SLS – Texas Country

This week Jim Adams has prompted us with Hometown/City Where You Were Born or Lived in for this weeks Song Lyric Sunday.

I was born in Bridgeport, Texas and grew up in Decatur, Texas for a good chunk of my childhood and teenage years. These two small towns in Wise County are about 13 miles apart. Decatur is the county seat and is approximately 35 miles Northwest of Fort Worth.

Wise County was established in 1856 and was called Taylorsville (in honor of Zachary Taylor) and became the county seat. In 1858, Absalom Bishop, a member of the Texas Legislature and an early settler opposed naming the town after a Whig Party member and made arrangements to have the name changed to Decatur, honoring naval hero Stephen Decatur. When I moved from Decatur in 1983, the population was just over 4,000. As of 2018, there were almost 7,000 people living in this booming little town in Texas. We didn’t even have a McDonald’s until 1983 which I was a junior in high school. Now there are all kinds of fast food chains and a Super Walmart which came in around that same time.

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The area where the courthouse is located is called the square. The courthouse sits in the center with roads on all four sides and shops lining the streets across from the courthouse. There is limited parking in front of the courthouse and along the storefronts all away around the square. As a kid, there were huge oak trees surrounding the courthouse providing incredible shade. I’ve been told these trees had to be removed because the root system destroyed the plumbing and sewer system. Every time I go back, the courthouse looks naked without them.

I live in Florida and have for 35 years, but this is still home!

I am featuring “Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind” and “All My Exes Live in Texas” by George Strait and “God Blessed Texas” by Little Texas.

George Strait has 60 #1 hits, sold over 70 million records, received 23 CMA Awards, 18 ACM Awards, and is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. LEGEND! He still sounds as good today as he did 40 years ago.

EVERYTHING’S BIG IN TEXAS! So my post for today will be be BIGGER. TEXAS SIZED!

SONG FACTS – “Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind”

• Fourth studio album for George Strait
• Album won “Album of the Year” from both Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music in 1985.
• Released September 26, 1984 by MCA Records
• Certified Platinum by the RIAA for sales of one million copies in the US
• The album Reached #1 on the US Billboard Top Country Albums
• The song was the lead-off single for the album and reached #1 on the US Hot Country Songs and #10 on Canadian RPM Country Tracks

Cold Fort Worth beer just ain't no good for jealous
I tried it night after night
You're in someone else's arms in Dallas
Does Fort Worth ever cross your mind?
Darlin', while you're busy burnin' bridges,
Burn one for me when you get time
'Cause good memories don't fade so easy
Does Fort Worth ever cross your mind?
You left me here to be with him in Dallas
And I know it hurt you at the time
I wonder now if it makes a difference
Does Fort Worth ever cross your mind?
You left me here to be with him in Dallas
And I know it hurt you at the time
I wonder now if it makes a difference
Does Fort Worth ever cross your mind?
Does Fort Worth ever [Repeats]
Does Fort Worth ever cross your mind?
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Darlene Shafer / Sanger Shafer / Sanger D Shafer
Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC 

SONG FACTS – “All My Exes Live in Texas”

• Released in April, 1987
• Reached #1 on the US Hot Country Songs
• Reached #1 on Canadian RPM Country Tracks
• Strait’s 11th number one single and 4th of 11 in a row.

All my ex's live in Texas
And Texas is the place I'd dearly love to be
But all my ex's live in Texas
And that's why I hang my hat in Tennessee
Rosanna's down in Texarkana
Wanted me to push her broom
Sweet Eileen's in Abilene
She forgot I hung the moon
And Allison's in Galveston
Somehow lost her sanity
And Dimple's who now lives in Temple's
Got the law looking for me
All my ex's live in Texas
And Texas is the place I'd dearly love to be
But all my ex's live in Texas
And that's why I hang my hat in Tennessee
I remember that old Frio River
Where I learned to swim
But it brings to mind another time
Where I wore my welcome thin
By transcendental meditation
I go there each night
But I always come back to myself
Long before daylight
All my ex's live in Texas
And Texas is the place I'd dearly love to be
But all my ex's live in Texas
Therefore I reside in Tennessee
Some folks think I'm hidin'
It's been rumored that I died
But I'm alive and well in Tennessee
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Lyndia J Shafer / Sanger D Shafer
All My Ex's Live In Texas lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

SONG FACTS – “God Blessed Texas”

• Released in July 1993 as second single from their second album “Big Time”
• Written by band’s lead guitarist, Porter Howell and keyboardist, Brady Seals
• Reached #4 on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart
• Peaked at #55 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart
• It’s Little Texas‘ signature song
• It’s was a Pop Culture hit. Song can be heard at sports venues in Texas, Ford Motor Company ads on radio and television and at the amusement park, Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington, Texas.
• Song was used in an episode of the second season of True Blood

I've seen a lot of places
I've been around the world
I've been seen pretty faces
Been with some beautiful girls
After all I've witnessed
One thing still amazes me
Just like a miracle, you have to see to believe
God blessed Texas
With His own hand
Brought down angels from the promised land
Gave 'em a place where they could dnace
If you want to see heaven, brother, here's you chance
I've been sent to spread the message
God blessed Texas.
First, He let the sun shine
Then He made the waters deep
Then He gave us moonlight
For all the world to see
Well everybody knows that the Lord works in mysterious ways
He took a rest, then on the very next day
God blessed Texas
With His own hand
Brought down angels from the promised land
Gave 'em a place where they could dance
If you want to see heaven, brother, here's you chance
I've been sent to spread the message
God blessed Texas.
God blessed Texas
With His own hand
Brought down angels from the promised land
Gave 'em a place where they could dance
If you want to see heaven, brother, here's you chance
I've been sent to spread the message
God blessed Texas.
Well I've been sent to spread the message
God blessed Texas
Well I've been sent to spread the message
God blessed Texas.
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Brady Seals / Porter Howell
God Blessed Texas lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, BMG Rights Management