Songwriter Billy Yates developed a friendship with George Jones after the country music legend recorded the song “I Don’t Need Your Rockin’ Chair” in 1992. The song was co-written by Yates, Frank Dycus, and Kerry Kurt Phillips. As Yates and Jones continued their professional relationship, their personal connection also grew. They often hung out together, and every time Jones was gathering songs for his next album, Yates had an inside track to pitch his songs to him. The songwriter pitched a particular song, “Choices,” to Jones multiple times, only to be rejected each time. The song took a strange path to finally get to the singer and, ultimately, the country charts. Let’s look at the story behind “Choices” by George Jones.
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I’ve had choices
Since the day that I was born
There were voices
That told me right from wrong
If I had listened
No, I wouldn’t be here today
Living and dying
With the choices I made
The Origin
Yates and Mike Curtis wrote “Choices” in 1994. They didn’t have Jones in mind when they composed the song. In 2023, Yates told Carter Koch: “Every time he would do a new record, I would go down and play him some songs. I’d take different songs down and play him things, and he knew what he liked and what he didn’t like. He was pretty easy to play songs for because it was just like, ‘yes, no, whatever.’ If he liked it, he’d fight for it. He’d probably do it if he really liked it. We usually sat in the car. He liked to listen to songs in his car, and he had a lot of cars. But he liked the stereo in this one, maybe, today, better, or whatever. We go down in the basement. We sit in the garage in one of his cars and listen to songs, and I played him that song.”
I was tempted
By an early age, I found
I liked drinkin’
Oh, and I never turned it down
There were loved ones
But I turned them all away
Now I’m living and dying
With the choices I made
“It’s Not for Me”
Yates was encouraged because Jones listened to the song all the way through. Normally, the singer would stop a song after just a few lines. Jones told the songwriter “Choices” wasn’t right for him. Said Yates, “So, another year and a half goes by, and he’s doing another record, so he’s already passed on it at that time. I take it back over. I’m thinking, ‘You know, this is George. He’s not gonna remember hearing it.’ So, sure enough, I played it for him again, and he listened to the whole thing again. He understood it, and he knew every word and what that meant. He said, ‘No, it’s not for me.’ So, another year and a half, or whatever it was. He’s doing another record. I go down again, and I didn’t take it this time. You know, he’s heard it twice. He knows the song. If he’s gonna do it, I mean, I can mention it maybe or whatever, but I’m not gonna take it. So I took him some other things and played him some other things.”
I’ve had choices
Since the day that I was born
There were voices
That told me right from wrong
If I had listened
No, I wouldn’t be here today
Living and dying
With the choices I made
Third Time’s a Charm
When Jones was preparing to record the album The Cold Hard Truth for Bandit Records, label head Evelyn Shriver played him some songs. She played “Choices,” and something clicked. She called Yates to share the good news. “I said, ‘Well, that’s crazy. I’ve played that song for him twice, and he said it wasn’t for him, you know,’” Yates recalled. “She laughed and said, ‘Well, you know what’s funny? I played it for him, and he said I wonder why Billy never played me that song.’ He didn’t remember it. It’s just timing or whatever, but it hit him. He was like, ‘Yeah, I could do that now.’ I think as he got older, it was kind of easier to own all these things in your life, and I think that’s kind of what it was for him, and I think to hear George say, I’ve had choices / since the day I was born / There were voices / that told me right from wrong / If I [had] listened / [No] I wouldn’t be here today / Living and dying / [With] the choices I made. To hear George Jones say that it was pretty special at that point in his life.”
I guess I’m payin’
For the things that I have done
If I could go back
Oh, Lord knows I’d run
But I’m still losin’
This game of life I play
Living and dying
With the choices I made
A Close Call
Yates recalled the events just after Jones recorded “Choices”: “They had done the final mix of that song, and George had gone into the studio to pick up a copy of that, and on his way back, he was listening to it on his stereo. He was holding the phone up to play it over the phone for somebody, and in the process of doing that, there was also a bottle of vodka involved. That’s when he hit the bridge and had the accident. That song was playing. So, the story of his life is playing when he hits the bridge. They have to cut him out of the car. I didn’t think he would survive that, but he did.”
I’ve had choices
Since the day that I was born
There were voices
That told me right from wrong
If I had listened
No, I wouldn’t be here today
Living and dying
With the choices I made
Alan Jackson
Jones was asked to perform “Choices” at the 1999 CMA Awards; however, they asked him to perform a truncated version of the song. Jones was offended and declined the offer. In a show of solidarity, Alan Jackson surprised everyone when he stopped his band mid-performance during “Pop a Top” to perform “Choices.” Jackson told Gary Chapman on TNN the following night, “I was glad to do it. I felt strongly about it, and I know I’ve been on award shows for 10 years, and they’ve been real good to me, and I’ve had to fight to try to do my whole song. They’ve asked most artists, at one time or another, to reduce your song, and it’s not unusual, and, you know, people say, ‘Well, everybody had to do that.’ But George Jones isn’t everybody. … I felt strongly about it that he deserved a little more than everybody else. Anybody who’s been making records for over 40 years, and is still on the charts this year, and still had an album in the Top 10. He’s nearly 70 years old. It’s just very unusual. He deserved a little more respect, I thought.”
Living and dying
With the choices I made
Jones’ Eulogy
Yates was surprised to hear lyrics from “Choices” during Jones’ eulogy after he passed in 2013. Said the songwriter, “At his funeral, when the preacher walked up to the microphone and started to do the eulogy, the first words out of his mouth, he said, ‘I’ve had choices since the day I was born. There were voices …’”
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Photo by David Redfern/Redferns
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