Strait recorded the song in 1983, 10 years after the song was originally released by one of its writers, Terry Stafford, in 1973. The song was also ranked at No. 7 out of 10 on 's list of songs describing a place 鈥 in this case, Amarillo, Texas. The list was compiled through online voting and the song was the only one about a town in Texas to make the cut.