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.
How Blue
Reba McEntire Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
How long 'til I heal
How can I go on loving you when you're gone
How blue can I feel?
Oh, honey why did you leave me?
Ain't you got a heart left in your chest
And I swear to you that I'm dying
How blue can you make me?
How long 'til I heal
How can I go on loving you when you're gone
How blue can I feel?
'Cause if I sink any lower, I'll go under
And if I cry anymore I'll go blind
Oh, Lord, there ain't no relief for this missing you grief
How long can you torture my mind
Oh, how blue can you make me?
How long 'til I heal?
How can I go on loving you when you're gone
How blue can I feel?
How can I go on loving you when you're gone?
How blue can I feel?
Reba McEntire's "How Blue" is about a heartbroken woman who is struggling to deal with the pain of a lost lover. In the first verse, she asks, "How blue can you make me? How long till I heal? How can I go on loving you when you're gone? How blue can I feel?" These lyrics are expressing the depth of her pain and the difficulty she has in moving on from the relationship.
The second verse is more pointed, as she directly addresses her former partner, asking why he would leave her and questioning whether he has any empathy or compassion left in him. She also laments that her mind won't let her rest, revealing the way her heartache has taken over her whole being.
The bridge of the song highlights her desperation as she admits that she feels like she is drowning and that her tears are leaving her unable to see. She also acknowledges that there is no way to escape the pain of missing him and wonders how long she will have to endure this torture.
Overall, "How Blue" is a moving and relatable song that captures the pain of heartbreak and the struggle to move forward after a traumatic experience like a lost love.
Line by Line Meaning
How blue can you make me
I am feeling incredibly sad and I wonder how much worse you can make me feel.
How long till I heal
I am hurting from our breakup and I am wondering when I will be able to move on and feel better.
How can I go on loving you when you're gone
I still have deep feelings for you, but you've left me and I don't know how to continue loving you from afar.
How blue can I feel
My sadness is so intense that I wonder if I will ever feel happy again.
Oh honey why did you leave me
I am pleading with you to explain why you abandoned me after all we've been through.
Ain't you got a heart left in your chest
I am questioning whether you have any compassion left in your heart to consider my feelings.
I swear to you that I'm dying
My emotional pain is so intense that it feels like I am physically dying.
'Cause my mind won't let my body rest
My thoughts are constantly racing and I can't find peace or rest while I am consumed with thoughts of you.
If I sink any lower I'll go under
I am so overwhelmed by my sadness that I feel like I am drowning and I don't know how to stop sinking deeper.
If I cry anymore I'll go blind
I have cried so much that I feel like I am going blind from the tears and the pain.
Oh there ain't no relief for this missing you grief
I am suffering from missing you and there is no escape or relief from this pain.
How long can you torture my mind
I am wondering how much longer I will be tormented by thoughts of you and the pain of our breakup.
How can I go on loving you when you're gone
I am struggling to understand how I can continue to have such strong feelings for someone who has left me behind.
How blue can I feel
My sadness is so intense that I wonder if I will ever feel happy again.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: John Edward Moffat
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
n00se
How blue (how blue) can you make me
How long till I heal
How can I go on loving you when you're gone
How blue (how blue) can I feel
Oh honey why did you leave me
Ain't you got a heart left in your chest
I swear to you that I'm dyin'
'Cause my mind won't let my body rest
How blue (how blue) can you make me
How long till I heal
How can I go on loving you when you're gone
How blue (how blue) can I feel
If I sink any lower I'll go under
If I cry anymore I'll go blind
No there ain't no relief for this missing you grief
How long can you torture my mind
How blue (how blue) can you make me
How long till I heal
How can I go on loving you when you're gone
How blue (how blue) can I feel
How can I go on loving you when you're gone
How blue (how blue) can I feel
Kathleen Faybik
Love her voice.
C S
There's no voice like Reba's ❤
Tina Greer
I have always loved this song.
Janie Falzon
I'll take this music over today's music 🎶 ANYTIME 😊
Josh Flowers
Heck yeah
James Smith
Amen!
Benny Shavers Music
Beautiful, shining, country gold
mkl62
A #1 hit for Reba McEntire on the Country & Western charts. It was the 737th #1 C&W song of the Rock Era.
Charlotte Hendershot
Love her music
n00se
How blue (how blue) can you make me
How long till I heal
How can I go on loving you when you're gone
How blue (how blue) can I feel
Oh honey why did you leave me
Ain't you got a heart left in your chest
I swear to you that I'm dyin'
'Cause my mind won't let my body rest
How blue (how blue) can you make me
How long till I heal
How can I go on loving you when you're gone
How blue (how blue) can I feel
If I sink any lower I'll go under
If I cry anymore I'll go blind
No there ain't no relief for this missing you grief
How long can you torture my mind
How blue (how blue) can you make me
How long till I heal
How can I go on loving you when you're gone
How blue (how blue) can I feel
How can I go on loving you when you're gone
How blue (how blue) can I feel