Few country artists have as much success as Reba McEntire. Since her first No. 1 hit, with her 1982 single, “Can’t Even Get The Blues“, McEntire continues to release music, with her career now spanning decades.
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With so many songs, it’s almost impossible to remember all of them. We found three early Reba McEntire hits that most country fans no longer remember.
“I Can See Forever In Your Eyes”
“I Can See Forever In Your Eyes” came out in 1980, on McEntire’s third studio album, Feel The Fire. A Top 20 single for McEntire, the sweet love song says, “I never thought I’d be / Wrapped in the words / Of your sweet, sweet love / But here you are with me / This is what dreams are made of / I can see forever in your eyes / I can see a love that never dies / When you lay me down I realize / I can see forever in your eyes.”
It was a moderate hit for McEntire, but it was life-changing for songwriter Bob DiPiero. McEntire’s “I Can See Forever In Your Eyes” is the first time he ever heard one of his songs on the radio. Ironically, he heard it while he was vacuuming.
“I turned the vacuum cleaner off and stood in front of the radio like I was going to see something,” DiPiero tells American Songwriter. “I was just watching; I remember the song started, and I remember the whole intro going by, and her first vocals going by, before it actually started registering it was my song, and I had written it. It was very dreamlike.”
“Last Night, Every Night”
“Last Night, Every Night” is McEntire’s first Top 30 single as a solo artist. She previously had two hits, “I’d Really Love To See You Tonight” and “Three Sheets In The Wind”, both with Jacky Ward, which had some success at radio. But “Last Night, Every Night”, out in 1978, the debut single from her sophomore Out Of A Dream album, is her first single to crack the Top 30 on her own.
The song says, “Last night you made his memory fade a little / You helped me see how love can still be right / I wish you didn’t have to leave / If you just knew how much I need / Last night, every night.”
“I’m Not That Lonely Yet”
“I’m Not That Lonely Yet” is the last single Reba McEntire released before having her first No. 1 hit. On her fifth studio album, Unlimited, the song landed in the Top 5. The song says, “I look in your eyes while you’re dancing with me / And try to fulfill your request / But don’t ask for favors when it’s time to leave / Cause I’m not that lonely yet.”
Sharon Vaughn and Bill Rice are the writers of the song. Vaughn says the song likely would have become her first No. 1 hit if not for another artist.
“It was her first hit, and I don’t even think about that very often,” Vaughn tells The Tennessean. “But when I do, I remember that it was her first hit, and it was No. 3. It held at No. 3 in the charts for weeks because a Kenny Rogers song was at the top. And nothing could move in the charts. And it was a waltz.
Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images
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