So last week, we talked about TomatoGate and women in country, and that wasn’t an accident. I did absolutely want to cover a sort of “foundational situation” in the country music industry as it exists today. But I also know myself, and I know that I like a lot of female country artists. Especially if folks are looking for something a bit more mainstream, women are usually the first names off my lips for folks looking for examples of good country. Miranda Lambert, The Chicks, Carrie Underwood, Brandi Motherfucking Carlile.
If female country artists are the tomatoes, then let it be known: I love tomatoes. I mean, in country music. I’m gay as a drag queen sniffing poppers at White Party while lip syncing to Cher. But I love female-sung country, so I knew that I wanted to open up the gate rather quickly to me discussing female artists. And at least for me, there’s one who comes to mind before anyone else.
Reba McEntire has been a staple of the country music industry since 1980, after five years of…honestly not being much of anyone of note. She had a recording deal for five years before anyone started to really notice her, but as soon as people did notice her? They couldn’t turn away.
McEntire’s voice is uniquely country, with the Oklahoma accent thick all across her vocal range. In pop, for example, a lot of artists will sort of cannibalize their own accents, the unique qualities of their own voices, in order to fit more into a mold that appeals to a broad swath. And definitely, country at its worst will do that, or even have artists from outside the American south adopt some pseudo pan-Southern accent, which always sounds pretty tragic, if we’re being honest. But Reba didn’t become a mononym like Beyonce, Adele, Madonna, and Björk by hiding her sound. It’s bell-clear and southern and a little nasal on the soft notes, and it’s just…Reba.
When I was a little kid, she was my absolute favorite. Funny story, I didn’t realize my favorite artist was…an artist. I thought it was a band: Reba, Mac, and Tyre. I knew Reba was the singer, but I asked my parents once whether Mac was the one on the drums or the keyboard, and finally got my shit set straight. But I’ve been entranced by her voice for over two decades, and it shows no sign of letting up.
The song that sticks with me the most from those early, childhood days is definitely Little Rock. It’s not a majestically powerful song. It’s not deep and meaningful. Not every song needs to be. This is just a simple, modern country song about a woman fed up with her man. I particularly like it as an example of Reba’s music because it has this jazzier, upbeat feeling to it. It’s a song that you can dance to, and while that’s not all that Reba brings to the table in regards to her music, it’s certainly a part of her unique sound. She was hardly the first to bring that sort of quality into her music, but it feels awfully synonymous with her, especially 80s/90s Reba (Plus like, real talk, “pissed off women” is a niche that country does incredibly well, which I do plan on talking about later. There’s a lot of really good songs about women who are fed the fuck up…including the next song that I want to talk about, technically.).
And coming out of that same period, with that same sound, is a really fun track: Why Haven’t I Heard From You? It’s another song where Reba is giving a gentleman in her life what for. He didn’t call, and it’s not a sad-sack song where she’s bemoaning that fact. Reba is never begging him for his attention. It’s more of a: fuck you, this is the nineties, every business has a phone, you can get them in your car, there’s cell phones, there are phones on the street. You better have been in a horrible accident, because there’s no other excuse for not calling me.
In this time period in country music, a lot of female artists were taking charge and making names for themselves, carving away at the boys’ club of country music. Absolutely, there were female artists before the 80s. Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline, etc. But the 80s and 90s really brought us a lot of powerhouse female country singers, and Reba was right in there with them.
But one of the coolest things is just that she’s continued to be a force. And that’s another reason that I not only love Reba, but that I think she’s an excellent exemplar of something about country music. Country remembers itself. Pop and rock artists often have an expiration date attached to them. When was the last time some awards show pulled Sublime or Beck up onstage? I’m going to guess some time in the 90s?
Country doesn’t like to remember all of its history (We’ll get into that, trust me.), but country keeps its artists. Loretta Lynn is a common feature in awards shows (Or at least was pre-COVID.). I can remember in the last five years seeing Charley Pride, Alan Jackson, and Dolly Parton all up performing at awards shows. With the exception of The Chicks (AND BOY HOWDY WILL WE TALK ABOUT THAT SHIT SHOW.), country pretty much holds onto its significant artists. Mainstream country radio still plays classics. Like, if I tune into my podunk little FM country station any time on the weekend, I’m probably going to hear classic country. There are national shows that play nothing but classics, and they do damn well for themselves.
I don’t think Reba McEntire, now age 66, would still be releasing major records and getting critical acclaim in pop. I just don’t. A 40 year pop career is all but unheard of. She’s been coming with the hits for a long, long time, though. She took a brief break from country music in the early 2000s…to pursue a career as an actress, which was honestly very successful, because the woman can do no wrong. Reba (The show) holds the fuck up, even today.
And we can’t talk about the show without talking about the song that ended up as the theme, I’m a Survivor. It’s almost undoubtedly the most well-known Reba song, thanks to the sitcom, but the full track is actually a lot heavier. Like, it’s still an uplifting message, all said and done, but it really drives home a hard life lived, and it really displays a lot of Reba McEntire’s vocal power.
(I decided to link to the 2021 version, because this woman is still putting out albums and we should acknowledge how amazing that is.)
But that’s not actually the song that I remember the most from this era of Reba. While she was still starring in a major network sitcom, she made a hard return into country music with Somebody. This song to this day fucks me up. I will get teary-eyed, it’s basically a given. I have this intense sense-memory of sitting in my grandma’s old house and hearing this song for the first time in 2003, and it has stuck with me since then. It’s the sort of song that just gets me. I’m a god damn romance writer, and if you told me it was because of this fucking song? I would believe you. It’s had such a strong impact on me the first time I ever heard it.
At this point, I have to level with you, I’m really struggling to winnow down Reba’s career into roughly five songs, so I’m going to have to buzz past some major parts of her career, including her penchant for duets. She’s done a number of them, including an entire album of duets. I’ll just say that you should listen to Because of You that she did with Kelly Clarkson, Cowgirls Don’t Cry is utterly incomplete without her verse coming in after Brooks and Dunn, but if you only make time for a single Reba duet, it has to be Does He Love You? with Linda Davis. Absolutely breathtaking.
Something I have to at least touch on, however, is Reba’s covers. Country loves a cover, and Reba has some great ones under her belt. I think the one that the most people know of as a “Reba cover” is The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia. Originally a song by, for some reason, Vicki Lawrence of Mama’s Family fame (No shade. The Vicki Lawrence version is great, but...Thelma Harper sang this?), Reba’s version is widely considered the quintessential version. But I want talk about the Reba song that is really the quintessential version. So much so that most people don’t even know that it’s a cover. Fancy.
If you spend any time looking into Reba’s music, you’re going to come across Fancy. If somehow I’m a Survivor isn’t her most popular song, then Fancy absolutely is. A dark story of surviving during a hard life…a theme that Reba returns to often, I’m not going to lie. And she does a damn good job. Fancy is a story song, and it’s one of the best in country, in my opinion. If you only listen to one song out of this entire article, make it Fancy.
I could honestly keep going when it comes to Reba. I think she’s fantastic. I think she’s amazing. And I could easily list another ten songs that I think you should listen to. She’s an excellent stepping stone into country, because she’s got a lot of mainstream success and style, but she’s still undeniably Reba, and undeniably country. It pains me to not include more mention of songs like Strange and Turn on the Radio. Or hidden gems like Love Needs a Holiday, which I think was only ever released as a bonus track on her #1s album. Her cover of If I Were a Boy legitimately rivals Beyonce’s original (Plus that music video is a fucking treat.). And the two diegetic songs she does in her sitcom (Angel’s Lullaby and Far Away) are absolutely gorgeous.
Even now, I’m coming up with more songs that I could talk about, but I kind of need to stop. We both have lives to get on with, and I know that I can talk about Reba for at least another thousand words without breaking a sweat. So for today, I bid you good morrow. I’ll be back next week with more.
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