The Complete List Of Every George Strait Song… That He Actually Wrote Himself

Sometimes it seems like country music is the one genre of music where a certain emphasis, and dare I say, credibility, is placed on whether or not you write your own songs. Pop music, especially these days, is known to utilize a small army of co-writers on each song, many rappers generally write their own rhymes but a number of samples in the production generally adds a handful of co-writers to the credits, and in the rock world, you generally find the band writing nearly all of the songs.

Of course, the country music industry has some of the best songwriters and storytellers in the world, and it’s common for an artist to start out writing their own hits before relying on a team of co-writers, but there are some acts that made an entire career out of recording songs written by someone else. And some fans don’t exactly appreciate that.

It seems like there’s a never-ending debate in the country music world about whether or not George Strait can really be considered the “King of Country Music” if he didn’t write, or at least co-write, the majority of his songs and biggest hits. Obviously, few have ever even come close to George’s 60 #1s, and the kind of continued success that he’s been able to achieve over the course of such a long and storied career. And there’s something to be said about the kind of talent it takes to sing someone else’s song with that much conviction. There’s no arguing that part.

So while it’s certainly easy to look at George’s success and deservedly place the “King of Country Music” atop his head, but I can also understand why some would be hesitant to call him the GOAT. But I suppose you can be the “King” and not be that “GOAT,” right? There’s a nuance there, a distinction between commercial success and a true mastery of the craft. I’m more than content to call George the King, but I don’t think I would call him the GOAT… who’s with me?

Anyways, that argument could go on for days, but how about we look at the songs George actually wrote? There’s a few sprinkled in and around the early part of in his career, but most of them actually come from records he put out over the last fifteen years or so. After going through all of his 31 studio albums one by one and looking at the writers on each song, there’s actually more co-writes from him than you’d might expect.

That’s partially due to the fact that he’s made it a point to write more in this stage of his career. He even told CMT that quitting writing for so many years was the biggest regret in he’s had about it so far:

“If I have one regret in my career, which has been great and it’s hard to come up with one… but, if I have one it’s that I kind of quit writing for years.

Because starting out, I loved to write and wrote a lot and then I just kind of got away from it.”

Either way, if you’re someone that takes issue with the fact that King George hasn’t written most of his songs, I’d caution you to remember the amount of songwriters he’s fed over the years. Most notably, the great Dean Dillon. He’s penned a large number of George’s biggest hits, as well as numerous songs for the likes of Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith, and more. Dean is responsible for penning #1’s like “Unwound,” “The Chair,” “Nobody in His Right Mind Would Have Left Her,” “Ocean Front Property,” and “Here for a Good Time.”

But without further ado, here’s all the songs George wrote, or co-wrote, for himself:

“I Can’t See Texas From Here” — A solo write from early in his career by King George in 1982.

“Drinkin’ Man” — Written by George, his son Bubba Strait, as well as Dean Dillon.

“Every Little Honky Tonk Bar” — Written by George, Dean and Bubba.

“I Believe”— Written by George, Dean and Bubba.

“Let It Go” — Written by Keith Gattis, George and Bubba.

“Out of Sight, Out of Mind” — Written by George and Bubba.

“Living for the Night” — Written by George, Dean and Bubba.

“He’s Got That Something Special” — Written by George, Dean and Bubba.

“Shame On Me” — Written by George and Bubba.

“Here for a Good Time” — Written by George, Dean and Bubba.

“House Across the Bay” — Written by George, Dean and Bubba.

“Three Nails and a Cross” — Written by Bobby Boyd, George, Dean and Bubba.

“Blue Marlin Blues” — Written by George, Dean and Bubba.

“I’ll Always Remember You” — Written by George, Dean and Bubba.

“I Just Can’t Go On Dying Like This” — A solo write from King George.

“That’s What Breaking Hearts Do” — Written by George and Bubba.

“The Night Is Young” — Written by George, Dean and Bubba.

“It Takes All Kinds” — Written by Bob Regan, Will Nance, George and Bubba.

“Everything I See” — Written by Keith, George, Dean and Bubba.

“Blue Water” — Written by George, Dean and Bubba.

“Sometimes Love” — Written by George, Dean and Bubba.

“Código” — Written by George, Dean and Bubba.

“Take Me Away” — Written by George, Dean and Bubba.

“The Weight of the Badge” — Written by George, Dean and Bubba.

“What Goes Up” — Written by Jeff Hyde, George and Bubba.

“Sing One with Willie” — Written by Willie Nelson, Buddy Cannon, George and Bubba.

“The Little Things” — Written by George, Monty Criswell, and Bubba

“The Book” — Written by George, Dean Dillon, Jesse Jo Dillon and Bubba

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