Throughout her nearly 50-year career, Reba McEntire has regularly left the task of songwriting up to some of the best in the industry. Within this time, McEntire also co-wrote a few songs.
Along with Kendal Franceschi and Quentin Powers, McEntire co-wrote “It Always Rains on Saturday” from her 15th album Sweet Sixteen in 1989. A year later, McEntire and Don Schlitz released “Climb That Mountain High,” which they co-wrote for her “Fancy” album Rumor Has It. The song also served as the theme song of the short-lived TV sitcom Delta.
In 1991, McEntire regrouped with Schlitz, following a tragic plane crash that killed eight members of her band, on For My Broken Heart and “Bobby,” a song about a man who has to make the difficult decision to take his wife off life support.
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By 2007, McEntire teamed up with Ronnie Dunn on “Does the Wind Still Blow in Oklahoma,” which the two co-wrote for her No. 1 album Duets. A decade later, McEntire co-wrote “I Got the Lord on My Side” with her mother Jackie McEntire for the album Sing It Now: Songs of Faith & Hope, before joining Dunn again to write “No U in Oklahoma” for Stronger Than the Truth in 2019.
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Along with her many collaborations, McEntire also penned a few more songs on her own. Here’s a look at four songs written solely by McEntire from the late 1970s through ’80s.
1. “Daddy” (1979)
Written by Reba McEntire
Released on McEntire’s second album, Out of a Dream, “Daddy” was a tribute to her own father Clark’s Oklahoma roots. “Daddy” was never released as a single but marked the first time a song written by McEntire was featured on one of her albums.
My daddy is a rancher
He’s wrangled cattle dang near all his life
He also liked to rodeo
He traveled around with four kids and a wife
Well his old ranch is rocky
But his ropes sail smooth for several years
He worked real hard
And roped real good
And tried to get his ranch out in the clear
He didn’t want us kids to rodeo
He wanted more out of life for us
Maybe banking, or a lawyer
Or maybe even driving some old bus
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Clark McEntire was a champion steer roper and was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1979. After battling an illness for five years, Clark died on October 23, 2014, at 86 in Oklahoma. “He always told us kids never to run your horse to the barn,” wrote McEntire in a post, along with a photo of her father on horseback. “He was just taking his time to go on home.”
2. “Reasons” (1983)
Written by Reba McEntire
On her sixth album Behind the Scene, McEntire had a top 10 hit with the Don King and David Woodward-penned single “Why Do We Want (What We Know We Can’t Have),” which peaked at No. 7. On the album, McEntire also contributed another song she wrote “Reasons” and all the reasons she left one man for another.
I like to love somebody handsome rather than ugly
I like happiness instead of being blue
I like to talk real late at night after making love
That’s why I chose him over you
Well I don’t know how I ever did without him
And I don’t understand why I put up with you
Well I know that the sun shines the brightest when you’re happy
3. “Only in My Mind” (1985)
Written by Reba McEntire
McEntire went to No. 5 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart with “Only in My Mind,” the second single from her ninth album Have I Got a Deal For You. “Only in My Mind” remains the only single solely written by McEntire released. In the song, the narrator’s husband asks if she has ever cheated on him. She says only in my mind.
Then with a move of his eyes
A move that could have made the wind stand still
He took my hand in his and said the words
That I never will forget
He said have you ever cheated on me
Has there been someone else
Is there someone you love more than me
Someone you can’t forget
If his memory is opened again
Let it be chased away by time
He said have you ever cheated on me
I said only in my mind
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4. “I Don’t Want to Be Alone” (1987)
Written by Reba McEntire
For her 12th album The Last One to Know, McEntire contributed another one of her songs, “I Don’t Want to Be Alone.” The Last One to Know was McEntire’s first album to chart on the Billboard 200 (No. 102) along with peaking at No. 3 on the Country chart.
My nerves are shot, the coffee’s cold
Wish that I could be so bold as to
Walk right up to you and say what I think
I don’t now what you think
Of me
And I know everyone can see I’m crazy
About you and always will be
Where’s women’s lib when you need it the most
Or was it mama who said
You’re not suppose to flaunt yourself like that
As if there’s no in between
Or maybe it’s not that I’m afraid, it’s just that the last move I made
Embarrassed me to death and made me want to hide
Photo: Rick Diamond/Getty Images for The Green Room
