Reba McEntire offers up a bit of hope with a new song called “Somehow You Do.” Written by Diane Warren, the sweeping ballad serves as McEntire’s third collaboration with the acclaimed songwriter, following “What If” (1997) and “I’ll Be” (2000). So you feel like you’ve run outta hope / Carrying all that weight / Your back’s about to break, she sings.
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Despite such bleakness, McEntire’s voice invites the listener to uncover the silver lining that’s always peaking through the swirling storm clouds. When you think it’s the end of the road / It’s just ’cause you don’t know where the road’s leading to, she encourages on the chorus. When you think that the mountain’s too high / And the ocean’s too wide, you’ll never get through / Some way, somehow, somehow you do.
“Somehow You Do,” which reunites the country singer with producer Tony Brown, known for producing many of her biggest hits, including “Fancy,” serves as a soundtrack piece to the upcoming film, Four Good Days, starring Mila Kunis and Glenn Close.
“It’s an honor to get to sing a Diane Warren song anytime, but then to be associated with talented actors in a movie like Glenn and Mila is just icing on the cake,” says McEntire in a press statement.
With the accompanying visual, directed by Jon Avnet (Fried Green Tomatoes, Black Swan), McEntire treks a lonesome strip of highway out in the desert, intercut with footage from the film. “Reba’s interpretation of Diane’s song was so nuanced and moving. When I was asked if I would direct the filming of it, I jumped at the opportunity. I hoped to use the film to interpret both the song and the movie,” says Avnet. “It was worth every minute in the desert working with Reba. She’s a pro’s pro and fun to boot! And of course, this is my second go around with Diane. The first was ‘Because You Loved Me,’ that Celine Dion sung for my film Up Close and Personal. That one worked out well and I think ‘Somehow You Do’ should, as well.”
Warren also shares her thoughts on writing the song, saying, “‘Somehow You Do’ is a song about hope, about how even through the times that are so hard and moments in your life that are so devastating, that somehow you will get through them and get to the other side. It is a song about strength of the human spirit and no voice can convey that as much as Reba. She makes you feel with every note that you might think you can’t get through it, but somehow you will, and somehow you do.”
Four Good Days hits cinemas this Friday (April 30) and comes to digital May 21.
