I’m taking you on a new adventure with me. Where I explore my vinyl collection while stoned. We are starting with Read My Mind by Reba McEntire tonight. And these thoughts are completely unfiltered. I’m sitting here typing as I listen. And listening to the introduction cost me track one.
I’ve heard this album a hundred times, but something about it on vinyl just hits me right in the chest every single time. I think it’s the vulnerability in her voice during “Read My Mind” on track two. But then she steps it right back up, and that little growl she does in “I Won’t Stand In Line” on track three? Gosh it never fails to make me smile. It’s a little bit of that Oklahoma grit and that mastery of the sass. It’s perfection.
And can we talk about that steel guitar in “I Wish That I Could Tell You”? Because that plucking is just spectacular. Country isn’t country without a cryin’ steel guitar, and Reba knows that better than anyone. Then you reach that bridge, and her vibrato? It’s a magical experience. It really, really is.
How could we forget the way she took on talking the AIDS epidemic with “She Thinks His Name Was John”? Not only are the lyrics to that absolutely cinematic, but the piano is the heartbeat of that track. The thing I love about the true matriarchs of country music is that they didn’t shy away from the ugly and they didn’t just sit down and listen to the men in the industry. They forged their own path. That is what we need to remember. But the line “she let a stranger steal her hopes and her dreams,” gets me every single time.
Now, let’s just talk about the magic that happens in “Why Haven’t I Heard From You” and how that 71 year old woman is still dancing to that song on stage. Oh god and the growl? That growl just makes it that much better. I genuinely do not know another artist that can do a growl like that and it make me smile like Reba’s does. If you hadn’t noticed, I kinda love her. Watching her perform this live was a moment I’ll never forget.
Then we go into the absolute gut punch that is “And Still”. It wasn’t until my divorce that I truly understood the heartbreak that is this song. Because that ache in my heart is still saying that I love him still. And I’m not sure it will ever stop saying that. Even if what I really love is the idea of what we could have been together instead of the reality that he cheated on me for six months before blaming my mental health for the end of our marriage.
Ah yes, and then one of my favorite songs. “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter.” I know, it’s one of the “everyone loves that song” songs in her discography. Okay, I know. Don’t need to get snippy. You’ll learn later that my favorites are the deep cuts, so mind your business. BUT THE WAY HER VOICE SOUNDS WHEN SHE SINGS “wrong”! The way it goes a little long in the r and it bleeds into a longer o kinda like a Minnesota accent. *Chef’s Kiss* Perfection. This song is more than just an upbeat story. It’s the reality of what it’s like being a single woman who cannot fend off the ovulation hormones. Telling him no that night? I don’t know if I could. And lest we forget that growl in the last chorus. Absolutely perfection. Plus, my heart is a lonely hunter, and there really is no sign of love in sight.
Oh yes. The swagger of “I Wouldn’t Wanna Be You” is unmatched. She’s trying to warn her. Gosh, why didn’t I listen to her before I said “I do” back in 2020? Side note – can we all just collectively agree that Narvel fumbled the best thing that ever happened to him? But that she’s so much happier without him and it’s breathtaking to watch.
Ending with “Till You Love Me” is always a gut punch. Well, my vinyl has the “And Still (Live)” track as well. But on the original album ending on this song always felt like a gut punch to me. Because I was a little girl who was dreaming so hard to have her mom love her. I swore I wouldn’t give up. Then, I got older, and realized I wasn’t the problem. That’s when I quit trying. I know I know, this is a “love” song. But I just…when you’re a kid and you’re listening to this and you don’t feel loved at home, it takes on a different meaning.
Admittedly, I usually skip the live version of “And Still.” But I do love just listening to her talk to the audience and I need her voice tonight, so I’m going to let it play out. You may be asking “Elizabeth, why do you usually skip the live version? Isn’t that everyone’s favorite?” And I would smile at you, and I would say to you, “Because it makes me sad that I never stood a chance to be at one of those concerts. I was born too late for my taste in music.”
And if you don’t know what a VHS is…call your parents or grandparents. Y’all will never understand the pain of not having rewound the tape after you finished watching it the first time.
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