When Reba McEntire picked up the phone in 1994, she wasn’t crying over heartbreak — she was demanding answers. “Why Haven’t I Heard From You” traded McEntire‘s trademark power ballads for sass and confidence, a tongue-in-cheek takedown of an absent boyfriend that let McEntire flex her humor and her powerhouse voice. With its playful snapback and universally relatable hook, the single became one of the most energetic highlights of her ’90s catalog.
Written by Sandy Knox and T.W. Hale, “Why Haven’t I Heard From You” was the lead single from McEntire’s album Read My Mind. It peaked at No. 5 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs and details the story of a deeply irritated woman who is venting at a love interest who didn’t call her back.
Lyrics include: There’s no problem gettin’ to me/ Baby you can dial direct/ I got call forwarding, call waiting/ You can even call collect/ The service man he told me that my phone was workin’ fine/ And I’ve come to the conclusion the trouble isn’t with my line
While it might sound like the song was born out of frustration over an uncommunicative romantic partner, it wasn’t.
Knox got the idea for “Why Haven’t I Heard From You” after reading a National Geographic article on Alexander Graham Bell.
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If You Want to Write, You Have to Read
“I’m a big reader,” Knox said. “I believe that if you’re going to be a writer, you better be a reader, too. That’s important.”
Knox particularly loves magazines and remembers that National Geographic dedicated an entire issue to Alexander Graham Bell in September of 1988. She even namechecks Bell in the song’s first few lyrics.
Well, back in 1876 an ol’ boy named Bell invented a contraption that we know so well
She told NSAI’s Bart Herbison that the article got her started thinking about the evolution of communication.
“He invented the telephone, and it got me to start thinking how much the invention of the telephone had completely changed how people romanced each other,” she said. “Courting before the telephone, if you wanted to call on a woman, if somebody wanted to call on somebody, they literally had to drop off their calling card, which is the precursor to business cards, and say, ‘I would like to call on you at Friday at 6 p.m.’”
The telephone changed that—and the entire trajectory of communication. She noted that people could call from their cars, the phone booth on the corner, or even airplanes.
“There’s No Excuse”
“There’s no excuse not to hear from anyone because telephones are everywhere,” she said. “So that’s where that came from.”
She met Hale at ASCAP for a writing appointment and shared the idea with him. It was his idea to make the song an up-tempo shuffle.
“I like writing with co-writers who are really good at their instrument,” Knox said. “T Dubs’ instrument was his guitar. So, we started from there. I already had some of the lyrics written.”
She said the song came together fast, and even included the song’s famous background vocals, which she likes to incorporate into her writing.
It’s not common for background vocals to be included in lyrics sheets, but it’s a practice Reba McEntire apparently appreciates. Reba McEntire recorded several of Knox’s songs, including “She Thinks His Name was John,” “Does He Love You,” and “He Wants to Get Married.”
The background vocals were so remarkable that they even made it into Billboard’s review: “A full-blown horn section and a giant gospel choir are not-so-gentle reminders that she’s expanded her boundaries way beyond traditional country,” it read.
(Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for the Grand Ole Opry)
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