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.
Eight Crazy Hours
Reba McEntire Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
As makin' the bed
That kicked off the voice
Inside her head
She was smoothin' the sheet
With the palm of her hand
When the thought struck home
"I don't know who I am"
And she sat cross-legged
On the bedroom floor
And thought
There's 3 people in this house
That don't need me anymore
And she cried like a baby
In a pile of dirty clothes
Oh, should I be more care free
Should I be more sexy
Should I be more friend, than mom
And the dryer was buzzin'
And the TV was blarin'
And she wanted to call her momma
It was somethin' as simple
As checkin' in to that cheap motel
Out on Highway ten
Was it the sting of leavin'
Or usin' her maiden name
That took all of the fun
Out of runnin' away
And she cried like a baby
In the tub of room five
Oh, should I be more care free
Should I be more sexy
Should I be more friend, than mom
And her head was buzzin'
And the TV was blarin'
And she wanted to call her husband
It was somethin' as simple
As pickin' up the kids
That her back to Earth again
She'd been to the dark side of the moon
And she had to keep it to herself
So she grabbed a bucket of Chicken
For supper
Oh, but she looked more care free
And she looked more sexy
And she looked more friend than mom
And the table talk was buzzin'
And the TV, it was blarin'
And they all sat and laughed at each other
It was somethin' as simple
As not givin' up
And eight crazy hours
In the story of love
The song "Eight Crazy Hours" by Reba McEntire tells the story of a woman's mental, emotional and physical exhaustion as she reels from the daily pressures of being a mother and wife. The song follows the woman's descent into feeling like her life has become nothing but a series of mundane and repetitive tasks. The first verse sets the tone for the song, as the woman is reminded of her mundane domestic duties when she begins making her bed. As she reflects on her life, she realizes that she doesn't know who she is, and she breaks down in tears amidst the piles of laundry and clutter.
The second verse sees the woman checking into a cheap motel in a bid to find some freedom, but she's struck by the harsh reality of leaving her family behind. She's left feeling overwhelmed, crying in a bathtub all alone, and wondering if she should be more carefree or more sexy. In the third verse, the woman is back to reality, picking up her kids and grabbing some fried chicken for dinner. Despite everything she's been through, the woman keeps going and doesn't give up. The song ends on a hopeful note, as the woman realizes that even though her life can be challenging and emotional, it's all part of the story of love.
Line by Line Meaning
It was somethin' as simple
As makin' the bed
That kicked off the voice
Inside her head
She was doing something simple like making the bed which made her think about the voice inside her head.
She was smoothin' the sheet
With the palm of her hand
When the thought struck home
'I don't know who I am'
While smoothing the sheet, she realized she didn't know who she was.
And she sat cross-legged
On the bedroom floor
And thought
There's 3 people in this house
That don't need me anymore
And she cried like a baby
In a pile of dirty clothes
She sat down and realized that there were three people in the house who didn't need her anymore, which made her cry.
Oh, should I be more care free
Should I be more sexy
Should I be more friend, than mom
And the dryer was buzzin'
And the TV was blarin'
And she wanted to call her momma
She wondered if she should be more carefree, sexy, or more of a friend than a mom. The noise around her made her want to call her mother for advice.
It was somethin' as simple
As checkin' in to that cheap motel
Out on Highway ten
Was it the sting of leavin'
Or usin' her maiden name
That took all of the fun
Out of runnin' away
Checking into a cheap motel made her question whether leaving or using her maiden name took the fun out of running away.
And she cried like a baby
In the tub of room five
Oh, should I be more care free
Should I be more sexy
Should I be more friend, than mom
And her head was buzzin'
And the TV was blarin'
And she wanted to call her husband
She cried in the bathtub of room five and continued to question whether she should be more carefree, sexy, or more of a friend than a mom. The noise around her made her want to call her husband.
It was somethin' as simple
As pickin' up the kids
That her back to Earth again
She'd been to the dark side of the moon
And she had to keep it to herself
So she grabbed a bucket of Chicken
For supper
Picking up her kids helped her feel grounded again after feeling like she had been to the dark side of the moon. She kept her feelings to herself and grabbed a bucket of chicken for supper.
Oh, but she looked more care free
And she looked more sexy
And she looked more friend than mom
And the table talk was buzzin'
And the TV, it was blarin'
And they all sat and laughed at each other
Even though she had been through a lot, she looked more carefree, sexy, and more of a friend than a mom. The family sat and laughed together despite the noise around them.
It was somethin' as simple
As not givin' up
And eight crazy hours
In the story of love
Not giving up and enduring the craziness of life for eight hours is all part of the love story.
Lyrics © HIPGNOSIS SONGS GROUP, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, O/B/O CAPASSO
Written by: JAMES SCOTT, LESLIE SATCHER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind