\n<\/p>\n
\n\tHistoric political change swept across the state of Texas<\/a> on Tuesday night, and it had its very own soundtrack. The song was played<\/a> the moment that U.S. senator-elect James Talarico<\/a> finished his victory speech in Austin. It was played in a video<\/a> released by governor-elect Gina Hinojosa showing her and Talarico sharing a victory toast at Whataburger. It was played before<\/em> Talarico\u2019s speech, it was played outside the Capitol, it was played at the election-eve event for Talarico\u2019s campaign. That song, of course, was Ella Langley<\/a>\u2019s \u201cChoosin\u2019 Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s the latest evolution for a song whose place in American culture long ago hit escape velocity, soaring far past any attempt for Langley, her team, or even the country music industry of which she is a part to contain, control, or command its meaning. And for now, at least, it appears that the song has become the defining anthem for an unprecedented political sea change in Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThere are any number of explanations. For one, \u201cChoosin\u2019 Texas\u201d is yet again the most popular song<\/a> in the country; it stands to reason that any politician \u2014 or average voter \u2014 would associate a song that has \u201cTexas\u201d in its title with what happened Tuesday night. Moreover, in a state where the country music genre is deeply intertwined with the state\u2019s culture, it\u2019s no surprise that the candidate who spent a chunk of his campaign showing up at country music concerts<\/a> would continue to appeal to his broad coalition of Texas voters with the song. <\/p>\n \n\tBut there\u2019s probably an even more simple reason why the meaning of \u201cChoosin\u2019 Texas\u201d has changed yet again: \u201cTwo-stepping around the room<\/em>\u201d just about rhymes perfectly with blue<\/em>. As one viral comment<\/a> rewrote the chorus: \u201cShe\u2019s from Texas I can tell by the way she flip that shit blue\u201d.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cChoosin\u2019 Texas\u201d isn\u2019t just a song for Texas, however. It\u2019s a soundtrack for an entire moment after the country predominantly voted for change during Tuesday\u2019s midterms. A thousand miles away from Austin, the group Fuerza Regida switched up their setlist and opened their election-night show at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado\u00a0with \u201cEs De Tejas<\/a>,\u201d their Spanish-language cover of Langley\u2019s juggernaut. In the less than 24 hours since the Texas election results, the internet has erupted with memes, jokes, rewritten choruses, and instant-reactions to the song\u2019s new meaning. There\u2019s a rewrite<\/a> (surely the first of many) called \u201cChoosin\u2019 Blexas,\u201d and there are TikTok creators joking<\/a> that Langley\u2019s hit is \u201cofficially the most liberal song ever.\u201d<\/p>\n