The song became Strait's 41st No. 1 single on the U.S. BillboardHot Country Songs chart, setting a new record for most No. 1 singles on that chart. Previously, Conway Twitty held that record with 40 number-one singles.[2]
Content
The song, inspired by Johnson's divorce at the time and including a recitation that was out of style in the late 2000s,[3] is sung from the point of view of a man whose wife is leaving him. As she departs, he asks why she is not taking any of their possessions, and what he should do with them. She replies to him to each item to "give it away," because nothing in the house is worth the argument, since the two have worn themselves out arguing in the lead-up to the divorce. In the end, the man is left with all of his possessions, but a lonesome, broken heart—and he "can't even give it away."
Cover versions
Country music singer Jamey Johnson and Lee Ann Womack covered the song from the television special George Strait: ACM Artist of the Decade All Star Concert.
Critical reception
"Give It Away" is widely regarded as one of Strait's best songs. Billboard and American Songwriter both ranked the song number seven on their lists of the 10 greatest George Strait songs.[4][5]
Deborah Evans Price of Billboard reviewed the song favorably, calling it "a leavin' song that would've worked in any decade."[6]
^Anderson, Bill; Cooper, Peter (2016). Whisperin' Bill Anderson: An Unprecedented Life in Country Music. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press. ISBN9780820349657.
