"Texas" is a song by British singer-songwriter

Chris Rea Christopher Anton Rea ( ; born 4 March 1951) is an English rock and blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, fie ...

, released in 1990 as an extended play from his tenth studio album '' The Road to Hell'' (1989). It was written by Rea and produced by Rea and

Jon Kelly Jon Kelly is a British audio engineer and record producer, who began his career as an engineer at Air London Studios. He has produced albums and singles for Chris Rea, the Damned, Kate Bush (where he co-produced with Bush on her third album '' ...

. "Texas" reached No. 69 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and remained in the Top 100 for two weeks. "Texas" was the second song of the same name that Rea had recorded. The first was an entirely different song, released on his 1983 album ''

Water Sign In Western astrology, astrological signs are the twelve 30-degree sectors that make up Earth's 360-degree orbit around the Sun. The signs enumerate from the first day of spring, known as the First Point of Aries, which is the vernal equinox. ...

''.

Background

"Texas" was inspired by a conversation Rea had with his neighbour about

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. At the time, Rea had not been to the state, whereas his neighbour described the long, clear roads and lack of traffic jams there. In the 1999 Collins Gem book ''Classic Albums'', Rea said of the song's character: "He's going for that big Western apple in the sky. He's thinking it should be like Texas, and he's thinking of large, cheap steaks, every woman is 6' 4" and has massive legs and looks like

Jerry Hall Jerry Faye Hall (born July 2, 1956) is an American model and actress. She began modelling in the 1970s and became one of the most sought after models in the world. She transitioned into acting, appearing in the 1989 film ''Batman''. Hall was th ...

, ndthere's no trouble because they say there's no trouble. But really, if you've been there, it's even three times more violent."

Music video

A music video was filmed to promote the single. Rea recalled to Peter Doggett in 2019: "We had great fun making the video for that, because we went to the American army camp in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

for three days."

Critical reception

On its release, ''

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'' wrote: "Well-crafted pop rock that starts off mellow and sparse, but gains more substance along the way. Particularly good slide guitar." In a review of ''The Road to Hell'', David Law of '' The Charlatan'' described the song as "nicely loose" and containing a "certain optimism". He wrote: "The song celebrates the existence of a place still big enough to hold the dreamers. There's appealing slide work on the track, with a guitar sound as big as the state itself." In a retrospective review, John Floyd of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

noted "Texas" as being one of a number of tracks on ''The Road to Hell'' which "pick apart the atrocities of our society".

Track listing

7" single # "Texas" – 5:09 # " Let's Dance" (Live) – 7:36 12" single # "Texas" – 5:09 # " The Road to Hell (Part 1 & 2)" (Live) – 7:02 # "Let's Dance" (Live) – 7:36 CD single # "Texas" – 5:09 # " Working on It" (Live) – 6:35 # "Let's Dance" (Live) – 7:36 CD single (US promo) # "Texas" (Remix) – 4:35 # "Texas" (LP Version) – 5:09 # "Working on It" (Live - Special Bonus Track) – 6:31

Personnel

Texas *

- vocals, guitars, keyboards * Max Middleton - keyboards * Robert Ahwai - bass *

Martin Ditcham Martin Ditcham is an English drummer, percussionist and songwriter. Ditcham is a prolific session musician, working with artists such as Henry Cow, Status Quo, Elton John, The Rolling Stones, Roger Daltrey, Sade, Mary Black, Nik Kershaw, Chris ...

- drums, percussion Production * Chris Rea,

- producers * Neil Amor, Diane BJ Koné - engineers on "Texas" * Justin Shirley-Smith, Paul Lilly - mixing on live tracks Other * The Leisure Process - sleeve design, art direction

Charts

References

{{Chris Rea 1989 songs 1990 EPs Chris Rea songs East West Records EPs Songs written by Chris Rea