Everyone knows that Texas is big. Not everyone knows that it is larger than over 160 counties, at 268,597 square miles. Anyone who has ever driven through Texas, heading east to west or west to east, has asked himself at least three times, “When are we going to get out of Texas?” That 850-plus-mile journey on Interstate 10 inside Texas humbles many road warriors.
So how did Texas just up and vanish?
Well, the State of Texas is where it has always been and is just fine. Growing in population more and more each day, Texas is one of the big beneficiaries as the BSE (Blue State Exodus) continues in earnest.
No, the Texas that has vanished is the fabulous song written by the great British guitarist, singer, and songwriter, Chris Rea.
Released in 1990, Rea’s song “Texas” is popular in Texas and around the world. The song has been played at many Texas sporting events and celebrations, and as background music at the Texas Rangers’ games in Arlington. If you can find the CD or vinyl Road to Hell Album, it is the fourth song.
However, if you search for “Texas” on any streaming service, you will find some interesting results.
On Apple Music, “Texas” is missing from the Road to Hell album.
On Amazon Music, they have replaced the 1990 song “Texas” (5:09 duration) that is on the Road to Hell album with the 1983 song “Texas” (4:01 duration), which is from the album Water Sign. Same song name, but two completely different and non-related songs.
On Spotify, they repeat the Amazon method by listing a song called “Texas” (4:01 duration). You find that it is the 1983 version from the Water Sign album.
After spending a couple of hours on the phone with Apple’s technical support, I was told that they don’t know why Texas is gone, but they suggested it might be the artist, the producer, or the label.
So did the label, Magnet Geffen (U.S.), remove the song from availability? Did Chris Rea remove the song from the streaming services? Did the producer, Jon Kelly, remove the song?
Read the lyrics for yourself:
Warm winds blowing
Heat and blue sky
And a road that goes forever
Been thinking ’bout it lately
Been watching some TV
Been looking all around me
And what has come to be
Been talking to my neighbour
And he agrees with me
It’s all gone crazy
Well, my wife returns from taking
My little girl to school
She got beads of perspiration
As she tries to keep her cool
She says, “That mess, it don’t get no better
There’s gonna come a day
Someone’s gonna get killed out there”
And I turn to her and say, “Texas”
She says, “What?”
I said, “Texas”
She says, “What?”
They got big long roads out there
Warm winds blowing
Heat and blue sky
And a road that goes forever
I’m going to Texas
We gotta get outta here
We gotta get outta here
Well, I got a little brother
Several meters high
Yeah, he’s built just like a quarterback
And he swears he’ll testify
He says he’s been to Texas
And that’s the only place to be
Big steaks, big girls, no trouble
Yeah, that’s the place for me
I’m going to Texas
Yeah, yeah
Oh, I’m going to Texas
Yeah, yeah
I’m going to Texas
Watch me walking
Watch me walking
Watch me walking
Yeah, yeah
If you want to see the music video for Texas, you can still watch it on YouTube as of this the February 23, 2024, but based upon the censorship happening everywhere that may not be for long. Watch it here.
The video was filmed in Germany at a U.S. Army camp somewhere near Berlin. The video starts out with a woman removing two picture frames from a wall, and one photograph in the frame is an image of El Paso, “The International City.” As the video continues, the family begin their move. The woman, who we assume is the mother, and her daughter are getting into the car to begin their journey. You see a building in the background with the name “KAUFHALLE,” German for “department store,” on the face.
And so, in the 21st-century age of the Censorship Industrial Complex, a question rises in the music world. Who vanished “Texas”?