It’s The Nineties: Number Ones from George Strait, Alan Jackson, Shania Twain, Ty Herndon

By Jonny Brick

1992 George Strait – I Cross My Heart

The opening line, ‘our love is unconditional’, sets the tone for this devotional ballad, pulled from the soundtrack to the movie Pure Country, whose finale it soundtracked.

Strait, who sounds a lot like Garth Brooks, promises to offer his beloved true love and to make ‘each tomorrow…the best that it can be’. Thanks to its piano and fiddle lines, it is less a country song than adult contemporary, reaching beyond Strait’s usual audience; indeed, it was originally recorded by Bette Midler.

1995 Alan Jackson – Tall, Tall Trees

Recorded for his best-of compilation, Jackson reaches back to 1957 for a simple ditty originally cut by George Jones. The singer declares his love to a lady by repeating how he is ‘a fool, fool, fool’ for her, and how he is willing to buy her a mansion, a limousine and ‘all the water in the seas’.

1997 Shania Twain – Love Gets Me Every Time

This was the first of 12 singles from the blockbuster album Come On Over. It introduced a more pop-leaning sound for Twain, in spite of the fiddle-led intro.

She sings of how her happily accepted single status – ‘I was quite content just paying my own rent’ – was stymied by how, once again, ‘my heart changed my mind’.

1998 Ty Herndon – It Must Be Love

Alone after dropping off his date, Herndon reckons with his feelings for her over an amiable pop/rock backing.

‘She’s got me turned inside out,’ he admits, before he answers questions from a group of backing vocalists: ‘is she there in your dreams?’, ‘are you walking on air?’ He concludes that it is love, after all.