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.
Whose Heartache Is This Anyway
Reba McEntire Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Don't tell me the sunshine's after the rain
Don't sit there and tell me
I'll love again someday
Whose heartache is this anyway
Don't say that all things happen
For the best
Don't tell me I'll forget
Don't say don't you worry
Cause everything will be OK
Whose heartache is this anyway
[Chorus]
Cause I'm not in the mood for sympathy
At least not from the one who's leaving me
So don't try to make it easy
Don't search for words to say
Whose heartache is this anyway
Well you say that'll always care for me
That I'll always be special
Well that's not what I need
So why don't you just go now
You've done enough today
And whose heartache is this anyway
[Chorus]
Why don't you just go now
You've done enough today
And whose heartache is this anyway
In "Whose Heartache Is This Anyway," Reba McEntire sings about the pain and heartbreak of a breakup. She's frustrated with the attempts of her partner to console her, dismissing their words of encouragement and the promise of future love. McEntire questions why it's her heartache that she's dealing with and why she's expected to cope with it. She doesn't want to hear that time will heal the pain or that everything happens for the best. She's not in the mood for sympathy, especially not from the one who caused her pain.
The song speaks to the complexity of heartbreak and the individual process of healing. The lyrics show that often, the heartbroken soul doesn't want to hear the usual cliches, and sometimes just wants to sit in their pain. The song highlights the need for personal space and solitude during the healing process, which is not always considered in relationships. The chorus's line "At least not from the one who's leaving me" is especially poignant, showing that the person who broke the heart may not be the best person to bring comfort to the broken-hearted.
Line by Line Meaning
Don't tell me that time will ease the pain
I don't want to hear that the pain will go away with time
Don't tell me the sunshine's after the rain
I don't want to hear that things will get better after they get worse
Don't sit there and tell me I'll love again someday
I don't want to hear that I'll find love again in the future
Whose heartache is this anyway
I am questioning whose pain this truly belongs to
Don't say that all things happen for the best
I don't want to hear that everything happens for a reason
And don't talk of silver linings
I don't want to hear about any positive aspects of this situation
Don't tell me I'll forget
I don't want to hear that I'll eventually forget about this pain
Don't say don't you worry, cause everything will be OK
I don't want to hear that things will be fine in the end
Cause I'm not in the mood for sympathy
I don't want to hear sympathetic words
At least not from the one who's leaving me
Especially not from the person causing me this pain
So don't try to make it easy
I don't want to hear any attempts to make this easier
Don't search for words to say
I don't want to hear any words at all
Well you say that'll always care for me
You say that you'll always be there for me
That I'll always be special
That I'll always be important to you
Well that's not what I need
But that's not what I need right now
So why don't you just go now
So why don't you just leave
You've done enough today
You've already caused enough pain today
And whose heartache is this anyway
And I still can't help but wonder whose pain this truly belongs to
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