She moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1991 with the goal of becoming a country artist. Songwriter Harlan Howard heard Sara as she sung a demo of one of his songs, "Tiger By the Tail" at County Q Studios**, and decided she should sing his music. She went under contract with RCA.
In 1997 Evans released her first album Three Chords and the Truth. Critics praised the album for returning to traditional country and recognized it on many of their top ten of the year lists. Unfortunately, it did not catch on with country radio at the time and none of the three singles made the top 40.
In 1998 Evans released her sophomore album No Place That Far. Critics slammed her for choosing a more pop/country oriented album. Her first single "Cryin' Game" hardly charted. It would be her next single "No Place That Far," a duet with Vince Gill, that would be her first number one single. The album has been certified gold. She actually had been a backup singer for Vince Gill, which definitely played a role in showcasing her talents and leading her ever growing popularity and success.
Evans released her "make it or break it" album, Born To Fly in 2000. Her first single "Born To Fly" hit the number one spot and proved to be her biggest hit until "Suds in the Bucket." The hits kept coming in as her next single "I Could Not Ask For More" hit the number two spot. "Saints and Angels," Evans' favorite song on the album, hit the number sixteen spot and the last single "I Keep Looking" made it to the number five spot. Thus far, the album has been certified double platinum.
Evans led the pack as the most nominated artist at the 2001 Country Music Association awards with seven nominations, and won her first CMA award when her song “Born to Fly” won the award for Video of the Year.
In 2003 Evans released Restless. This album showed her versatility as the songs combined different genres such as country, pop, blues, and soul. The album's first single "Backseat of a Greyhound Bus" went to number sixteen. The next single, "Perfect," went to number two. The next single "Suds in the Bucket" went to number one and became her biggest hit since "Born to Fly" and quickly became a fan favorite among her songs. The next single "Tonight" failed to reach the top 40. Restless has been certified platinum.
In 2004 Evans was the most played female singer on country music radio thanks to singles such as "Suds in the Bucket" and "Perfect."
In 2005, Sara Evans struck gold with the country ballad "A Real Fine Place to Start". With help from this single her album Real Fine Place was propelled to No.1 on the top of the country charts and No. 3 on the pop charts with over 130,000 copies sold in the first week, nearly tripling the sales from her last album debut Restless. Real Fine Place was the best debuting album of her career. The single from the album stood on top of the Billboard and Radio and Record Charts for two weeks. Evans was nominated for two CMA awards, including the prestigious "Female Vocalist of the Year" and prized "Musical Event of the Year" (the latter in part due to her duet with Brad Paisley, "New Again"). However, she lost in both categories. Sara went on the road with Brad Paisley and newcomers Sugarland on Brad's "Time Well Wasted Tour". Her current single "Cheatin'" has quickly become the fastest rising single of her career. Real Fine Place has recently been certified gold.
On December 6, 2005 Sara released Feels Like Home through Cracker Barrel stores. The album consists of alternate versions of some of her most memorable songs. For example, there is an acoustic version of "No Place That Far," a live version of "Born To Fly," and several other versions of her most popular songs.
Suds in the Bucket
Sara Evans Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Say it was a little past nine
When her prince pulled up
A white pick-up truck
Her folks shoulda seen it comin'
It was only just a matter of time
Plenty old enough
And you can't stop love
She stuck a note on the screen door
Sorry, but I got to go
And that was all she wrote
Her Mama's heart was broke
And that was all she wrote
So the story goes
Now her Daddy's in the kitchen
Starin' out the window
Scratchin' and a rackin' his brains
How could eighteen years just up and walk away
Our little pony tailed girl
Growed up to be a woman
Now she's gone in the blink of an eye
She left the suds in the bucket
And the clothes hangin' out on the line
Now don't you wonder what the preacher's
Gonna preach about Sunday morn'
Nothing quite like this
Has happened here before
Well, he must of been a looker
A smooth talkin' son of a gun
For such a grounded girl
To just up and run
Course you can't fence time
And you can't stop love
Now all the biddies in the beauty shop
Gossip goin' non-stop
Sippin' on pink lemonade
How could eighteen years just up and walk away
Our little pony tailed girl
Growed up to be a woman
Now she's gone in the blink of an eye
She left the suds in the bucket
And the clothes hangin' out on the line
Yee Hoo
She's got her pretty little bare feet
Hangin' out the window
And they're headed up to Vegas tonight
How could eighteen years just up and walk away
Our little pony tailed girl
Growed up to be a woman
Now she's gone in the blink of an eye
She left the suds in the bucket
And the clothes hangin' out on the line
She left the suds in the bucket
And the clothes hangin' out on the line
She was in the backyard
Say it was a little past nine
When her prince pulled up
A white pick-up truck
Plenty old enough
And you can't stop love
And no, you can't fence time
And you can't stop love
Suds in the Bucket is a country song written by Terry Clayton, Billy Montana and released by Sara Evans in 2004. The story is about a young girl who falls in love with an older boy and decides to leave home to marry him. The song opens with the girl's mother discovering a note on the door and realizing her daughter has left. Her father goes through an internal struggle and is left wondering how his little girl grew up so fast. The song shows that age is just a number when it comes to love and that it can’t be stopped no matter how hard you try. The use of vivid imagery throughout the song, such as the clothesline and the pink lemonade, helps to reinforce the country feeling of the song and shows that the girl is choosing a simpler life over what her parents had hoped for her.
Line by Line Meaning
She was in the back yard
The girl was in the backyard of her house
Say it was a little past nine
It was slightly after nine in the evening
When her prince pulled up
When her boyfriend arrived in his vehicle
A white pick-up truck
His vehicle was a white pick-up truck
Her folks should've seen it comin'
Her parents should have expected this to happen
It was only just a matter of time
This was inevitable and expected to happen
Plenty old enough
She was mature enough to make her own decisions
And you can't stop love
Love cannot be prevented or controlled
She stuck a note on the screen door
She left a note on the screen door
Sorry, but I got to go
She apologized, but she had to leave
And that was all she wrote
That was the entirety of her leaving message
Her Mama's heart was broke
Her mother was heartbroken
So the story goes
This is how the story is told
Now her Daddy's in the kitchen
Now her father is in the kitchen
Starin' out the window
Looking through the window without doing anything
Scratchin' and a rackin' his brains
He is trying hard to remember or understand something
How can eighteen years just up and walk away
It's hard to believe 18 years went by so fast
Our little pony tailed girl
Describing the girl as a young lady with a ponytail
Growed up to be a woman
She has become an adult
Now she's gone in the blink of an eye
She left quickly and unexpectedly
She left the suds in the bucket
She left the laundry in the bucket
And the clothes hangin' out on the line
And the clothes hanging on the clothesline
Now don't you wonder what the preacher's
Now you might be wondering what the preacher will
Gonna preach about Sunday morn'
Preach about on Sunday morning
Nothing quite like this
This is an extraordinary and unprecedented event
Has happened here before
This has never happened in this town before
Well, he must of been looker
Her boyfriend must have been a handsome man
A smooth talkin' son of a gun
He must have been charming and persuasive
For such a grounded girl
For a girl who was raised to have strong values
To just up and run
To suddenly leave without warning
Course you can't fence time
Time can't be controlled
Now all the biddies in the beauty shop
Now all the women at the beauty salon
Gossip goin' non-stop
Are gossiping continuously
Sippin' on pink lemonade
Drinking pink lemonade
Yee Hoo
A cheer or expression of excitement
She's got her pretty little bare feet
She is wearing pretty sandals or barefoot
Hangin' out the window
Her feet are outside the window
And they're headed up to Vegas tonight
They are going to Las Vegas tonight
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Billy Montana, Tammy Wagoner
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind