Reba McEntire’s ‘Tammy Wynette Kind of Pain’ Is a Gutting Track About a Cheating Man
Reba McEntire captures the pain of a breakup as powerfully as the fellow country icon she name drops on "Tammy Wynette Kind of Pain."
The ballad tells the story of a woman going through intense heartbreak after learning that her husband has cheated, using Tammy Wynette's songs as the threshold for how she measures the pain.
McEntire's character is hurting bad, to make it clear. She's having to fake even the smallest smile, crying in the rain and comparing the feeling to a wound that will take a long time to heal. The song also finds her referencing some of Wynette's classic hits, like "Stand by Your Man,' "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and "Til I Can Make it on My Own.
"Standing by your man / That's a broken plan / When he breaks your heart and all your trust / With his two cheating hands / So it's d-i-v-o-r-c-e," she sings woefully, matched by a piano and waning steel guitar.
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McEntire knows of which she sings — she divorced her husband of more than 20 years in 2015. The superstar continues to share tracks off her 29th (!!!) studio album Stronger Than the Truth, which she says reconnects her with her Oklahoma roots.
"I grew up on an 8,000-acre family ranch singing at dance halls, honky-tonks and rodeos with my brother and sister. Stronger Than the Truth takes me back to that kind of country music that I grew up with," she describes. In addition to "Tammy Wynette Kind of Pain," McEntire has also unveiled "In His Mind," "No U in Oklahoma" and the title track.
Stronger Than the Truth is set for release on April 5.
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