Historic political change swept across the state of Texas on Tuesday night, and it had its very own soundtrack. The song was played the moment that U.S. senator-elect James Talarico finished his victory speech in Austin. It was played in a video released by governor-elect Gina Hinojosa showing her and Talarico sharing a victory toast at Whataburger. It was played before Talarico’s speech, it was played outside the Capitol, it was played at the election-eve event for Talarico’s campaign. That song, of course, was Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas.”
It’s the latest evolution for a song whose place in American culture long ago hit escape velocity, soaring far past any attempt for Langley, her team, or even the country music industry of which she is a part to contain, control, or command its meaning. And for now, at least, it appears that the song has become the defining anthem for an unprecedented political sea change in Texas.
There are any number of explanations. For one, “Choosin’ Texas” is yet again the most popular song in the country; it stands to reason that any politician — or average voter — would associate a song that has “Texas” in its title with what happened Tuesday night. Moreover, in a state where the country music genre is deeply intertwined with the state’s culture, it’s no surprise that the candidate who spent a chunk of his campaign showing up at country music concerts would continue to appeal to his broad coalition of Texas voters with the song.
But there’s probably an even more simple reason why the meaning of “Choosin’ Texas” has changed yet again: “Two-stepping around the room” just about rhymes perfectly with blue. As one viral comment rewrote the chorus: “She’s from Texas I can tell by the way she flip that shit blue”.
“Choosin’ Texas” isn’t just a song for Texas, however. It’s a soundtrack for an entire moment after the country predominantly voted for change during Tuesday’s midterms. A thousand miles away from Austin, the group Fuerza Regida switched up their setlist and opened their election-night show at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado with “Es De Tejas,” their Spanish-language cover of Langley’s juggernaut. In the less than 24 hours since the Texas election results, the internet has erupted with memes, jokes, rewritten choruses, and instant-reactions to the song’s new meaning. There’s a rewrite (surely the first of many) called “Choosin’ Blexas,” and there are TikTok creators joking that Langley’s hit is “officially the most liberal song ever.”
It is not clear, nor is it worth speculating, what Langley makes of any of this. Throughout the year, conservatives ranging from Matt Walsh to Kristi Noem have tried to make “Choosin’ Texas” an avatar of a MAGA’fied America. Just last month, Noem attempted to claim the song was representative of a red Texas after Talarico made a cameo at a Kacey Musgraves concert. “I’ll take @ellalangleymusic over Kacey Musgraves any day,” Noem tweeted. “And if I’m choosin’ Texas, I’ll take Ken Paxton over James Talarico.”
In response, Langley, or her social media team, untagged Langley’s X account from the post. The singer, so it appeared, wanted to have nothing to do with any of this.
Still, there may be no escaping it. That Langley is a native Alabaman who released a defining hit about a state she’s never lived in doesn’t matter. Nor do her attempts to keep the song divorced from politics, as both sides of the aisle desperately try to seize the hit as their own. “Choosin’ Texas,” like it or not, is now an anthem for a political revolution.
