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.
Please Be the One
Reba McEntire Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's so unfair
I think there's water everywhere
I'm always fooled
Just when I think I'm saved
But I don't have the strength
To do again
Deliver me
Please be the one
I've thought I wasted all those prayers
Till I looked up and you were there
Oh in your eyes
I see there's hope for me
I need your love
To finish off
What others have begun
Deliver me
Please be the one
Be the one who makes me see
Be wonderful a reason
Be the one who rescues me
With a love I can believe in
Let it be true
That you can do
What no one else has done
Deliver me
Please be the one
Oh deliver me
Please be the one
In Reba McEntire's song "Please Be the One," she sings about the struggle of finding love and how she always seems to be fooled. She compares her situation to a desert, where she thinks there might be water everywhere, only to be let down again. She admits to not having the strength to keep going through these cycles of disappointment and failure. This is where she is asking for someone to come into her life and deliver her from her loneliness and heartbreak. She pleads for someone to be the one who makes her see that there is hope for her, that she is not wasting her prayers. With love and belief, she can finish what others have started and put the pieces of her broken heart back together.
This song is a beautiful representation of the emotional struggle that comes with searching for love. The lyrics are heartfelt and relatable, and Reba McEntire's voice gives them a powerful and emotional delivery. The chorus is particularly poignant with its repetition of "deliver me, please be the one," as it captures the desperation and longing for someone to come into her life and make it whole.
Line by Line Meaning
This desert lies
I am currently in a place of hardship and difficulty
It's so unfair
I feel that the circumstances I am facing are unjust and unfavorable
I think there's water everywhere
Despite my current circumstances, I choose to have hope and believe that there is a way out
I'm always fooled
I have been deceived and let down in the past, causing me to doubt whether I can trust anyone or anything
Just when I think I'm saved
Whenever I believe that things may be turning around for the better, something else goes wrong
But I don't have the strength
I am feeling worn down, discouraged, and unable to face these challenges alone
To do again
I feel like I have been through these hardships before and don't have the energy to go through them again
What always comes undone
No matter how hard I try or what I do, things never seem to work out
Deliver me
I am pleading for someone to rescue me from my current situation
Please be the one
I am asking for someone to come along and be the solution I need
I've thought I wasted all those prayers
I used to feel like my prayers for help were going unanswered and weren't making a difference
Till I looked up and you were there
But now, I have found someone who has entered my life and is providing the help and support I need
Oh in your eyes
I can see a reflection of your love, compassion, and understanding
I see there's hope for me
Your presence in my life has given me a reason to believe that things will get better
I need your love
Your love is what sustains me and gives me the strength to keep going
To finish off
To help me complete what I have been struggling to accomplish on my own
What others have begun
To help me overcome obstacles that were too difficult for me to handle alone
Be the one who makes me see
I am asking for you to be the person who helps me see things from a different perspective
Be wonderful a reason
I am looking for someone and something that brings joy and happiness into my life
Be the one who rescues me
I am hoping for someone who can come to my aid and help me escape my current predicament
With a love I can believe in
I am seeking a love that I can trust, depend on, and have faith in
Let it be true
I am holding onto the hope that what I am experiencing with you is real and not just a temporary fix
That you can do
I have faith in your ability to help solve my problems and be the answer to my prayers
What no one else has done
I am looking for something truly unique that only you can provide and no one else has been able to accomplish for me
Oh deliver me
I am still hoping and praying for relief and assistance from my current struggles
Please be the one
I am still looking to you as the one who can potentially provide the help and support I need to make it through
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: SUNNY RUSS, GARY S. BURR
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Karen Laurence
Fabulous xxx