With a contract to Mercury Records (1975), McEntire began her professional career singing heavily pop-influenced ballads, a far cry from the neotraditionalist movement she would help lead a few years later.
"I Don't Want To Be A One Night Stand" became her first charting single in 1976. Her first Top 10 hit "(You Lift Me) Up to Heaven" followed four years later, and in 1982 she scored her first #1 hit with "Can't Even Get The Blues."
Frustrated at her limited commercial success, McEntire left Mercury and signed with MCA Records in 1984. 1984's "Just A Little Love" wasn't much different form her Mercury material and was only moderately successful. However, another album followed later that same year, titled "My Kind of Country." This was a return-to-roots record, complete with fiddles and steel. It was comprised largely of covers of classic country songs, as well as original songs such as "How Blue" and the Harlan Howard-penned "Somebody Should Leave", both of which reached #1 on the Billboard country singles chart.
In the early 1990s McEntire expanded her audience by adopting a softer, more pop-oriented sound. She became one of the best-selling country artists of all time, releasing three volumes of greatest hits collections.
Since that first #1 hit in 1982, she's forked out 21 more chartbusters, which are all recapped on "Reba #1s" released on November 22nd, 2005. The 2-disc compilation features all 22 number one singles (according to Billboard magazine) in chronological order, including two new tracks "You're Gonna Be" and "Love Needs A Holiday." "Reba #1s" also contains 11 singles that reached the #1 spot in publications other than Billboard.
She won the Female Vocalist of the Year award from the Country Music Association four times in a row (a record she holds with Martina McBride), and had dozens of Top Ten hits during the 80s. For her contribution to the recording industry, Reba McEntire has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7000 Hollywood Blvd. In 1995, she was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
She is one of only six solo women (others include Shania Twain, Barbara Mandrell, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, and Taylor Swift), to win the Country Music Association's highest honor, "Entertainer Of The Year". McEntire continued to hit the charts through the 2000s, as well as appearing in television and film, most notably Tremors, a cult horror movie series, Forever Love, and One Night at McCool's. She also starred as Annie Oakley in Annie Get Your Gun on Broadway, receiving critical acclaim.
From 2001 to 2007, Reba starred in the hit WB television show, Reba (with Texan actor Christopher Rich as her philandering ex-husband), even getting a visit from fellow country star Dolly Parton who played Reba's character's supervisor at a real estate firm.
Can't Even Get The Blues
Reba McEntire Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The silverware is gone
The furniture is missing
I guess you got it all uhuh
This is where it ought to hurt
Seems like every time you leave me
You try to think of something worse
I can't even get the blues no more
I try to worry like I did before
And nothing happens when I walk the floor
So what am I supposed to do
I toss and turn but then I fall asleep
I'm going under but it's not too deep
You want to hurt me but it's just no use
I can't even get the blues
Well this time ain't no different
The sun's up in the sky
Sitting on the back porch
Clouds are rolling by
Oh this is where it ought to rain
But it doesn't really matter
To me it's all about the same
[Repeat Chorus]
(You try and hurt me)
[Repeat Chorus]
Reba McEntire's “Can't Even Get The Blues” talks about a woman who has grown accustomed to the pain caused by her partner leaving her over and over again. She walks into her kitchen only to find that her silverware and furniture are missing, indicating that her partner has taken everything. However, she claims that this action does not hurt as bad as it used to. She used to worry a lot more but now, she cannot even get the blues. She has grown tired of the pain caused by her partner's actions and now she is immune to it.
In the second verse, McEntire continues with the theme of apathy. The weather is nice, but it would be better if it were raining. However, it does not matter much to her because it is all the same to her. She has reached a point where she no longer feels anything towards her partner's leaving. The chorus repeats twice after both verses; it talks about how the woman has become impervious to pain and can no longer even get the blues.
Overall, the song talks about how repeated pain eventually numbs an individual, and they become incapable of feeling even the most intense emotions.
Line by Line Meaning
I walk into the kitchen
I enter the kitchen
The silverware is gone
The utensils are missing
The furniture is missing
The tables and chairs are not there
I guess you got it all uhuh
I assume that you took everything
This is where it ought to hurt
This is the part where I should feel pain
Seems like every time you leave me
It appears that every time you depart
You try to think of something worse
You attempt to come up with something more hurtful
I can't even get the blues no more
I'm unable to even feel sad anymore
I try to worry like I did before
I attempt to be anxious and concerned like in the past
And nothing happens when I walk the floor
I feel no emotions as I pace around
So what am I supposed to do
What actions should I take?
I toss and turn but then I fall asleep
I struggle to find peace but eventually doze off
I'm going under but it's not too deep
I'm struggling but not in a dire situation
You want to hurt me but it's just no use
You desire to cause me pain, but it won't affect me
Well this time ain't no different
This time isn't any unique
The sun's up in the sky
The sun is shining
Sitting on the back porch
I'm sitting on the back patio
Clouds are rolling by
The clouds are moving along
Ohthis is where it ought to rain
This is where it should rain
But it doesn't really matter
But it's not significant
To me it's all about the same
It's all equivalent to me
I try and hurt me
You endeavor to injure me
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: RICK CARNES, THOMAS WILLIAM DAMPHIER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Randall Jett
This is one of her first recordings and one of my favorites!
Tyler Clarkson
5th studio album
Plamen Atanasov
No, her contract and music career started 7 years before she released A number 1 hit!
Tiffany Baum
An oldie but a goodie! This was one of my favorite songs when it first came out, still is.
Jeff Tappan
One of her first hits. And like Deborah Allen, Emmylou Harris, and a good bottle of bourbon, the older they get, the better they get.
Plamen Atanasov
I'm not a country fan, but this woman is my all time favourite singer!
I love her.
mkl62
A #1 hit for Reba McEntire on the Country & Western charts. It was the 635th #1 C&W song of the Rock Era. It was also the first new #1 C&W song of 1983, knocking off John Anderson (Wild & Blue). What will the C&W scene be like in the new year? Stay tuned.
Daniel Burns
this song went to #1 on the country charts in 1983!!!
Rodney Spears
I think her first #1.
Dave Wollenberg
Reba hit #1 on ACC, 1-8-83. God bless ya, Miss Reba!