Choosin' Texas

Album

Single

Label

Columbia Records

Genre

Country

Composer(s)

Ella Langley;Miranda Lambert;Luke Dick;Joybeth Taylor

Entered Chart

Nov 1, 2025

Peak Date

Feb 14, 2026

Released

October 17, 2025

"Choosin' Texas" is Ella Langley's story of a woman watching her man get swept away by a Texas girl, and realizing she never really stood a chance against the gravitational pull of the Lone Star State. She missed the warning signs, little red flags like how he always perked up when "Amarillo By Morning" came on. But this isn't "Gunpowder & Lead" territory; Langley takes the Dolly Parton route, channeling "Jolene" levels of grace and heartache. Langley co-wrote the song with her frequent songwriting collaborator Joybeth Taylor, along with Miranda Lambert and Luke Dick during a writing retreat in October 2024. It started with Lambert telling her co-writers a wild story about her younger days when she got pulled over with a kangaroo in the backseat and a dog in the front. When Lambert added how she told the cop she had Texas plates, Langley quipped, "She's from Texas, I can tell." The room fell silent for half a beat before everyone went: That's the song. Thirty minutes later, "Choosin' Texas" was born. Lambert and Ben West co-produced the track alongside Langley, with Lambert insisting she wanted to "let Ella's artistry shine through every step of the process." Langley first teased "Choosin' Texas" in February 2025 at a show in Nacogdoches, and then officially unveiled it at Live At The Station in College Station and Choctaw Music Fest in Oklahoma that October. Country blogs and entertainment outlets described the song's theme of "losing a cowboy to a Texas girl" as potentially autobiographical, mirroring Langley's rumored triangle with Riley Green and Megan Moroney, the same rumor mill that's been grinding ever since Langley and Green recorded "You Look Like You Love Me." It didn't help that the single artwork shows a man and a blonde woman driving away in a convertible - it looks suspiciously like a real-life photo of Green and Moroney cruising through Alabama. But according to Langley and her co-writers, "Choosin' Texas" is fictional and inspired by Lambert's Texas roots, not a reflection of Riley Green or Megan Moroney. Langley sang "Choosin' Texas" at the 2025 CMA Awards, where her song "You Look Like You Love Me" earned her three trips to the podium, winning for Single Of The Year, Song Of The Year and Music Video Of The Year.

Just when I thought I got him to fall in love with Tennessee
I shoulda known better than to take him back to Abilene
I put him right back into her arms
I wasn't a match for that kinda spark

She's from Texas, I can tell by the way
He's two steppin' 'round the room
And judgin' by the smile that's written on his face
There's nothin' I can do
It doesn't take a crystal ball to see
A cowboy always finds a way to leave
Drinkin' Jack all by myself
He's choosin' Texas, I can tell

Well, I guess he forgot about the Smoky Mountain rain
Them old Hank tunes, the Memphis blues we used to sing
He always loved Amarillo By Morning
I shoulda taken that as a warning

She's from Texas, I can tell by the way
He's two steppin' 'round the room
And judgin' by the smile that's written on his face
There's nothin' I can do

It doesn't take a crystal ball to see
A cowboy always finds a way to leave
Drinkin' Jack all by myself
He's choosin' Texas, I can tell

When I'm eastbound and down and I can't help but cry
'Cause I-40 gets lonelier with every mile
I'll know that his mind wasn't ever gonna change
'Cause his heart still belongs to the Lone Star State

She's from Texas, I can tell by the way
He's two steppin' 'round the room
And judgin' by the smile that's written on his face
There's nothin' I can do, nah, yeah
It doesn't take a crystal ball to see
A cowboy always finds a way to leave
Drinkin' Jack all by myself
He's choosing Texas, I can tell, no
Drinkin' Jack all by myself
He's choosin' Texas, I can tell

Come on, baby
Oh, yeah

Just when I thought I got him to fall in love with Tennessee