The 20 Best Songs Ever Written About Dallas

15. Chris Ledoux, "Dallas Days and Fort Worth Nights"

On this track from his 1994 album Haywire, one-time rodeo star Chris Ledoux sings about the great divide between Dallas and Fort Worth. Dallas belongs to the business folks, as sung by Ledoux, but like any cowboy stuck in the Big D, he's just waiting to escape to Fort Worth. Us Dallasites know we don't ride horses to work, but it helps when a singer like Ledoux tries to set the record straight and explain the double life possible while living in the metroplex. Paige Skinner

14. Drake, "9 A.M. in Dallas"

Is this song about Dallas actually about Dallas? No. Not exactly. But "9 A.M. in Dallas" was written at 9 a.m., in Dallas, hence its title. Drake even goes as far as putting coordinates on the cover art for this song: 32 47 0 N 96 48 0 W. So, yeah. "9 A.M. in Dallas" was originally supposed to be on Drake's debut, Thank Me Later, but ended up as a buzz single for the album. Now it just lives on as a deep cut where a young Drake drops some of his best bars. And guess where he wrote them? Dallas. H. Drew Blackburn

13. ZZ Top, "Tush"

Does your beer commercial need to grab attention? Does your coming-of-age story about nerds trying to lose their virginity need a track for when they stumble into a bar with fake IDs? Are you trying to show that the time period is the '80s, or that a character is sort of sleazy and stuck in the '80s? Well, ZZ Top has the riff heavy song for you. See, if you've been bad or good in either Dallas, Texas or Hollywood, you can head downtown and look for some tush. (Dusty Hill should know, after all.) You might even find it, as long as you don't ask for too much. Jaime-Paul Falcon

12. Lee Ann Womack, "If You're Ever Down in Dallas"

Whether she's hinting at a possible one-night stand or just a drinking buddy, Lee Ann Womack's "If You're Ever Down in Dallas" is a great lost love song. With the line, "I can take you all the places a fool goes to forget," she reminds us of all of our favorite Dallas honky tonk bars where the booze is cheap, and you hopefully won't remember the night before. Paige Skinner

11. The Shelton Brothers, "Deep Elem Blues"

The Grateful Dead never recorded "Deep Elem Blues," but the song was a staple of the band's live set from the '60s all the way up through the '80s. The Dead probably didn't know much about Deep Ellum and there is no evidence that they ever performed the song in Dallas or even Texas. But "Deep Elm Blues" is based on an American traditional song. The Georgia Crackers first recorded the tune in 1927 with the title "The Georgia Black Bottom," using a generic name to describe a red light district. In 1933, The Shelton Brothers recorded their definitive take on the song "Deep Elem Blues," which gives the song a name and place: Dallas. Jeremy Hallock