On the Charts 35 Years Ago Today, George Strait Reigned With a Song That Proved No One Is Safe From Imposter Syndrome

George Strait is a country music legend for many reasons. One of those reasons is his dry wit, which he has sprinkled into chart-topping, tongue-in-cheek hits like “Ocean Front Property” and the ever-ubiquitous “All My Ex’s Live in Texas”. The Texan’s impeccably earnest delivery is the icing on top of lyrics like I’ve got some ocean front property in Arizona / If you’ll buy that, I’ll throw the Golden Gate in free.

Strait favors this formula, employing it to great effect in “You Know Me Better Than That”—the second single from his 11th studio album, Chill of an Early Fall.

On this day (August 17) in 1991, the “King of Country” once again struck gold when “You Know Me Better Than That” began a three-week reign at number one on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart.

It displaced Trisha Yearwood’s debut single “She’s in Love With the Boy”, which had held the spot for two weeks.

The Iconic George Strait Lyric That Almost Wasn’t

In “You Know Me Better Than That”, George Strait addresses a former flame at the beginning of a new romantic relationship.

While his new partner is still seeing him through the rose-colored glasses of budding romance, Strait thinks back to his previous partner, who was around long enough to see him clearly—warts and all.

Oh, you know me better than that / You know the me that gets lazy and fat.

This was the line that caught Strait’s attention. Consequently, it was also the reason the song languished for years before the “King of Country” ever recorded it.

In a 2017 conversation with Bart Herbison of Nashville Songwriters Association International, songwriter Anna Leigh Graham recounted the struggle to get “You Know Me Better Than That” into the studio.

[RELATED: 40 Years Ago Today, George Strait Was at No. 1 With a Song Originally Recorded by Keith Whitley]

“Nobody Is Going To Say ‘Fat’”

Graham knew what she had. But every songwriter she approached balked at one single word.

“They would say things like, ‘Well, I mean, it’s really cute, but nobody is going to say fat. I would write it with you, but we’ll have to change that line.’.. And I was like, ‘Oh, let’s just go on to something else,’” she recalled. “Meanwhile, my heart was sinking. I was thinking, ‘God, is nobody hearing this but me?’ So I left it alone for awhile.”

Eventually, Graham found her match in co-writer Tony Haselden. The two needed just one session together to complete “You Know Me Better Than That”.

“As the song continued to develop, I started hearing George sing it,” she said. “I knew that George had a great sense of humor and he loved surprise lines and cleverness.”

Others warned Graham that Strait would also insist on trimming the “fat” from the song. Instead, he recorded “You Know Me Better Than That” in its entirety, taking it to the top of the charts in both the U.S. and Canada.

When I met him at a certain point, I said, you know, “There were people that didn’t want to pitch that to you because they said, ‘Oh, George will never say that,’” Graham said. “George said, “I never know what I’m going to say half the time,” much less that was his favorite line.”

Graham has also penned songs recorded by Alan Jackson, Martina McBride, and Willie Nelson. But she credits George Strait for helping her learn to trust her songwriting instincts.

“It taught me at a very early age about sticking to my gut feeling,” she said. “I was like, ‘Uh-uh, I’m not changing that line.’”

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