Top 10 Best George Strait Songs For Your Favorite Playlist
We list some of the best George Strait songs you can add to your favorite playlist. Much of modern country music includes pop sounds, but Strait consistently draws from both the western swing and the honky-tonk traditions of his native Texas. He’s popularly referred to as the “King of Country” by his fans.
Bio: Who is George Strait?
George Strait (real name George Harvey Strait Sr.) is an American country music singer. He enlisted in the Army and was stationed at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii, where he began playing in a country band while in the military. After being honorably discharged in 1975, Strait joined the Ace in the Hole band while in college, becoming their lead singer. Later on, he got signed to MCA records and in 1981 Strait released his first single, “Unwound.” The song did very well, reaching the top 10. After a second single stalled, his third single, “If You’re Thinking You Want a Stranger (There’s One Coming Home),” became his first song in the top three. This began a string of top 10 songs that lasted into the 1990s. He has amassed 60 No. 1 hits on the music charts and currently holds the record for most number one songs on all charts by an artist in any genre of music. Strait has also sold more than 120 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
Top 10 Best George Strait Songs
1. Check Yes Or No
The song “Check Yes Or No” tells a romantic love story of two children who fall in love during their childhood, as the little girl writes the boy a letter asking him if he loves her. She tells him to reveal his feelings by checking either boxes labeled “Yes” or “No”, later getting married and starting a life of their own thanks to that one simple note. Danny Wells and Dana Hunt Black penned one of Strait’s classic “Check Yes or No” in 1995. The song was part of Strait first compilation album Strait Out of the Box. When he released it as a single, it reached number one on the country chart. In addition, the song also topped the country charts in Canada.
Stream “Check Yes Or No”
2. Amarillo By Morning
“Amarillo By Morning” is a song about the loneliness and restlessness that accompanies the cowboy lifestyle, conceived in an era where country music – caught somewhere in an identity crisis of crossover success, traditionalism and an outlaw revolution – made room for a revived interest in cowboy music. Written by Terry Stafford and Paul Fraser, and originally recorded by Stafford in 1973, George Strait most-famously cut the song on his 1983 album, Strait from the Heart. His version hit #4 on the Billboard charts and solidified Strait’s unique country persona.
Stream “Amarillo By Morning”
3. Write This Down
“Write This Down” is considered one of the best George Strait songs of all time. The song is about a man acknowledging that he may not be great at communicating his love to his wife. So, as a solution, he tells her to write his words down so that she doesn’t forget that he loves her. During the song, Strait sings, “Baby, write this down. Take a little note to remind you in case you didn’t know. Tell yourself I love you and I don’t want you to go. Write this down.” It was released in March 1999 as the second single from his album Always Never the Same. It was Strait’s 36th Number One single on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) chart. It also reached number 27 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming one of his most successful crossover singles to date.
Stream “Write This Down”
4. Carrying Your Love With Me
“Carrying Your Love With Me” follows a heartbroken man hitting the road, although persistently telling the woman he loves that he continues to carry her love with him wherever he may go. Strait sings “I’m carrying your love with me/ West Virginia down to Tennessee/ I’ll be movin’ with the good Lord’s speed/ Carrying your love with me.” The song reached the top of the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. The track was also voted by website Country Universe as number 200 of the top 400 greatest songs of the 1990s.
Stream “Carrying Your Love With Me”
5. Give It Away
“Give It Away” is about a woman who leaves a man and doesn’t take anything with her. She tells him to just give all of her things away because there’s nothing in their home worth fighting for. Additionally, every new woman he’s with reminds him of the day she left. So, the protagonist finds himself in a furnished home with a broken heart that’s full of love that he can’t even give away. The song became Strait’s 41st No. 1 single on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, setting a new record for most No. 1 singles on that chart. Previously, Conway Twitty held that record with 40 number-one singles.
Stream “Give It Away”
6. I Cross My Heart
“I Cross My Heart” is one of the best George Strait songs of all time. The famous country love song was the first single from the Pure Country album, which is also the soundtrack to the movie of the same title. Strait, in his acting debut, took a starring role as the lead character named Dusty. Dusty was one of the biggest stars in country music, but he decided to give up his career and went back to his youth’s country town in an effort to become grounded. After finding a job at a ranch, he fell in love with the farm owner’s daughter, Harley Tucker. However, his manager was determined to keep the show going for him. At the end of the movie, Dusty can be seen performing on the edge of the stage, playing guitar, and singing the love song in front of an audience that included the woman of his dreams. The song moved Harley as she wept tears of love and joy for her country hero while staring into each other’s eyes across the room. “I Cross My Heart” reached number one in both the United States and Canada.
Stream “I Cross My Heart”
7. Here For A Good Time
“Here For A Good Time” is about someone trying to escape his bad times. After all, guys don’t become drinkin’ men because they want to be slaves to the bottle. Instead, they just want the good times to last so long that they drown out all the prior bad times. The song was co-written with George’s son Bubba and songwriter Dean Dillon, and was released in June 2011. On November 30, 2011, the album received a nomination at the 54th Grammy Awards for Best Country Album.
Stream “Here For A Good Time”
8. Troubadour
“Troubadour” expresses a singer’s personal connection to his/her career and success, specifically showing that despite all their accomplishments he/she will still just be that traveling singer at heart. In several interviews, George Strait revealed that the song resonates deeply with him because he sees himself as a troubadour of sorts. The song was the 86th chart single of his career. It also has become his 79th Top Ten single on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. “Troubadour” was nominated for Best Male Country Vocal Performance at the 2009 Grammy Awards.
Stream “Troubadour”
9. Blue Clear Sky
“Blue Clear Sky” was released in March 1996 as the first single and title track from Strait’s album of the same name. In a phone call with The Boot, songwriter DiPiero talks about how “Forrest Gump” inspired the song. “This song got written because I went to see the movie Forrest Gump. In the movie, Forrest talks about, ‘Life is like a box of chocolates.’ And also, he was talking about his girlfriend, Jenny, and how she would come and go out of his life. At one point, he says, ‘And out of the blue clear sky, Jenny came back.’ And I was listening, thinking, ‘Hey! It’s clear blue sky, it’s not blue clear sky!’ Just that little turn of phrase stuck in my head,” DiPiero said. The song reached Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts.
Stream “Blue Clear Sky”
10. The Chair
“The Chair” is a song written by Hank Cochran and Dean Dillon and recorded by George Strait. Dillon spoke with Songfacts in 2012 about collaborating with Cochran on the track: “There’s some lines in that song which are just brilliant that Hank wrote. The line, ‘Thank you, can I drink you a buy, well, listen to me, what I meant is can I buy you a drink, anything you please,’ it just shows how flustered the guy was. He’s tripping over himself to get to know this girl. And using every line in the book, basically, to get her attention. And I just thought that was really brilliant on Hank’s part. But then you have to understand Hank Cochran was one of the most brilliant songwriters ever in country music.” The song reached the top of the charts the week of December 21, 1985 and is highly regarded as one of the best George Strait songs of all time.
Stream “The Chair”
Honorable mentions
- Baby’s Gotten Good At Goodbye
- You Look So Good In Love
- The Cowboy Rides Away
- Run
- The Seashores Of Old Mexico
Connect with George Strait
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