“Strong Enough to Bend”
Tanya Tucker
Written by Beth Nielsen Chapman and Don Schlitz
Radio & Records
#1 (1 week)
September 23, 1988
Billboard
#1 (1 week)
October 22, 1988
Tanya Tucker says Strong Enough to Bend is one of her favorite albums, and it’s easy to see why. It’s the project that set Tucker up for the best commercial run of her career.
She does so by pivoting to an organic sound, leaving most of the pop signifiers behind. The title track and lead single sounds heavily influenced by the Trio project; the arrangement is reminiscent of “Wildflowers,” which had recently been a top ten hit for Parton, Ronstadt, and Harris.
But there’s a dramatic flair in the bridge that makes the song distinctively Tucker. Her use of her lower range to deliver the song’s key metaphor adds a gravitas that fully moves Tucker into mature artist territory:
When you say somethin’ that you can’t take backA big wind blows and you hear a little crackWhen you say “Hey, well, I might be wrong”You can sway with the wind ’til the storm is gone(Sway with the wind ’til the storm is gone)
I especially love that bluegrass-style callback, with the vocal provided by co-writer Beth Nielsen Chapman, who is starting to emerge as a singer-songwriter during this time period and will be a critical artistic partner for nineties women on the radio. The song is co-written by Hall of Famer Don Schlitz, and the distinctive styles of the individual songwriters blend beautifully.
Tucker’s never sounded better, and her pivot to a new traditionalist friendly sound ensures she will appear in this feature several more times.
“Strong Enough to Bend” gets an A.
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Lots of memories of this song going back to fourth and fifth grade. It was definitely the most organic and traditionally country sounding song from Tanya’s late 80s hitmaking years and the song’s hook was also extremely country, connecting with me as my dad had long made similar metaphors about the old oak tree in our front yard. Pleasing as Tanya’s vocal performance was, I always thought Beth Nielsen Chapman’s background vocals provided the special sauce that really helped this song stand out. I’m not familiar with the entire album but I found the reference of her joining the ranks of the New Traditionalists with this release to be curious. That was certainly clear with this track, but I found her next two singles from it to be quite pop-sweetened, especially “Call on Me”.
Grade: A-
Keep an ear to her singles from this point on. She’ll flirt with pop flavors from time to time, but it’s more country forward than we’ve been seeing from her so far. She doesn’t become a new traditionalist, but she incorporates those elements heavily moving forward, especially on her ballads. The success of the title track – and her fondness for it – pivots her in that direction.
Easily one of my favorite songs of all time, and probably my favorite song of Tucker’s. A masterful record.
Kevin, That’s All That Matters by Mickey Gilley also went to #1 on Radio & Records on December 12, 1980 in addition to Billboard on December 20, 1980 because Smoky Mountain Rain by Ronnie Milsap only spent three weeks at #1 on Radio & Records from November 21-December 5, 1980. not four weeks at #1 on Radio & Records from November 21-December 12, 1980. So Kevin, Please fix it ASAP. Thank You.
Fixed! Thank you for catching this error!
I know that this site’s “Holy Trinity” of nineties female songwriters has always been Berg, Richey and Peters, but Beth Nielsen Chapman needs to be somewhere in that conversation (I’d personally swap her out for Peters, no shade on the latter). And when she throws in a harmony vocal, it makes it even better (ad Strong Enough to Bend confirms).
Oh, I agree that she’s fantastic and very worthy of being in that conversation. I love her as an artist, too.
John P. said it all for me
I think this is actually Tucker’s best Number One; as Kevin said, certainly a pivot from her first few Capitol releases, but for the better (I heard her last Number One in this feature just today on Sirius’ Prime Country channel and it simply doesn’t hold up as well in my opinion). Shame this is her last Billboard chart topper, as she went on to release at least a dozen more quality singles beyond this one.
This is one of those songs I hold up and celebrate as being as educational and foundational as much as anything else.
A song this well written stands as true wisdom literature.
Add a mature vocalist brilliantly interpreting the lyrics and you get a country music classic.
I think the wonder of Tucker’s career is how smoothly and effortlessly she moved between hard and soft country sounds at multiple stages of her career.
It is so great to see the extent to which the young songwriters are getting their own breaks and exposure almost equal to that of the recording artists themselves during the late ’80s.
If I only had a nickle for every time I have quoted the lyrics from this single.
Tanya Tucker was fully back with this hit.