"God Blessed Texas" is a song recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

group

Little Texas Little Texas is an American country music band started in Nashville, Tennessee. The band consists of Porter Howell (lead guitar, vocals), Del Gray (drums), Dwayne O'Brien (rhythm guitar, vocals), and Duane Propes (bass guitar, vocals). They, alo ...

. It was released on July 17, 1993 as the second single from their second album '' Big Time''. The song was their seventh single overall. It was written by the band's lead guitarist Porter Howell, and keyboardist and vocalist

Brady Seals Brady Seals (born March 29, 1969) is an American country music artist. He is the cousin of Jim Seals (of Seals & Crofts) and Dan Seals, Johnny Duncan (country singer), Johnny Duncan, the nephew of Troy Seals. Seals made his debut in 1988 as co ...

. The song reached No. 4 on the U.S. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart in December of that year. It also peaked at No. 55 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, their most successful song on that chart. It is the band's

signature song A signature (; from , "to sign") is a depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. Signatures are often, but not always, handwritten or styliz ...

, and they close out their concerts with it.

Content

The song, with lead vocals by

Tim Rushlow Timothy Ray Rushlow (born October 6, 1966) is an American recording artist. Between 1991 and 1997, Rushlow was lead vocalist of country music group Little Texas, which recorded four albums and a Greatest Hits package, in addition to charting mo ...

, celebrates

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

pride Pride is a human Emotion, secondary emotion characterized by a sense of satisfaction with one's Identity (philosophy), identity, performance, or accomplishments. It is often considered the opposite of shame or of humility and, depending on conte ...

by saying that God must have evidently given the state special attention and furthermore provided the state its unique and legendary geography and demography. The album version contains an intro of which the band performs a preparation piece that includes a brief sample of the song, " The Eyes of Texas", before subsequently leading into the main song. This intro was omitted from the radio version, which was used for the music video, as well as the opening track on the band's greatest-hits compilation.

Music video

The music video, directed by Gerry Wenner, takes place at a pool party with many

bikini A bikini is a two-piece swimsuit primarily worn by women that features one piece on top that covers the breasts, and a second piece on the bottom: the front covering the pelvis but usually exposing the navel, and the back generally covering ...

-clad women. It was shot at

Southfork Ranch Southfork Ranch is a conference and event center in Parker, in the US state of Texas, north of Dallas. It includes the Ewing Mansion, the setting for the television series ''Dallas''. A variety of tours are offered to the location. History Th ...

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. The Dallas Cowboys Chearleaders also appear in this video.

In popular culture

The song can be heard at many

sports venues A sports venue is a building, structure, or place in which a sporting competition is held. A stadium (plural: stadiums or stadia) or arena is a place or venue for sports or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely ...

, especially prevalent in the state of Texas; these venues include

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

and Texas Rangers games. The song is used by the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

in radio and TV advertisements in several

cities (

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, Dallas/Fort Worth,

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

, and

El Paso El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

) where "Ford is the Best in Texas" is substituted for the "God Blessed Texas" line. The song can also be heard in various sections of the

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

Six Flags Over Texas "Six flags over Texas" is the slogan used to describe the six sovereign countries that have had control over some or all of the current territory of the U.S. state of Texas: Spain (1519–1685; 1690–1821), France (1685–1690), Mexico (1821� ...

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal c ...

. The song was also used in an episode of the second season of ''

True Blood ''True Blood'' is an American fantasy Horror fiction, horror Drama (film and television), drama television series produced and created by Alan Ball (screenwriter), Alan Ball. It is based on ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a series of novels ...

''.

Joe Jonas Joseph Adam Jonas (born August 15, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He rose to fame as a member of the pop rock band the Jonas Brothers, alongside his brothers Kevin Jonas, Kevin and Nick Jonas, Nick. The group released their ...

performed the song in an episode of the second season of ''

The Righteous Gemstones ''The Righteous Gemstones'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Danny McBride that premiered on August 18, 2019, on HBO. The series follows a famous and dysfunctional family of televangelists. McBride also stars in the serie ...

''.

Chart performance

"God Blessed Texas" debuted at number 75 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of July 17, 1993.

References

{{authority control 1993 singles 1993 songs Little Texas (band) songs Songs about Texas Songs written by Brady Seals Song recordings produced by James Stroud Warner Records singles Songs written by Porter Howell