“I think the guy that I’m in love with is in love with somebody else,” Ella Langley’s character sighs as she pours herself a drink, outside of the Texas bar in her “Choosin’ Texas” music video. While her lover might be choosing Texas, it might be time that Langley chooses herself.
The seven minute long video debuted on April 1 and already sits at over seven million views no doubt due to the popularity of Langley, the song itself, and the country cameos throughout the video. The story follows a country couple, a girl from Tennesse, played by Langley and the other from Texas, played by “Yellowstone” actor Luke Grimes. The two go back to his hometown to which Langley explains in the song, “Just when I thought I got him to fall in love with Tennesse/I shoulda known better than to take him back to Abilene/I put him right back into her arms/I wasn’t a match for that kinda spark.”
The theme throughout the entire music video is exactly how the song unfolds which is predictable yet so worth the watch. While the music is obviously front and center, this video does unfold like a limited series with dialogue cutting in between the verses and choruses. We see Langley and Grimes’s relationship unfold the moment he sees what is assumingly his ex-girlfriend, played by Ava Phillippe. For a moment, time stops and Grimes is flashed back to all his old memories with his Texas girl. And that is where the beat drops and we’re thrown into “Choosin’ Texas.”
One thing I love about this video is that there are so many little aspects and visuals that intertwine with the song. For example Langley sings, “It doesn’t take a crystal ball to see/A cowboy always finds a way to leave/Drinking Jack all by myself/He’s choosin’ Texas I can tell” and we see the bartender pour her a glass of Jack Daniels whiskey, which ironically is from Tennessee. There’s also a special moment between Langley and country singer songwriter, Miranda Lambert towards the end of the video. This is where Lambert, a born Texan, gives Langley a small pep talk becoming a full circle moment for Langley’s story. Langley decides to leave with Lambert allowing Grimes to fall back in love with Texas assuming that that is where he belongs.
As far as the cameos go, there are multiple country music stars aside from Lambert who appear in the video including country singers Kaitlin Butts, Tanner Usrey, Wade Bowen, and Casey Donahew. Langley also managed to get some real-life rodeo cowboys to join the group like J.B. Mauney, Leighton Berry, Tyson Durfey, Shad Mayfield, and even Dale Brisby.
Butts even gets her own villain moment in the bathroom with Langley where she confronts her on behalf of the ex-girlfriend. Cornering Langley by the sinks she tells her, “You got some kinda nerve bringing him around here again…Well just so you know, Texas has a way of keeping what’s hers.” A very hair toss and mean girl scoff moment obviously meant to cut down Langley and her confidence in her relationship. Knowing how the music video ends, makes all the sense in the world.
The video itself feels like the epitome of country music and fans can’t seem to get enough of Langley’s charm. One person under the YouTube comments (@Garrett-Stevenson06) said, “If this was a movie trailer, I would keep watching the movie over and over again.” And that’s exactly how this music video feels: complete, satisfying, and ever-so relatable to the lyrical storyline.
The best aspect of this video that comes across ever so heartbreaking is the very end. After Langley decides she’s headed back to Tennessee with Lambert and her band, she hops into their van giving the bar one last glance, having not said goodbye to Grimes. As the song fades into the final line, “Just when I thought I got him to fall in love with Tennessee,” the camera pans to the back window of the vehicle and we see Grimes searching for Langley outside of the bar. Talk about a kick to the stomach with a pointy cowboy boot!
Ever since her popular duet “You Look Like You Love Me” with Riley Green, Langley is certainly not stopping her creativity anytime soon, especially with her upcoming tour dates and the release of her album, “Dandelion.” Langley is riding off into her Tennesse lifestyle and embedding her family, culture, and even religion into her music. She’s got something going for her that no other female country artist has right now: the ability to be honest, raw, and completely herself even if it means not appealing to the majority of the country crowd. She’s our match for that kind of country spark.
