How Reba McEntire Bridged Country and Pop With “Whoever’s In New England”

Reba McEntire is a country star that has achieved crossover success on a massive scale. Though her songs are certainly in the country tradition, she imbues elements of pop that make them accessible to all listeners. One song in particular garnered her that reputation. Uncover the story behind “Whoever’s In New England,” below.

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How Reba McEntire Bridged Country and Pop With “Whoever’s In New England”

You spend an awful lot of time in Massachusetts
Seems Like every other week you’ve got a meeting waiting there
Business must be booming or could something else
Be moving in the air up there

You say that it’s important for our future
An executive on his way up has got to play the part
And each time duty calls you got to give it all
You’ve got with all your heart

“Whoever’s In New England” was written by Kendal Franceschi and Quentin Powers, but McEntire sings it with such an authenticity that you’d be forgiven for thinking she wrote it about a scenario in her own life.

When McEntire first recorded this song, she did so without suspecting it to make it all the way to release. She felt the tones in this ballad were far too pop leaning for her tastes. It’s not hard to see how McEntire could’ve believed that.

This song is polished and borders on easy-listening. It eventually became one of McEntire’s calling cards, but it was a departure from her typical style. Nevertheless, everyone in the room was moved by McEntire’s assuage to a cheating husband.

“Everybody was knocked out,” McEntire’s producer Jimmy Bowen once said. He claimed it was “the biggest thing [she’d] ever done.”

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This song sees McEntire playing a wounded wife who learns of her husband’s infidelities. Unlike most songs about cheating, McEntire welcomes him home with open arms. Whenever he’s done doing whatever it is he’s doing in New England, she wants him to know he’ll always have a place to come back to.

Despite that controversial mindset, it certainly struck a chord with listeners. Revisit this track, below.

But when whoever’s in New England’s through with you
And Boston finds better things to do
You know it’s not too late ’cause you’ll always have a place to come back to
When whoever’s in New England’s through with you

I hear the winter time up north can last forever
And I’ve been told it’s beautiful to see this time of year
They say the snow can blind you ’til the world you left behind
Just disappears I hear

(Photo by Emma Mcintyre/ACMA2018/Getty Images for ACM)