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.
I Wouldn't Know
Reba McEntire Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I guess they got so used to us together they assume
That everything's ok and then I have to say
I wouldn't know I haven't seen him
I couldn't say it's been awhile
I haven't thought about him lately
So I wouldn't know
Why can't they just leave me alone
Cause I couldn't care, I couldn't say, I wouldn't know
I don't get out anymore to our old stompin' grounds
Cause some old friend is bound to ask me why you're not around
Well I just stay away, so I don't have to say
I wouldn't know I haven't seen him
I couldn't say it's been awhile
I haven't thought about him lately
So I wouldn't know
I'm getting tired of people askin'
Why can't they just leave me alone
Cause I couldn't care, I couldn't say, I wouldn't know
The lyrics to Reba McEntire's song "I Wouldn't Know" speak of a woman who has moved on from a past relationship and is tired of people constantly asking her about her ex. The first verse explains how everyone she encounters still brings up her ex-boyfriend, assuming that they are still together. She doesn't reveal to them that she hasn't seen him in a while and can't say much about him because she's moved on.
The woman in the song has reached a point where she doesn't care about her ex anymore and is no longer connected to him in any way. She doesn't frequent the places they used to go to avoid being asked about him, but it seems like memories of their relationship still linger in those places. The second verse reveals that she is tired of people asking her about her ex-boyfriend and wishes they would leave her alone. She couldn't care less about her past relationship and has let it go completely.
Overall, the song conveys a sense of freedom from the past and the emotions that come with it. The woman in the song has moved on and has no intention of revisiting her past. She is tired of being constantly reminded of something she has put behind her and wants to be left alone to live her new life.
Line by Line Meaning
Everyone I see these days still asks me about you
People still ask me about you every time I see them, and it's becoming a common occurrence.
I guess they got so used to us together they assume that everything's ok and then I have to say
Since we were together for so long, people assume everything is okay and I have to tell them that it's actually not.
I wouldn't know I haven't seen him
I don't know how he's doing because I haven't seen him in a while.
I couldn't say it's been awhile
I can't tell you how long it's been since I've seen him.
I haven't thought about him lately
I haven't been thinking about him frequently.
So I wouldn't know
Therefore, I wouldn't know anything about his current situation.
I'm getting tired of people askin'
I'm becoming annoyed with people frequently asking me about him.
Why can't they just leave me alone
I wish people would stop asking me about him altogether.
Cause I couldn't care, I couldn't say, I wouldn't know
I don't have any emotional attachment to him anymore, I have no information to share, and I am not interested in knowing about his current situation.
I don't get out anymore to our old stompin' grounds
I don't go to the places we used to go anymore.
Cause some old friend is bound to ask me why you're not around
I avoid frequenting these places because I know that one of our old friends might ask me why you're not with me.
Well I just stay away, so I don't have to say
I purposefully avoid these places so I don't have to explain why you're not with me anymore.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: MARC BEESON, MIKE MC GUIRE, ROBERT BYRNE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind