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.
You Can Take the Wings Off Me
Reba McEntire Lyrics
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I've never been closer than just a little over the line
I know those nights I'd find great temptations
I go home to bed alone
Pull the covers up over my mind
I let it go by and said I'd save my feelings
But until I met you
I should say no
Oh whoa I don't want to
Honey you will be the first one
To watch this angel fall
So you can take the wings off me
Lay them down so carefully
Hold me close tonight you'll see
I am yours and you can take the wings off me
Oh you can take the wings off me
Oh lay them down so carefully
Oh I should say no
Oh whoa I don't want to
I am yours and you can take the wings off me
In the first verse of the song "You Can Take the Wings Off Me" by Reba McEntire, the singer reflects on her past experiences of not being part of the fast crowd and not crossing certain boundaries. She admits to feeling temptations in the past but always choosing to go home alone and seek solace in bed. The phrase "Pull the covers up over my mind" could symbolize how she tries to block out the temptations and distractions that come her way.
She then reflects on how she used to suppress her emotions and not fully express her feelings, until she met someone who changed that. The singer acknowledges a sense of vulnerability and admits that she doesn't want to resist this new person, even though it may lead her to a point of emotional weakness. The line "You will be the first one to watch this angel fall" suggests that this person has the power to break down her defenses and see a side of her that she usually keeps hidden.
The chorus of the song is a plea or surrender to this person, allowing them to strip away any facade or protective barriers she has put up. By metaphorically asking them to "take the wings off me," she is giving them permission to see her true self, vulnerable and exposed. The repetition of "you can take the wings off me" and the imagery of laying the wings down carefully convey a sense of trust and intimacy, as well as a willingness to be open and authentic with this person.
Overall, the lyrics of "You Can Take the Wings Off Me" explore themes of vulnerability, trust, and emotional surrender. The singer acknowledges her past tendencies to hide her feelings and put up walls, but now she is willing to let someone in and show her true self. The metaphor of the wings symbolizes freedom and innocence, and by allowing this person to take them off, she is entrusting them with her deepest emotions and vulnerabilities. The song captures the essence of opening up to love and letting someone see the vulnerable and real parts of oneself.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: EDDIE F. SETSER, TROY HAROLD SEALS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind