Vera “Velma” Hernandez
Audio By Carbonatix
Back in 2014, a group of writers came together to build a list of the 20 Best Songs Ever Written About Dallas for the Observer. That list remains totemic, titanic and relevant today. With the Butthole Surfers’ “Pepper” proudly claiming the #2 spot, how could it not?
But Dallas is a big place, the kind of city that can chew you up, spit you out, pull you close and push you away – sometimes all at once. The city’s mercurial nature and the strong emotions it inspires, both positive and negative, have led decades of artists to explore their relationship to Dallas through song. Their music moves between genres and across time, sometimes bridging the gap between generations and always helping illuminate some contradictory aspect of Dallas and its splendors.
We have compiled a new list of 10 songs written about and heavily inspired by Dallas, building on the last list’s eclectic successes. We took the opportunity to fill in some gaps and highlight some tracks that have dropped in the past decade that, though newer, have earned a place in the musical tapestry of Big D.
10. Alan Jackson – “Dallas”
The good-time troubadour who introduced the world to the magic of life on the Chattahoochee River (where, we’re told, it gets hotter than a hoochie coochie) is nowhere to be found in Alan Jackson’s “Dallas.” Released in 1991, the song is about a man whose lover (referred to as “Dallas”) leaves him to return to Dallas. “Oh, how I wish Dallas was in Tennessee / If I could move Texas east / Then she’d be here with me,” sings Jackson in the song’s chorus. It’s a poignant but uptempo track about how irresistible Dallas is for its wayward sons and daughters and the immutability of geography.
9. Post Malone – “Back to Texas”
Posty has been on a countrified musical odyssey lately, dropping F-1 Trillion in 2024 and embracing his sonic southern roots. “Back to Texas” is the final track on the Long Bed extended edition of the album, and features Post Malone waxing poetic about how tired he is of life outside the Lone Star State. He is, he says, “…sick and tired of / All hat, no cattle / All belt, no buckle” and other appropriately deployed Texan figures of speech. The Raising Cane’s partner sings that he “ain’t found nowhere like Dallas” and doubts he ever will. To which we say: amen, brother.
8. James McMurtry – “Choctaw Bingo”
Originally from Fort Worth, musician James McMurtry, the son of novelist Larry McMurtry, is no stranger to North Texas. One of his best songs, “Choctaw Bingo,” has a tenuous tie to Dallas, but earns its place on this list as a dense, literary work of Americana investigating, as the singer himself puts it, “the North Texas / Southern Oklahoma crystal methamphetamine industry.” The song is about a family reunion that takes place in Oklahoma. It blasts through verse after verse, introducing different members of the family, including a cousin who gets in a car accident on his way to Dallas. If the song goes a little further afield than some other entries on this list, geographically speaking, it is at least true to the ragged spirit of Old Dallas and the surrounding area.
7. Big Tuck – “Southside Da Realist”
Big Tuck got a shout-out on the previous iteration of this list for “Welcome to Dallas,” and we cannot deny that that track has a lot to recommend it. It references the JFK assassination, goes hard and proudly proclaims Dallas as the quintessential Texas city. But “Southside Da Realist” is Big Tuck at his best. The song is a gangster rap anthem with a killer beat and in-your-face lyrics; it was influential when it dropped in 2004 and remains an iconic Dallas track that is a product of its time but remains eminently listenable in 2025.
6. Hank Williams Jr. – “This Ain’t Dallas”
We’re cheating a little bit with this one, since the “Dallas” of the song’s title technically refers to the long-running soap opera Dallas instead of the actual city. But since the show is so ingrained in the culture and history of the city, we decided it warranted recognition here. The song is a tongue-in-cheek admonition by Williams that real life does not need the dramatics of Dallas (or its contemporary, Dynasty). It’s a fast, fun, deep cut of Williams’ that performed relatively well in its day (peaking at #4 on the Billboard Hot Country chart) but has been forgotten over the years. Something we hope can be rectified with its inclusion on this list.
5. AC/DC – “Thunderstruck”
If you thought we were playing fast and loose with “This Ain’t Dallas,” we are excited to announce that we are fully leaning in and claiming “Thunderstruck” as a Dallas anthem. The Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders have an iconic dance routine that has been performed to this track for over a decade now, making it synonymous with our beleaguered football program. Even though the track itself is not literally about Dallas, there are Texas girls featured in the lyrics who “broke all the rules / played all the fools” and blew the band’s minds. Who’s to say they weren’t North Texas natives?
4. Mr. Pookie – “Crook For Life”
Featuring Mr. Lucci and Mr. Montis, “Crook For Life” helped define Dallas’ reputation in hip-hop at the turn of the century. Featuring an era-appropriate melodious chorus and pristine bars from its rappers, this is a throwback to the heyday of hip-hop. Mr. Pookie himself, a.k.a. Bryan Jones, is a Dallas native who shouts out the city in the track, calling it a city “bound to rise.” While this is not a track overloaded with other direct references to Dallas, its reputation and Mr. Pookie’s emeritus status in the Dallas hip-hop scene more than qualify it for this list.
3. T-Bone Walker – “Trinity River Blues”
Almost a century ago, in 1929, T-Bone Walker released “Trinity River Blues” as the B-side to “Wichita Falls Blues.” Walker was a pioneering blues musician, regarded as one of the greatest guitarists of all time, and got his start working in Dallas. Like many musicians in recent years, he played Deep Ellum in his early days when he was finding his footing. “Trinity River Blues” is not an overly complicated piece of songwriting, but the fact that it has survived for nearly 100 years speaks to its effectiveness. “That dirty Trinity River / Sure has done me wrong,” sings Walker on the track, in which the river floods and steals all his belongings.
2. Willie Nelson – “Dallas”
Perhaps the most glaring omission from the last version of this list was representation for Texas’ premier singer/songwriter, Willie Nelson (“Bob Wills Is Still the King,” which did make the cut last time, at least has the good grace to mention his name in its lyrics). “Dallas,” released in 1968, is literally a checklist of all the things Nelson loves about the city, which he refers to as the “best dressed city in the USA.” The jury’s out on that one, but we appreciate the sentiment. This is Nelson deep in the trenches of Texas swing, keeping things breezy and easy, more in the vein of the Rat Pack than the Outlaw Country movement he would become identified with in the ‘70s.
1. Charley Crockett – “Visions of Dallas”
We’re putting “Visions of Dallas” in the top slot, not because it is the single greatest song ever written about Dallas, but as a stand-in for neo-western singer Charley Crockett’s vast oeuvre. Crockett has deep roots in Dallas, going back to the days when he was playing the streets of Deep Ellum, trying to make a name for himself. “Visions of Dallas” is the title track of a recent album, another track about the siren song of Big D for anyone who has fallen in love with and left it behind. As with most of Crockett’s music, it is soulful, impeccably played, and worthy of repeated listening.
