#682 - Garth Brooks vs. George Strait & The Worst 1’s Ever

Bobby Bones Presents: The BobbyCast

The hosts of The BobbyCast dive into a series of 'existential' music debates, starting with a head-to-head showdown between Garth Brooks and George Strait using their top ten

Key takeaways

• Garth Brooks narrowly defeats George Strait 6-4 in a track-by-track comparison featuring hits like 'The Dance,' 'Amarillo by Morning,' and 'Calling Baton Rouge.'
• The hosts debate why they respect but don't connect with bands like Kiss, Fish, the Grateful Dead, and Nickelback, citing spectacle, jam-band culture, and mainstream overexposure.

Main topics

• Garth Brooks vs George Strait track comparison
• Artists with misunderstood appeal or legacy

Notable quotes

"Garth is taking the lead... Garth wins six to four."

Conclusion

The episode offers a lighthearted yet musically detailed exploration o

Transcript preview

Speaker 4 (0:00) This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human. I'm Melissa Jeltsin, host of the What Happened to Her podcast. We're kicking off the season with the Sandra Birchmore story, a case the police wrote off as a suicide in a snowstorm. Her family never bought it, and the man they suspected wore a badge. You Speaker 8 (0:19) never know who that devil is because he's wearing a disguise. Sometimes it's a police uniform. Speaker 4 (0:24) And you can get access to all episodes 100 % ad-free with an iHeart True Crime Plus subscription exclusively on Apple Podcasts, available only to iHeart True Crime Plus subscribers. So don't wait. Head to Apple Podcasts, search for iHeart True Crime Plus, and subscribe today. Lisa, tell them about our new show. We have a new podcast. It's called Don't Lie to Me. I'm Lexi Iwano. We're two best friends, 22 years apart, but so close at heart. And I'm Lisa DiGiulio, the old one, which means we have wildly different references, occasionally different opinions. And at this point in my 50s, I've lived it all. Now in my 30s, being the founder of New Shoes, good taste is my business. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 4 (1:14) Hi, this is Kylie Brakeman, Angela Geritana, Speaker 8 (1:16) Jeremy Colhane, Patrick McDonald, and Speaker 4 (1:18) we're the hosts of the Artists on Artists on Artists on Artists podcast, the Speaker 8 (1:22) improvised character comedy podcast, where each week a new panel of artists discuss their craft. Join us for a panel of Eurovision participants. And we do a little Halloween sometimes. Does the Pope dress up? He winks on Halloween. He gets right up next to the microphone. Speaker 4 (1:38) I hear you can almost hear the eyelashes hit each other. Speaker 8 (1:41) You've never seen Italy so quiet as when the Pope gets up to wink on Halloween. Speaker 4 (1:46) Listen to Artists on Artists on Artists on Artists every Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 7 (1:54) I'm Lacey Mosley, author, actor, stand-up comedian, creator, and host of Scam Goddess Podcast. The true crime comedy podcast all about robbery, fraud, and those who practice it. Each week I bring on an amazing guest. Speaker 8 (2:06) Ooh, I scammed him. What? I could talk to you for an hour. Speaker 7 (2:09) You're a generational yapper, like me. That's why I had to make yapping a job. And now you can catch full episodes of my show on YouTube. Start listening to Scam Goddess on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 7 (2:24) So like by age 11 or so, at least 70 % have a phone. Speaker 6 (2:29) I'm Dr. Joy, and this is Therapy for Black Girls. We spend our surviving middle school run getting into what's happening inside your kid's brain, the group chats, and their friendships, and what you can do about it. Speaker 8 (2:40) Your child is not doing this on purpose. Speaker 6 (2:42) That's the kind of perspective we've been pulling from the psychologists and psychiatrists who study this for a living. Listen to Therapy for Black Girls on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 2 (3:05) Everybody welcome. We're going to do a few existential music questions. What sucks for you is you don't know the question. Great. Existential. Yeah. Speaker 3 (3:13) So me, Eddie, Brandon, all musicians have different levels. Extreme different levels for the record. I know like nine Speaker 2 (3:22) chords. Brandon is an accomplished songwriter. And Speaker 1 (3:25) I'm in the middle. You're in the middle. Yeah. I'm the cream of the Oreo. Speaker 3 (3:30) So we're going to do a few existential music questions. I can actually answer the question Speaker 2 (3:37) first to Speaker 3 (3:38) give you Speaker 2 (3:39) guys time to think about it. Speaker 1 (3:40) Yeah, because I don't even know what you mean. Oh, you don't understand existential, the word. Speaker 2 (3:44) I Speaker 1 (3:44) mean, I do. I've heard it before. Speaker 3 (3:46) Yeah. Speaker 1 (3:46) But it's like, is that like thinking big about it? Yeah. Okay. Like getting deep into it? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Speaker 3 (3:55) All right. We can go very easy with question number one. Okay. And we can do this as a group exercise. if we did Garth Brooks versus George Strait, 10 songs each, one against the other, who would win? Now, I actually haven't mapped out. Would you like to hear the verses? I would like to hear them. Okay, so it's one versus one. And we'll give a point each side. And all I did was say, give me the 10 biggest Garth and the 10 biggest George, and it has created the battles. I love it. Number one, from George Strait, Amarillo by Morning, from Garth Brooks, The Dance. Speaker 1 (4:36) Eddie. It was a close fight. It's like Rocky where you would just want to do a draw, but I'm gonna go Amarillo by morning. Okay, so the Brandon Speaker 1 (4:47) Oh Speaker 5 (4:47) man, this is tough. Speaker 1 (4:49) They're all going to be tough for Speaker 5 (4:50) the record. I'm letting you Speaker 3 (4:53) guys know now they're all going to be so tough. Speaker 2 (4:55) It's going to be so tough. The dance. I'm going the dance too. Wow. Okay. Speaker 3 (5:00) So G1, G none. Oh no, my system is flawed. Garth and George. The G's, G's, the two G's. Which one was it? All right, Garth won. All right, next up. Speaker 2 (5:10) All my exes live in Texas. Gosh, Speaker 3 (5:12) it's Speaker 1 (5:12) so good. Speaker 2 (5:13) Friends in low places. That's so good. I'll go first. So I'm not always a tiebreaker. We'll just switch up. I'm going to go. All my exes live in Texas. Wow. I didn't think you would do that. You? Friends in low places. Speaker 5 (5:24) All my exes all day. Yeah. Speaker 2 (5:26) Why am I different than you Speaker 5 (5:29) two? Speaker 2 (5:29) Well, you tell us. I don't know. Speaker 5 (5:33) Like, this is crazy. This Speaker 2 (5:34) is Speaker 5 (5:34) personal. Are we doing personal? Yeah. No, personal. Your personal favorites. I mean. Speaker 3 (5:40) We're two white guys. That's what it is. Maybe it's race divided. All right, one to one. Next up. George Strait, check yes or no. Love it. Garth Brooks, Unanswered Prayers. Speaker 2 (5:55) Brandon, you'll go first this time. Check yes or no. Unanswered Prayers. Unanswered Prayers. Right here. No, I'm not giving you five. No. We're Speaker 1 (6:04) a team. No. Speaker 2 (6:05) Okay, Garth 2, George 1. Speaker 3 (6:08) Garth, The Thunder Rolls. George Strait, The Chair. Oh, that's easy. Speaker 1 (6:15) Well, excuse me. Yeah, I'm familiar with the song. Okay. Your first? Not my favorite George Strait song, so give me Thunder Rolls. Wow. Brandon? The chair. The chair. Speaker 2 (6:28) I Speaker 1 (6:28) feel like you guys are doing it just to be different. Speaker 2 (6:30) I'm not, I promise you. You love the chair? Speaker 1 (6:32) I Speaker 2 (6:32) love them both. Speaker 3 (6:34) The chair's probably top three George Strait song for me. You Speaker 1 (6:37) know that wasn't his chair after all, right? Don't spoil it, man. We have a no Speaker 2 (6:42) -spoil rule here. You know he was lying. Next up. Number five. By the way, it's two to two. George Strait, I cross my heart. I cross my heart. From the movie Pure Speaker 1 (6:54) Country. Speaker 2 (6:56) Garth Brooks, If Tomorrow Never Comes. Speaker 2 (6:59) I'm going to go Garth Brooks, If Tomorrow Never Comes. If Tomorrow Never Comes. If Tomorrow Never Comes. That is my number one Garth Brooks song. Speaker 1 (7:06) Yeah, and I Cross My Heart is great, but it doesn't even come close. Speaker 1 (7:12) I mean, it's dancing in the same ballpark. Not really, man. Okay, fair Speaker 2 (7:15) enough. But If Tomorrow Never Comes is my favorite Garth song. Yeah. Speaker 2 (7:19) Oceanfront property from George Strait. I got some. What do you think? I got some. Oh, Speaker 1 (7:26) yeah, yeah. My friend who didn't speak English, he would say, play I got some. Because me and my brother would play guitar. He'd be like, play the I got some. I got some Speaker 3 (7:37) oceanfront. Or shameless. Oceanfront property. Speaker 2 (7:41) Or Speaker 3 (7:42) shameless. Garth with a 3-2 lead right now. Speaker 3 (7:47) Brandon, you're up. Oceanfront property. Speaker 3 (7:50) So the problem here is to me, can I just walk you through my existential crisis? Is that Shameless has a cover. Speaker 1 (7:58) Yeah, Billy Joel. Speaker 3 (7:59) Correct. Oceanfront Property is not a cover. But George probably didn't write it. I don't know. George didn't write motion. Dean Dillon. Yeah. Dean Dillon, who Brandon wrote with. You wrote with Speaker 2 (8:10) Dean Dillon? We talk about Brandon and how advanced he is musically. He's written with all these people. He then rented Dean Dillon's apartment. What? Is that true too? Speaker 5 (8:19) Yeah, Speaker 2 (8:19) I lived in Speaker 5 (8:19) his old house that he built. Speaker 2 (8:22) That's crazy, dude. I didn't know that. Speaker 2 (8:26) I'm going to have to go shameless. Speaker 2 (8:29) Interesting. Speaker 1 (8:29) I got you. I Speaker 5 (8:31) got you. I'm going to Speaker 1 (8:32) go with I got you. Oceanfront property. Brandon? Oceanfront property. Speaker 5 (8:36) Dang. Speaker 1 (8:36) Three to three. It is tight here. Because Speaker 2 (8:40) this is really hard. With four to go. Okay. From George, love without end. Amen. Speaker 1 (8:47) It's a Speaker 2 (8:47) good Speaker 1 (8:47) one. It's a Speaker 2 (8:48) great Speaker 1 (8:48) one. Speaker 2 (8:48) Probably a top five. I Speaker 1 (8:49) came home from school one day with a shine on my eye. It's a love without end. Amen. Or the river. Speaker 1 (8:58) Not even close. Really? Okay, you go first. The river. Speaker 2 (9:01) You? Brandon? Speaker 2 (9:05) The river. The river. Not even close. The river. The river is fantastic. Yeah, dude. It's so good. No one dreams like. Oh, come on. Ever changing as it flows. Next up. Name my son after that song. Did you really? I really know. Oh, okay. Speaker 1 (9:21) Brandon. Speaker 5 (9:22) Sorry. His son Vessel. Speaker 2 (9:24) You didn't know his son Vessel? Oh, cool. The Vessel. Speaker 2 (9:29) Okay? 4-3, 8, 9, and 10 to go. So Garth is taking the lead. Mm-hmm. From George, carrying your love with me. Garth Speaker 3 (9:40) calling Baton Rouge. Speaker 6 (9:41) Oh! Speaker 3 (9:43) I'll go first here. Speaker 3 (9:46) Carrying your love with me. I'm not a big Colin Baton Rouge guy. And LSU suck it. You're not? No, LSU suck it. Speaker 2 (9:52) No, no, no. Take LSU out of it. I have reasons that I feel certain ways about songs. Yeah. Just take the song for what it is. Everybody's listening from Louisiana. I love you, but I'm an Arkansas guy. I don't like to hear that song because Speaker 3 (10:05) it means they've scored or they've won. Speaker 1 (10:07) Yeah. You're crazy. So LSU has ruined that for you. Speaker 3 (10:11) No, I still like it. I just don't love it. Speaker 1 (10:14) Okay. Speaker 1 (10:16) I'm gonna go carrying in love with me or calling boundaries. That one's so hard like that might be the hardest out of everything Speaker 1 (10:24) Oh, I got to go carrying your love with me from West Virginia down to Tennessee. Because you walked that for charity for hundreds of thousands Speaker 2 (10:30) of dollars. Yeah, we Speaker 1 (10:31) raised so much money for charity. Brandon? Well, Speaker 5 (10:33) it doesn't matter. Speaker 1 (10:34) What Speaker 2 (10:34) would you have picked? Also a cover. Colin Batten-Roos. Yeah, it's a cover. But that's a George. It's four to four. I Speaker 5 (10:41) didn't Speaker 2 (10:42) expect it to be so close. Speaker 1 (10:44) But four to four. What are their names? Like George is the king of country music and then Garth is the goat. Speaker 1 (10:52) I Speaker 2 (10:52) don't Speaker 1 (10:52) know if they really, like that's official that people just call him the goat. I think that's just us. Is Garth not like the prince of, you know what I mean, like the king of pop? I don't know if Garth has a name. Really? I feel like he needs Speaker 2 (11:05) a name. Goat works. I'm sure people do call him that because he has sold way more than any Speaker 3 (11:09) other American artist. Yeah, the greatest of all time. Yeah, Speaker 2 (11:12) that's what Speaker 3 (11:12) goat is. I Speaker 1 (11:13) know, just in case people didn't know that. Yeah. Speaker 2 (11:16) Okay, next up. Speaker 2 (11:19) The cowboy rides away, George Strait. You like that one? Love it. Sing that one. And knew the stakes were high right from the start. Or Garth Brooks, Rodeo. Speaker 8 (11:33) Oh. Speaker 2 (11:35) Brandon, you go. Rodeo. Really? Yeah. What do you have? I'm going to go with Cowboy Rides Away. I'm going to go Rodeo. Come Speaker 1 (11:44) on. Is Garth Speaker 2 (11:45) back up? Garth's up five to four. Speaker 1 (11:48) Garth took the lead. Speaker 2 (11:49) And the final one. George needs this for the tie. I can ask him for a tiebreaker Speaker 3 (11:55) if it is tied. George Strait, Troubadour. Speaker 3 (12:00) That's a good one. Garth Brooks, Ain't Going Down Till the Sun Comes Up. Speaker 1 (12:06) That's a solid matchup. I like the matchup between the two. Speaker 5 (12:10) It's no contest. Speaker 2 (12:11) Really? Speaker 5 (12:12) No contest. Speaker 1 (12:14) Who do you want first? You go first. Speaker 5 (12:15) Ain't going down till the sun comes up. Speaker 1 (12:17) Oh, really? Yeah. I go Troubadour. Speaker 1 (12:21) I'm going. Ain't going down till the sun comes up. So Speaker 3 (12:25) Garth wins six to four. Wow. Speaker 2 (12:27) Hey, Garth, good job, buddy. Sorry, George. Sorry, George. That was a good one, though. Down to the final one. Speaker 5 (12:33) It's Speaker 2 (12:33) a fun game, huh? That's a lot of fun. Speaker 5 (12:34) That's a really good game. Speaker 2 (12:35) All right. I got two other existential questions. These are a little more. Speaker 3 (12:40) That was just kind of fun. Okay. Number one. Which hugely successful artist do you respect but you don't really understand the appeal of? Speaker 3 (12:50) And I can give you a couple because I made a list of two. Speaker 2 (12:55) Not really a list, but I picked two. Number one is Kiss. Speaker 3 (12:59) Oh, Speaker 2 (13:00) that's interesting. Because they don't have a bunch of Speaker 3 (13:02) hits. I know a couple songs. I know I want to rock and roll all night and party every day. I know Beth, and only from that movie, not Step Brothers, but Role Speaker 5 (13:14) Models. Speaker 3 (13:15) Oh, wow, okay. Speaker 2 (13:16) Yeah, Speaker 3 (13:16) and I still like Speaker 2 (13:17) that song. It's Speaker 3 (13:17) a Speaker 2 (13:17) ballad. And then I know Music City. Detroit Rock City? Yeah. That's about it, right? I'm sure there are more. I'm not a Speaker 3 (13:27) massive fan of them. I'd put Kiss on that. And I'm sure the spectacle of it was part of the appeal, the face paint. Speaker 1 (13:35) Yes. The pyro it shows. And then not really knowing who they were, right, for a lot of years. Like, who are these guys? The guys behind the paint. Because there was no social media. Yeah. Speaker 2 (13:44) So I do Kiss, and then I do. Speaker 3 (13:49) Fish. Speaker 2 (13:49) That's a Speaker 3 (13:49) good one. Because I'm just not a jam band guy. To me, I don't know any of their songs. But Speaker 1 (13:55) I Speaker 3 (13:56) don't think you should know their songs to enjoy them. The people that I know that love Fish and go to multiple Fish shows, they're not preaching to me one song to listen to. They're preaching to me about an experience. Speaker 2 (14:05) I'm experienced Speaker 3 (14:06) out. Speaker 2 (14:06) I'm good. Speaker 1 (14:07) Dude, I took a tour because I took my son to New York City and we wanted to do a tour of Madison Square Garden. And the tour guide said that Fish played there. You may want to double check this. But they said that Fish... holds a record for, I don't know, playing the most consecutive nights, sold out shows, and they never played the same song twice. With them, though, I would believe they just Speaker 3 (14:27) made them up as they went. Maybe. They just Speaker 5 (14:29) made up new songs. It's Speaker 2 (14:30) really just Speaker 5 (14:30) one song, right? Speaker 2 (14:32) Those would be my two. Speaker 2 (14:36) Now, I did have a head start. Yeah, that's good. Does anything come to your mind, Brandon? Speaker 5 (14:39) Yeah, the first one I can think of, and this may be controversial, Madonna. Speaker 1 (14:46) I think you're just too young. No. Explain, because I'm kind of with you on that. Speaker 5 (14:51) You Speaker 1 (14:52) guys also aren't women. But I like the songs, but I mean, her? Speaker 5 (14:57) Yes, Speaker 1 (14:57) that's Speaker 3 (14:57) what I'm saying. I Speaker 1 (14:57) don't really understand. Go ahead. Speaker 5 (14:58) You speak. I have a huge respect for Madonna, and the songs. I mean, she's got massive hits, like, all day. But her, she's an enigma to me. And brave and amazing, like, with her fans and all that stuff. And I respect that. I just don't get it. I Speaker 3 (15:22) think the thing to get about Madonna, a little before me, too, is that if Sidney Sweeney sang songs. I think that would be Madonna because she was pushing every physical boundary. Like she had hits, but she also was like, I'm so famous and I'm still going to make this all about sex. Oh, at a time whenever. It wasn't. She pushed the boundaries every time. Yeah, totally Speaker 5 (15:44) did. Speaker 3 (15:44) So miss me a little before me. But if someone said, why is Madonna successful? I would say one, she wrote great songs and was a good performer, but also like she did a book of just sex. Speaker 5 (15:55) Right. Great books all about sex. Speaker 3 (15:58) And it was, it may have been called a book about sex. And not only that, I think she was really for like women's liberation. That's what women loved her. Oh, so that's probably why we miss what it is because we didn't need Speaker 2 (16:10) to be liberated. Okay. I Speaker 1 (16:11) like her songs though. She has jams. Speaker 2 (16:13) But also, I'm not really Madonna. I get it. Speaker 5 (16:16) Again, much respect. No, no Speaker 3 (16:18) respect. You varied Speaker 5 (16:19) it much. No, no, no. I get it. I get it, but just not for me. And then, oh, go. Go ahead. Speaker 3 (16:24) No, go ahead. What's your second one? Speaker 5 (16:25) No, Speaker 3 (16:25) Brandon, you're up. What do you got? Brandon, please. I'm just going Speaker 5 (16:27) to piggyback off of your fish thing. Grateful Dead. Speaker 3 (16:31) Yeah, they're the same to Speaker 5 (16:32) me. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Except one of them's dead. And Speaker 2 (16:34) John Mayer's dead and company, so I didn't want to insult. And I think they're all dead now, right? Because Bob Speaker 1 (16:39) Weir's dead. Oh, Speaker 2 (16:40) he Speaker 1 (16:40) died Speaker 2 (16:40) too. Speaker 1 (16:41) Right. But I mean, so no disrespect. I don't get it either. They're awesome. I Speaker 3 (16:47) like Casey Jones, though, that song. Speaker 1 (16:49) Down on that Speaker 2 (16:49) train, high. Speaker 1 (16:51) That's a good one. I do at Speaker 3 (16:52) least know a song. Speaker 1 (16:53) Okay. You? Friend of the devil is a friend of mine. Dude, they have jams. I love. Grateful Dead. But, I mean, do you want the obvious one for me? Nickelback. What are we doing? Man, they have great songs. Nickelback. They have great songs. I don't understand. Speaker 2 (17:09) Okay, you can Speaker 3 (17:09) think that they're kind of DBs, but they still have great songs. If you're Speaker 2 (17:15) an Applebee's... If you're an Speaker 1 (17:17) Applebee's, they should tell you right now. What are we doing? What's Speaker 3 (17:20) wrong Speaker 1 (17:20) with Applebee's? Speaker 2 (17:20) Normal people go to Applebee's. There's a music at Applebee's. Yeah, if you're an Applebee's and over the top... Speaker 1 (17:25) Never made it as a white man. Speaker 2 (17:26) Everybody's going to be doing this. Speaker 1 (17:29) He's Speaker 5 (17:30) saying they're