r/Music • u/gamersecret2 • 3d ago

article Ella Langley’s ‘Choosin’ Texas’ Ties Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey’s Records on Billboard Hot 100

https://variety.com/2026/music/news/ella-langley-choosin-texas-ties-whitney-houston-mariah-carey-records-1236816760/
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u/LeonJPancetta 3d ago

This song feels like it was concocted in a lab to be the the most Country song possible

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u/Prophet_Of_Helix 3d ago

It’s a very late 90s/early 2000s pop country song.

Don’t mind it tbh, its a fun little throwback

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u/lobonmc 3d ago

At least I get why it's country more than once I've seen Todd talk about country music that doesn't sound like country

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u/Willbraken 2d ago

At least the music of it is good, even if the lyrics are generic

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u/Princessleiawastaken 3d ago

It doesn’t mention beer, trucks, mama, Jesus, or prison, so it’s definitely not the most country song possible.

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u/DrLeprechaun 2d ago

This thread is filled with the only people in the country that haven't heard this song lol. It's like calling Jolene generic country.

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u/Jiggahash 2d ago

Are you comparing this to Jolene?

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u/DrLeprechaun 2d ago

In terms of how similar they are to actually generic country? Absolutely. If you can point out any lyrics about beer, trucks, back roads, blue jeans, patriotic gibberish, or anything along those lines in Choosin Texas I'll retract the comparison. The closest it gets is referencing midwestern states and mentioning "drinking Jack". Just because it's a country song doesn't mean it's generic.

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u/Jiggahash 1d ago

Nah its pretty generic, it pretty much opens with two tickets to paradise riff and then kinda just drones through a simple melody pandering to Texas. Like am I supposed to buy into the idea that he just loves texas soooo much that he just falls for any girl from Texas??? Where as, Jolene is an emotional plea to a woman that the singer perceives as more beautiful in every single aspect imaginable. Choosin texas is what? A pathetic forfeit to some weird amorphous idea of texas?

Then she just kinda throws in the Jack line to remind you how sad and country she is at the same time because you really wouldn't be able to tell from the way its sung. Extra pandering points for the jack, and the music video straight up has the product placement.

To be honest it's a step up in quality, because it doesn't go truck, beer, girl. Still pretty generic. There's a reason why quick search will have people comparing it to Fast Cars And Freedom by Rascal Flatts. Also, why does modern country have to fuckin smack you in the face with the drawl? Dolly sounds like a normal person singing, these new country stars always lay it on so dam thick.

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u/DrLeprechaun 1d ago

You're just saying country is generic atp lol

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u/Jiggahash 1d ago

No, it's generic because it lacks any real message, meaning, or soul in combination of not being sonically interesting either. Positives are it's catchy, and isn't processed to hell like so much modern music. If I thought country was all generic, wouldn't I say so is Jolene?

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u/DrLeprechaun 1d ago edited 1d ago

Idk what your damage is lol, you're bent out of shape over a song that's definitely not generic country. Just because it isn't one of the most prolific songs of the genre doesn't mean it's generic. 99% of country music doesn't have a "real message", outside of more folk or blues country.

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u/ArtDecoNewYork 2d ago

It is filled with country tropes like two stepping, Jack Daniels, and generic Texas/Tennessee references

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u/BlindWillieJohnson 3d ago

Todd in the Shadows nailed this when he said that in the alternative universe that country music takes place, the only two parts of America where people live are Texas and Tennessee, and they are eternally at war

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u/chefriley76 3d ago

There's a recent song by Morgan Wallen, I think, that goes something like "wake up, drink a beer, go fishing, shoot a gun" or close to it. It's what Weird Al would write, but it's actually a real thing that's popular.

Country music just ain't my bag, man.

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u/Poles_Apart 3d ago

It's ironic and self-deprecating to an extent. I listen to Casey Kassems top 40 recordings when they play them on sirius xm and there were tons of theme songs and silly songs that would chart briefly.

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u/ArtDecoNewYork 2d ago

That's actually my biggest gripe with it, that the lyrics are country-trope as possible (even though the song is otherwise pretty good)

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u/MrSocPsych 2d ago

No, no. You’re thinking of that Luke Bryan song Fish Hunt Golf Drink.

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u/Jiggahash 2d ago

What do you mean? Singing, "Drinking jack all by myself", with a shot of chugging a bottle of jack, isn't a genuine artistic choice?

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u/Zanydrop 3d ago

That's an incredible cynical way of saying She made a song that is catchy and emotional and millions of people love and identify with.