Behind the Meaning of Reba McEntire’s “Why Do We Want (What We Know We Can’t Have)”

Why do we want what we know we can’t have? It’s a question most of us have pondered from time to time. Reba McEntire did so in her song of the same name. Released in 1983, this track uses narratives to try and answer that essential question. Uncover the meaning behind this McEntire hit, below.

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Behind the Meaning of Reba McEntire’s “Why Do We Want (What We Know We Can’t Have)”

Some come for the music
Some for romance
You’ve got to be with the boy that brought you to the dance
Then across the room comes a casual glance
And you be making some dime even half the chance

In the opening verse, McEntire paints a party scene. Like many parties, this one sees the attendees looking for love. Also true to life, their glances often stray to places they shouldn’t. Now some like to look / And some like to touch / All the things that they can’t have / Way too much, she sings.

Now some like to look
And some like to touch
All the things that they can’t have
Way too much
Some like to get real close to the flame
Once you feel the heat
You know they’re never the same

Well Susie was out driving her new corvette
She hadn’t made that second payment yet
She rear ended a Semi
But not by choice
She was a rubbernecking a new Rolls Royce

The second verse features a clever anecdote that lays bare the issue at hand. Her character, Susie, just got her hands on a new corvette. The purchase quickly seems to lose its shine when she sees a new Rolls Royce.

Why do we want
What we know we can’t have?
Why don’t we want
What’s in the palm of our hands?
Why are we always looking
At what’s just out of our grasp?
Why do we want
What we know we can’t have?

The chorus sees McEntire dive deep into the namesake question. Why is it that the things in our grasp are often unappealing? What is it about what we can’t have that seems so enticing? While McEntire doesn’t have the answer to that question necessarily, it is an endlessly relatable track.

Why do we want
What we know we can’t have?
Why don’t we want
What’s in the palm of our hands?
Why are we always looking
At what’s just out of our grasp?

(Photo by John Salangsang/Shutterstock)