Ray Price – Somewhere In Texas

About The Song

Ray Price returned to the Billboard country charts in early 1983 with “Somewhere In Texas,” the title track from his album of the same name. Released on Dimension Records in December 1982, the single reached number 55 on the Hot Country Songs chart. Though it did not match the blockbuster success of his 1950s and 1960s hits, the recording showcased the veteran singer’s continued strength as a interpreter of traditional country material during a period when many established artists faced shifting industry trends.

The song was written and produced by Ray Pennington, a veteran Nashville figure who had already collaborated with Price on the 1981 album *Town and Country*. Pennington brought a straightforward, understated approach to the sessions, emphasizing steel guitar and fiddle in a style that recalled Price’s early honky-tonk roots rather than the more polished countrypolitan sound of his Columbia years. By this point Price, then in his mid-fifties, had left his long-term major-label deal and was recording for the independent Dimension imprint to maintain creative freedom.

Born on a farm in Perryville, East Texas, in 1926, Price had spent much of his adult life in Nashville yet never lost his deep connection to his home state. He had pioneered the distinctive “Ray Price beat” in the 1950s, scored major successes with songs such as “Crazy Arms” and “Heartaches by the Number,” and helped launch the careers of young writers and musicians including Willie Nelson, who once played in his Cherokee Cowboys band. By the early 1980s Price was navigating a changing country landscape but remained committed to the honest storytelling that defined his work.

The lyrics of “Somewhere In Texas” follow a man who left home chasing dreams amid the bright city lights. “The city lights gave me that rambling fever / And I went out alone to chase my dreams,” he sings, only to find that success or distance has not erased the past. Night after night the face of a woman back home haunts his sleep, and the pull of his origins grows stronger. In the chorus the narrator pictures people somewhere out in Texas dancing to a Bob Wills song, a clear nod to the Western swing pioneer whose music shaped Price’s own early influences and countless other Texas artists.

That reference to Bob Wills adds an authentic layer of regional pride to the track. Price had long admired the King of Western Swing, and the song’s arrangement allowed his warm baritone to deliver the tale of homesickness and quiet regret with the same conviction that marked his classic recordings. The theme of longing for home resonated strongly with listeners who understood the tug many Texans feel between opportunity elsewhere and the familiar sounds and spaces of their native state.

Although the full *Somewhere in Texas* album did not chart, the title track stood out for its low-key production and emotional directness at a time when country radio was leaning toward more pop-oriented material. A few years later Pennington co-founded Step One Records, and Price became one of its first major artists, continuing a professional partnership that began with this project. The song remains a quietly effective example of Price’s later catalog, illustrating how experience and maturity could bring fresh depth to familiar country themes.

Video

Lyric

The city lights gave me that rambling fever
And I went out alone to chase my dreams
In my sleep at night her face still haunts me
And now I find my dreams are chasing me

And tonight somewhere out in Texas
They’re dancing to a Bob Wills song
And my heart lies somewhere out in Texas
And Texas is calling me home

I’ve traveled many miles and many highways
Always looking for the rainbows end
Now I know it’s waiting in my own backyard
And I’m heading home for Texas once again

And tonight somewhere out in Texas
They’re dancing to a Bob Wills song
And my heart lies somewhere out in Texas
And Texas is calling me home

And Texas is calling me home