Texas Country, Strait Up

George Strait is easy for the majority of country music fans to love. From his lanky, cowboy frame to his kind and gentle eyes, ... and that amazing voice of a true country music superstar, there is not a lot to complain about in this clean-cut country singer’s persona. He is the sort of cowboy that appeals to both women and men. He doesn’t seem presumptuous or egotistical the way some men of his stature would be and he relies on his talent instead of his image to keep his music at the top of the country charts. Even without personally knowing the singer, it seems obvious that he is a “cowboy” with style.

Somewhere Down In Texas is Strait’s 2005 CD, copyright by MCA Nashville. The CD’s cover photo is as simplistic as the country singer’s character, a head shot of George Strait posed in his white cowboy hat with the title captioned below on a narrowed scenic background of a river and natural surroundings. The CD was produced by Tony Brown and George Strait for George Strait Productions and the Lyrics are included inside the CD cover. The song list includes eleven country singles that are typical “George Strait”. If you’re a Strait fan, you are likely to love “Somewhere Down In Texas”.

The Song List includes:

• If the Whole World was a Honky Tonk
• Somewhere Down In Texas
• The Seashores of Old Mexico
• You’ll Be There
• High Tone Woman
• Good News, Bad News (Duet with Lee Ann Womack)
• Oh, What A Perfect Day
• Texas
• Ready For The End of the World
• She Let Herself Go - My personal Favorite
• By the Light of a Burning Bridge

The majority of Strait’s music is your basic Honky-Tonk, Cowboy Country Music with a soft, gentle harmonious background for the story telling lyrics voiced by George Strait’s clear, country voice. Each song seems to, as much of Country Music does, tell a short story that is typical country... the old-timey country music with it’s whispers of sadness and subtle flavors of love, life and living country style. George Strait’s style of music resembles the oldies, but is a little different than the old time songs from singers like Waylon, Willie and Meryl. Strait’s music has a lot of “Texas” in it, tossed together with a potpourri of other things country.

My personal favorite among the eleven singles on “Somewhere Down In Texas” is SHE LET HERSELF GO. Despite the majority of Strait fans, I don’t really care for much of the other ten songs on this CD. They are good songs, but they aren’t GREAT songs. The only one that seems a little “different” and truly grasped my attention was She Let Herself Go, the 10th song on the CD. The other songs were simply too slow, sad and sullen for my taste in music. I know there are a lot of Strait fans that might disagree with me, but I just don’t have a “taste” for sad, sullen and slow these days. I liked the more upbeat version of She Let Herself Go than I did any of the other songs on this CD. The other songs were all too similar in subject matter (TEXAS) and they were way too slow for my preference.

Some of the verses from my favorite song of the Eleven, No. 10 “She Let Herself Go”:

The song begins...

He wondered how she’d take it... When he said goodbye
Thought she might do some cryin’... Lose some sleep at night
But he had no idea.. When he hit the road...
That without him in her life... She’d let herself go...

CHORUS:

Let herself Go... on a single’s cruise
To Vegas once, then to Honolulu
Let herself go to New York City
A week at the Spa... Came home knocked out pretty...
When he said he didn’t love her no more...
SHE LET HERSELF GO...

I like George Strait and think this is a good CD for Strait’s fans, but I wouldn’t purchase this one a second time around, simply because it is way too MONOTONOUS for my taste buds. The songs are nearly all the same in musical harmony and story revelation. I liked the one song more than the others, mainly because I could identify with this one as a newly separated woman. The remainder of the CD just couldn’t nudge my enthusiasm. If I had to recommend this, I would only recommend it to those who are already tried and true George Strait fans and will already know what to expect from this CD. For those like myself, who are interested in a CD with something new and innovative, with more than One Single they can enjoy, I wouldn’t recommend this particular CD. Strait is a great singer, but I believe he needs something NEW if he expects to continue topping the charts with his musical talent.

In spite of my personal opinion, I believe that Somewhere Down In Texas is a worthy George Strait CD and will surely keep his many country fans happily hopping out to the store to purchase this one. I would have liked the CD much more if it held something NEW between it’s case cover. The title is definitely straight to the point... as much of the music is “SOMEWHERE DOWN IN TEXAS”, but if you aren’t from Texas and you are hoping to sample something fresh and new with this George Strait CD, you’re going to be disappointed. I only recommend this one to fans who intend to keep a collection of all that George Strait produces or to those who really like listening to the variety on this title. It couldn’t keep me awake for more than ten minutes, though... Sorry, George!.

Thanks for reading -
© 2005 faithforever