“You Better Think Twice“
Vince Gill
Written by Vince Gill and Reed Nielsen
Radio & Records
#1 (1 week)
July 14, 1995
Vince Gill finds a killer groove.
The Road to No. 1
Vince Gill’s long run of No. 1 singles was interrupted by “Which Bridge to Cross (Which Bridge to Burn),” which went top five. He returned to the top with the fifth single from When Love Finds You.
The No. 1
Gill’s strength with ballads is beyond question, and when he finds the right groove, his uptempo numbers can also be winners.
“You Better Think Twice” has a killer groove, and shows Gill can be a bit rough around the edges and still deliver a strong performance.
The lyrics help him here, as he’s one of the few male artists who can credibly sound like his intentions are wholly sincere as he warns a woman about the roaming ways of his best friend.
There is never a moment where Gill suggests he’s got his own designs on this woman, and he even sounds pretty sympathetic toward his best friend who will never settle down.
It’s a very rare example of a platonic male-female friendship in a country song, and Gill pulls it off with aplomb.
The Road From No. 1
Two straight up masterpieces followed “You Better Think Twice,” and they both missed the top ten. “Go Rest High On That Mountain” was the final single from When Love Finds You, and it won Gill his fourth CMA Award for Song of the Year. He then previewed High Lonesome Sound with its title track, which won him another Grammy. He returned to the top five with that album’s second single, “Worlds Apart,” and it’s also one of his best. He finally earned another No. 1 single with the third single, which we’ll cover in 1997.
“You Better Think Twice” gets a B+.
Every No. 1 Single of the Nineties
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Between “Which Bridge to Cross”, this song, “Go Rest High on that Mountain”, and “Worlds Apart”, this song is my least favorite, and it’s not because this is a bad song. That’s how good Vince Gill was and still is.
This is the first song in this feature in quite some time that I forgot existed. It sounds like a B-side from “Long Road Out of Eden” ten years later; it only took another ten years after that for him to just go ahead and join the Eagles.
This one brings back good memories because it was one of the Vince Gill songs I was hearing on the radio the most often during my renewed interest in country music in mid 1995, along with “Which Bridge To Cross.” I particularly remember hearing this song on more than one occasion when my dad and I were on the way to Circuit City, which was one of our regular hangouts at the time (We especially loved catching the hot new video of the previous number one, Shania’s “Any Man Of Mine,” at the TV section whenever it came on).
I also really love this song’s groove, and I’ve always liked the lyrics for the reasons you’ve stated. Hearing a male artist singing lyrics like this to a female character seems so rare, and sadly, very unheard of today in country music. I also enjoy Vince’s guitar work throughout, and as a kid, I always liked the rhyming line, “You better think twice before you roll the dice.” The song’s groove and overall style reminds me of something that Lee Roy Parnell could’ve cut, though Vince shows that he can pull it off just as well.
I’m still bummed that “Which Bridge To Cross” wasn’t a number one, since that’s one of my favorites off of When Love Finds You.” Just another example of how popular and cool country seemed back then: I actually remember one day seeing a car go down the block in our neighborhood with “Which Bridge To Cross” blasting out loud from the windows while I was standing on my front porch after getting back home from school. :) The iconic “Go Rest High On That Mountain” also deserved much better, and I remember really loving it whenever it was on the radio later in 1995. Luckily, it still enjoyed a nice long recurrent shelf life in our area, despite not making the top 10. I also love both “High Lonesome Sound” and “Worlds Apart.”
Gill and Tracy Lawrence seem to be duking it out for which male vocalist was most consistently strong with their output in this era without being predictable.
Gill would drop his needle deeper into this guitar-heavy groove with later albums, but doing so here was fresh and exciting for a singer known for his ballads.
This song gets a lot of airplay on SiriusXM’s Prime Country channel.
Gill continues to elevate his game with every hit.