The Race is On - one of the great songs of all time

I don't know why, but this popped into my head today. It's one of the great songs of all time. :) Go find a copy. In the George Jones version, listen to the way that he completely takes control of the song from the very first line.

The Race is On
Writer: Don Rollins
Most famous recording: George Jones, although I'm a fan of the Dave Edmunds version from Twangin' (1981), mostly because that's the first version that I heard.

I feel tears wellin' up
Cold and deep inside
Like my heart's sprung a big break
And a stab of loneliness sharp and painful
That I may never shake
You might say that I was takin' it hard
Oh, she wrote me off with a call
But don't you wager that I'll hide the sorrow
When I break right down and bawl

Well, the race is on
And here comes pride up the backstretch
Heartaches are goin' to the inside
My tears are holdin' back
They're tryin' not to fall
My heart's out of the runnin'
True love's scratched for another's sake
The race is on and it looks like heartache
And the winner loses all

One day I ventured in love
Never once suspectin'
What the final result would be
How I lived in fear of wakin' up each mornin'
And thinkin' that you're gone from me
There's ache and pain in my heart
For today was the one I hated to face
Somebody new came up to win her
I came out in second place