Fans of Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” can’t get enough of the song, which breaks another record this week on the Billboard charts. The tune marks its fourth week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the most weeks spent at the pinnacle by a woman that also reached No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart.
“Choosin’ Texas” had been tied for the honor with Taylor Swift’s 2012 hit “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” at three weeks atop the Hot 100; now Langley has the record all to herself. She’s doubled the amount of time spent at No. 1 by three country hits by women that topped the Hot 100 for two weeks each: Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” in 2024 and Dolly Parton’s “Islands in the Stream,” with Kenny Rogers (1983), and “9 to 5” (1981).
Langley’s song has now spent 17 weeks at No. 1 on Hot Country Songs. It is also No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart.
The protagonist of the song, which was co-written by Langley, Miranda Lambert, Luke Dick and Joybeth Taylor, bemoans the fact that she unintentionally led her boyfriend straight back into the arms of his ex by taking him from the Volunteer State to the Lone Star State.
Throughout the song, Langley cites songs, cities and references associated with the two states, but how well do you recognize them? Below, Billboard breaks down all the mentions in “Choosin’ Texas” that are aligned specifically with Texas and Tennessee. (Texas clearly comes out ahead in the song, but does it in our tally?)
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Abilene: Texas
A city located in west central Texas that is no stranger to being immortalized in country songs, most famously George Hamilton IV’s 1963 No. 1 country hit “Abilene.” It’s where Langley takes her love and immediately regrets the move.
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Two-Steppin’: Texas
A nod to the Texas Two Step, a line dance that has been popular in Texas and beyond for decades, but really exploded following the release of the Houston-based John Travolta/Debra Winger 1980 move, Urban Cowboy, which ignited a national craze. “Choosin’ Texas” is in a 4/4 time signature, which makes it the perfect tune to twirl your partner around the floor.
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Jack: Tennessee
A shorthand reference for Jack Daniel’s, perhaps the most quoted brand of liquor in the country music canon through such songs as Eric Church’s “Jack Daniels,” Chase Rice’s “Jack Daniel’s Showed Up” and Jon Pardi’s “Me and Jack.”
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“Smoky Mountain Rain”: Tennessee
A nod to Ronnie Milsap’s beloved 1980 No. 1 song “Smoky Mountain Rain,” which tells of a man hitchhiking to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, desperately intent on making his way back to a past love.
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Memphis Blues: Tennessee
A nod to a style of blues music that was shaped in the early 1900s in Memphis, Tennessee, and particularly on the city’s Beale Street, from artists including W.C. Handy, as well as many Mississippians who migrated to Tennessee including Rufus Thomas, Junior Parker and B.B. King.
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“Amarillo by Morning”: Texas
A reference to a beloved song about a rodeo cowboy, whose peripatetic lifestyle has cost him almost everything except his freedom. Originally released by Terry Stafford in 1973, it was George Strait’s western-tinged 1982 version that became a stone-cold country classic and one of the most popular songs ever to reference Texas.
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“East Bound and Down”: Texas
Jerry Reed’s 1977 hit featured in the movie Smokey and the Bandit about illegally transporting beer from Atlanta to Texarkana, Texas. The song got a bit of a revival when it was used in the HBO show Eastbound & Down, which began airing in 2009.
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I-40: Tennessee and Texas
Interstate 40 is a main highway that runs east-west across the USA and traverses through both Tennessee and Texas.
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Lone Star State: Texas
The nickname for Texas, which references the single star on the Texas flag. The flag was adopted in 1839 during the period after Texas became an independent republic following the Texas Revolution and its independence from Mexico (Remember the Alamo!) and before Texas joined the U.S. and became a state in 1845.
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Final Count
Texas: 6 references
Tennessee: 4 references
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