Hard Times and Taking Stock

George Jones recorded “Choices” late in his career, and the song carries the weight of someone looking back at a life spent making the wrong decisions. It’s a song of mourning from the perspective of someone who knows exactly why they’re down and out, and that the blame sits squarely on their own shoulders.

The narrator isn’t asking for sympathy. He’s taken stock of his life and accepted responsibility for where he ended up. There’s something honest in that kind of accounting, the kind Jones specialized in throughout his career: songs about consequences and what happens after the cheating or drinking or running finally catches up to you.

I remember playing this song for Nick for the first time – we were driving through the mountains and I had been listening to Cocaine and Rhinestones, the season on George Jones – and Nick immediately said he wanted to cover it. We worked on it for a long time, getting those harmonies right and Kate jumped right in with us on this one.

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The harmony work reveals how the song functions. When three voices come together on a chorus about accepting responsibility for your own destruction, there’s a collective weight to it. The song doesn’t offer redemption or hope. It just offers honesty about choices and their consequences.

These moments are why I wanted to preserve these recordings and publish them. The full album is out October 15, 2025.

Song by Billy Yates

Popularized by George Jones

Recorded by Regular Humans live in Santa Fe in June of 2023.

Guitar and Lead Vocals: Nick Hudson

Drums and Backing Vocals: Kate Barnett

Bass and Backing Vocals: Matthew Williams