About the Song
There’s a kind of ache that only country music can truly understand — the ache of a place tied to a person you can’t forget. In “Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa,” George Strait gives voice to that kind of longing. Released in 2003 on his album Honkytonkville, this track is a gentle, sorrowful ballad that explores how certain cities — certain memories — never really leave us.
Right from the title, the song draws you in. It’s not just a request — it’s a plea. The narrator is asking someone, anyone, to give him a reason to stop remembering, stop aching, stop caring. But the truth is, there’s no bad memory of Tulsa he can hold onto — because that’s where she was. And her memory has turned the whole town into a ghost.
George Strait has always had a way of delivering heartbreak with quiet dignity, and this song is no exception. His voice here is soft, steady, tinged with that subtle sadness only experience brings. He doesn’t shout his pain — he sings it with restraint, which somehow makes it hit even harder.
The arrangement is simple and elegant, allowing the story to take center stage. A steel guitar glides in the background like a fading memory, while the lyrics cut deep with their sincerity:
“Tell me something bad about Tulsa / So I won’t go back / Believing I still belong…”
It’s a line that so many can relate to — that desperate hope that maybe there’s something ugly in the past that will help us move forward. But of course, when love was real, even the pain is beautiful.
“Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa” isn’t about the city at all. It’s about the person you left behind — or who left you — and how their absence paints every street, every skyline, with longing. George Strait sings it not just for himself, but for all of us who’ve ever looked back on a place and seen not the buildings, but the memories.
For fans of traditional, story-driven country, this track is a gem. It reminds us why George Strait is the King of Country — not because he sings the loudest, but because he knows how to speak straight to the heart.