Texas Monthly recently did a tremendous public service when it published a list of 71 songs titled "Texas, " ranking them from worst to best. I consider myself an authority on Texas music, yet I was astonished by the number of songs on the list, most released in the last 25 years.
In this same civic spirit, I am listing the best ten songs about Texas. If you are a recent immigrant to the Lone Star State, I urge you to memorize these songs because they will be on the test when you die and seek admittance to Texas Heaven.
1. "Waltz Across Texas," sung by Ernest Tubb, is undoubtedly the Texans' favorite song. When I hear it, I always envision a cowboy and his sweetheart dancing from Beaumont to El Paso, only stopping at Buc-ee's occasionally, where they can always count on a clean bathroom.
2. My second favorite song is "The Eyes of Texas," the University of Texas school song. The lyrics are simple but stirring.
The Eyes of Texas are upon you,
All the livelong day.
The Eyes of Texas are upon you,
You cannot get away.
Do not think you can escape them
At night or early in the morn --
The Eyes of Texas are upon you
Til Gabriel blows his horn.
3. "Deep in the Heart of Texas" is another excellent song--a patriotic paean to America's largest state, if you don't count Alaska, which Texans don't count.
Texas Monthly considers "Deep in the Heart of Texas" the State's unofficial state anthem, and I agree. There are at least three films with the same title. The 1996 movie, a whimsical look at Texas culture, is my favorite.
Hint: You're supposed to clap your hands three times before you sing the words "Deep in the Heart of Texas."
4. "That's Right, You're Not From Texas," Lyle Lovett's musical assurance that everyone is welcome, is a good tune to play when your Yankee relatives visit. The song contains a handy sartorial guide. Remember to wear your cowboy hat squarely on your head and not tilted. And be sure your jeans are long enough to cover the shaft of your boots.
5. "Texas Trilogy," Steve Fromholtz's ode to the gritty West Texans, is a profoundly moving song and should be played every time you cross the Brazos River going west.
If the Brazos don't run dry
And the newborn calves, they don't die,
Another year from Mary will have flown.
6. "All My Exes Live In Texas" contains the only acceptable reason for a native son to leave the Lone Star State. If your ex-wives live in Texas, moving to Tennessee is permissible.
7. "Miles and Miles of Texas," sung ably by Asleep at the Wheel, tells you what you will see when you look into your True Love's big blue eyes: Miles and miles of Texas, of course.
8. "Ballad of the Alamo," written by Dimitri Tiomkin and Paul Webster and sung by Marty Robbins, is a blood-rousing song about the siege of the Alamo. If you listen to this song when you are twelve years old, as I did, the song becomes embedded in your DNA, and you will never be able to think of the Alamo without weeping.
9. "There's a Little Bit of Everything in Texas," sung by Ernest Tubb, Hank Thompson, Willie Nelson, and others, is the most jingoistic Texas song ever written, and that's saying something. But really, why travel when Texas has mountains, beaches, and verdant forests? Admittedly, you can't ski in Texas, but that's why God made New Mexico--to give Texans a place to ski.
10. "Texas, Our Texas," is the official State song, and the state's equivalent to Great Britain's "God Save the Queen."
Texas, our Texas! All hail the mighty State!
Texas, our Texas! So wonderful, so great!
Boldest and grandest, Withstanding ev'ry test;
O Empire wide and glorious, You stand supremely blest.
I know what you're thinking. How could I have skipped over "San Antonio Rose"? That song is about a city in Texas, not the state as a whole. That's a separate list, which I'm still working on.