Songwriters Terry Stafford and Paul Fraser's "Amarillo By Morning" ranks among the best country songs about a cowboy's oftentimes lonely life on the road, and real-life roper and rider George Strait sang it best.
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Stafford, who had a successful career as a writer and a performer, felt stuck after his 1964 hit "Suspicion." Little did he know, he was about to sign with Atlantic Records and write a second signature song. Stafford and Fraser met to write songs for a film in the early 1970s, leading to "Amarillo by Morning." One night, inspiration struck after Stafford heard a commercial say, "get your package to places like Amarillo by the next morning."
Stafford recorded the song for his 1973 album Say, Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose. It's been interpreted since then by Garth Brooks favorite Chris LeDoux, who recorded the song for his album Life as a Rodeo Man, as well as Moe Bandy, Clifton Jansky, Asleep at the Wheel and John Arthur Martinez. At the 2013 CMA Awards, Nashville stars Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood performed parody duet "Obamacare by Morning."
However, none are as popular as Strait's 1983 version from his album Strait from the Heart (MCA Nashville). Despite maintaining consideration as one of the best country songs of all time, Strait's single peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard charts.
Strait recorded it after hearing Kelly Schoppa's 1982 MCA single. The King of Country surely knew a song about the trials and tribulations of a rodeo cowboy who had broken bones, memories of lost love and no money would resonate with his audience.
"His future, always somewhere further down the road, is another rodeo just like the last one," wrote David Cantwell in the book Heartaches by the Number: Country Music's 500 Greatest Singles. "Maybe, if his luck and his body hold up, he'll scratch out enough prize money to make it to the next town, the next rodeo, the next eight seconds when he'll feel most alive."
Its music video intersperses a live performance by Strait and his band with action-packed rodeo footage in a way that plays up both the loneliness of life on the road and the highs that justify such lows.
The cowboy theme would present itself throughout Strait's career with hits like "The Cowboy Rides Away," "I Can Still Make Cheyenne" and "How 'Bout Them Cowgirls."
READ MORE: The History of Artists Proclaiming Themselves Country in 10 Songs
This story was originally published on June 9, 2021. It was updated on July 26, 2022.
"Amarillo By Morning" Lyrics:
Amarillo by mornin'
Up from San Antone
Everything that I got
Is just what I've got on
When that Sun is high
In that Texas sky
I'll be buckin' at the county fair
Amarillo by mornin'
Amarillo I'll be there
They took my saddle in Houston
Broke my leg in Santa Fe
Lost my wife and a girlfriend
Somewhere along the way
But I'll be lookin' for eight
When they pull that gate
And I hope that
Judge ain't blind
Amarillo by mornin'
Amarillo's on my mind
Amarillo by mornin'
Up from San Antone
Everything that I got
Is just what I've got on
I ain't got a dime
But what I've got is mine
I ain't rich
But Lord, I'm free
Amarillo by mornin'
Amarillo's where I'll be
Amarillo by mornin'
Amarillo's where I'll be
