonk", you kind of expect the album to end on a more energetic note the first time you hear it. The triple whammy of this bottom 3 feels like a bit of a shocking shift in the direction of the album. So while I do like all of these songs, I am not exactly shocked to see them be the bottom 3.

[bboat11]

There once was a time

When I was dead inside.

I cussed the Lord for the day I was born

And prayed to the Devil to die.

Just when I thought the Devil had won,

Someone opened up the door.

The King of kings, Lord of lords,

I found Jesus on the jailhouse floor.

9. "I Found Jesus On The Jailhouse Floor"

Track #7

Runtime: 3:37

Songwriters: Earl Clark, Greg Hudik

Total: 101
Average: 7.77
Std Dev: 3.70 (2nd largest!!)


.indulgecountry - 1
gonecountry - 3
gardyfan - 4
LBTrocks - 4
tim - 7
castleoblivion26 - 7
George Strait Junkie - 9
mamasaid - 10
Kanenrá:ke - 11
bboat11 - 11
Cody Wants Out... - 11
collinkottke - 11
ClevelandRox - 12


Following:
Troublemaker

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
As Far As It Goes
Cowboys Like Us
Desperately
Honk If You Honky Tonk
Honkytonkville
Look Who’s Back From Town
She Used To Say That To Me
Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa

[bboat11]

In a shocking twist of events, we go from the fairly obvious bottom 3, directly into our very first #1 loss!!!! Poor .indulgecountry falls victim to rooting for the 2nd most polarizing song on the album! This was the only song to obtain both a first place rank and a last place. Imo, this one got done pretty dirty. Even though I put it at #11, I feel like this is a tad too soon for it to be leaving.

This song is catchy, and has one of those classic country music hooks that makes you chuckle and then reels you in for more. George once again proves that he can adopt the persona of an undesirable character and make them seem incredibly likable, and the joy he feels for his redemption over the course of the song is tangible in his vocal performance.

[.indulgecountry]

Wow. Just wow. This song is great. I'm in total shock of this one. The bottom 3 all made total sense, but this... none at all, honestly. This song deserved way better than this.

[bboat11]

My old truck could not compare to his Mercedes.

Did it humble you when you rode back on that Greyhound?

You picked a plastic rose and left a field of daisies.

I’ve been expectin’ you.

Oh, look who’s back from town.

8. "Look Who's Back From Town"

Track #3

Runtime: 4:04

Songwriters: Dale Dodson, Billy Lawson



Total: 100
Average: 7.69
Std Dev: 3.43


.indulgecountry - 2
bboat11 - 3
collinkottke - 3
tim - 5
gardyfan - 8
George Strait Junkie - 8
mamasaid - 8
gonecountry - 9
ClevelandRox - 9
castleoblivion26 - 10
LBTrocks - 11
Kanenrá:ke - 12
Cody Wants Out... - 12


Following:
Troublemaker

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
As Far As It Goes
Cowboys Like Us
Desperately
Honk If You Honky Tonk
Honkytonkville
She Used To Say That To Me
Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa

[bboat11]

Unfortunately it doesn't get any better for .indulgecountry, who loses his #2 right on the heels of his #1 :'( "Look Who's Back From Town" has always been one of my immediate favorites on this album. I am always just so enraptured by how clever the subtle wordplay is It puts a twist on the common phrase "look who's back in town", where the narrator describes a trifling lover who runs off into town with some guy who has money and nice things, only to discover that that lifestyle had no value to her. Or else that she had no value to the people who lived that lifestyle. She gets thrown away by her new guy just as easily as she threw away her old guy, and then had to come crawling back to him begging for forgiveness. The song seems to imply that he was waiting and ready to take her back once she had learned her lesson, which seems to be the happy ending we all wanted the song to build toward while listening to it!

On top of the clever lyrics, I have always been in love with George's explosive vocal performance in the chorus. This song got done HELLA dirty....

[gardyfan]

Sept 22, 2019 18:37:47 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

Wow. Just wow. This song is great. I'm in total shock of this one. The bottom 3 all made total sense, but this... none at all, honestly. This song deserved way better than this.

This is a crime! If I were a lawyer I'd charge this board with a felony!

[LBTrocks]

Yeah, "I Found Jesus On the Jailhouse Floor" DEFINITELY deserved top 5. Excellent musically and lyrically. Mess!

[bboat11]

I know what you are all thinking... "Where the hell is Tulsa??!?!!?!?!!" Well, it's in Oklahoma...

But in all seriousness, it's beyond time for it to GTFO...

---

Tell me somethin’ bad about Tulsa,

So I won’t have to go back

Believin’ I belong there again.

7. "Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa"

Track #5

Runtime: 3:17

Songwriters: Dean Dillon, Tom Douglas


Placement in the Singles Rankdown: #86



Total: 98
Average: 7.54
Std Dev: 3.82 (Largest!!!)


collinkottke - 2
mamasaid - 2
Cody Wants Out... - 3
gardyfan - 5
gonecountry - 5
.indulgecountry - 6
bboat11 - 9
ClevelandRox - 10
Kanenrá:ke - 10
tim - 11
George Strait Junkie - 11
castleoblivion26 - 12
LBTrocks - 12


Following:
Troublemaker

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
As Far As It Goes
Cowboys Like Us
Desperately
Honk If You Honky Tonk
Honkytonkville
She Used To Say That To Me

[LBTrocks]

I don't like "Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa" at all tbh. It was like 97 for me in his singles RD I believe. Just not a good song.

[bboat11]

"Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa" was THE last place contender from this album. This song literally had ZERO competition for last place! It was going to be last place, by such a margin that even one or two high ranks could not have saved it!

And then...by some incredibly bizarre twist...literally every single one of the last 5 submitters put it at or near their top 3!! It went from being almost guaranteed to be unsaveable, all the way to being so firmly mired at #7 that a last place from LBTrocks right at the end couldn't even put a dent in its positioning!

I honestly do not hate this song. I love how warm and resonant George's vocals are, especially in the "eyes as blue as Tulsa skies/hair like Oklahoma sands" lines. However, it was a TERRIBLE choice for lead single. Literally the worst possible choice for lead single, in fact! I thought that last place was a bit harsh, but tbh I was disappointed to see it make such a huge resurgence when it very clearly was the favorite to finish in last place for so much of the submission process.

[.indulgecountry]

This rankdown is going absolutely horribly. "Look Who's Back From Town" has no business being out this early, either! It's sad that it looks like we're getting singles bias yet again because "Desperately" should not still be in this. OTOH, "Tulsa" is overhated.

[bboat11]

We're at the halfway point, but I will go ahead and do one more to get us to the top 5 :)

[bboat11]

Thought I’d go crazy when you said goodbye.

I didn’t have that far to go.

But I made a wrong turn somewhere in the night,

Down a long and lonely road.

6. "Honkytonkville"

Track #2

Runtime: 2:48

Songwriters: Buddy Brock, Dean Dillon, Kim Williams



Total: 87
Average: 6.69
Std Dev: 3.64 (3rd largest!)


Kanenrá:ke - 2
George Strait Junkie - 2
mamasaid - 3
LBTrocks - 3
castleoblivion26 - 4
gonecountry - 6
.indulgecountry - 7
ClevelandRox - 8
collinkottke - 9
Cody Wants Out... - 9
bboat11 - 10
gardyfan - 12
tim - 12


Following:
Troublemaker

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
As Far As It Goes
Cowboys Like Us
Desperately
Honk If You Honky Tonk
She Used To Say That To Me

[bboat11]

The title track from this album is a lightweight breeze of a song. I was a bit surprised to see it do so well here. It is catchy enough I guess, but on an album as strong as this one, this song just feels pretty average at best. Seeing several people rank this the highest out of all the other album tracks was NOT what I expected to see... Lol

[bboat11]

With that, here is the top 5!!!! Let's see some predictions!!

As Far As It Goes
Cowboys Like Us
Desperately
Honk If You Honky Tonk
She Used To Say That To Me

[bboat11]

I'll finish this one today if people want me to!

[castleoblivion26]

Sept 23, 2019 19:00:08 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

I'll finish this one today if people want me to!

I'm here!

[bboat11]

Sept 23, 2019 19:04:17 GMT -5 castleoblivion26 said:

Sept 23, 2019 19:00:08 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

I'll finish this one today if people want me to!

I'm here!

Good enough for me!!

[bboat11]

Well, just the other day, I was cruisin’ through town.

Sheriff pulled me over. I thought I had it now.

I rolled down my window, he said with a grin,

“I want one of them stickers, or I’m gonna run you in!”

5. "Honk If You Honky Tonk"

Track #9

Runtime: 2:15

Songwriters: Dean Dillon, Ken Mellons, John Northrup





Total: 77
Average: 5.92
Std Dev: 3.30


George Strait Junkie - 1
castleoblivion26 - 2
tim - 2
gardyfan - 3
.indulgecountry - 4
ClevelandRox - 5
LBTrocks - 7
bboat11 - 7
gonecountry - 8
collinkottke - 8
Kanenrá:ke - 9
Cody Wants Out... - 10
mamasaid - 11


Following:
Troublemaker

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
As Far As It Goes
Cowboys Like Us
Desperately
She Used To Say That To Me

[bboat11]

As you can see from the trajectory, "Honk If You Honky Tonk" was the primary #2 contender for this album... But similarly to how the last handful of people randomly put "Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa" in their top 3 and managed to save it from the bottom, the last handful of people all put this song in their bottom 3, thereby almost knocking this one out of the top 5!

[bboat11]

DAMN IT, FLOPS!!!!!!!!!!!

---

I’m only gonna give you everything,

Take it a mile beyond the end of the road.

I’m gonna love you one day past forever,

But that’s as far as it goes.

4. "As Far As It Goes"

Track #6

Runtime: 3:39

Songwriters: Tony Colton, Russell Smith





Total: 72
Average: 5.54
Std Dev: 3.20


tim - 1
Kanenrá:ke - 1
bboat11 - 2
.indulgecountry - 3
Cody Wants Out... - 4
George Strait Junkie - 6
ClevelandRox - 6
collinkottke - 6
gonecountry - 7
mamasaid - 7
castleoblivion26 - 8
LBTrocks - 10
gardyfan - 11


Following:
Troublemaker

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
Cowboys Like Us
Desperately
She Used To Say That To Me

[castleoblivion26]

wow, "Honk If You Honky Tonk" is great fun song. I remember George singing this at one of the award shows when this album was current. Was always sad it wasn't released as a single

"As Far As It Goes" is good but not a favorite for me, though I've only listened to it a couple times so it'll probably grow on me as I listen to it more

[bboat11]

I literally cannot even. The remainder of this rankdown is cancelled.