Every #1 Country Single of the Eighties: Reba McEntire, “Cathy’s Clown”

“Cathy’s Clown”

Reba McEntire

Written by Don Everly

Radio & Records

#1 (1 week)

July 7, 1989

Billboard

#1 (1 week)

July 29, 1989

Reba McEntire’s final No. 1 single of the decade is also her final No. 1 single with Jimmy Bowen as her co-producer.

Bowen legendarily blocked McEntire from recording “Fancy,” given its subject matter. It would end up the centerpiece of her first post-Bowen album and her signature hit.

Somehow he signed off on this Everly Brothers cover, and it is easily the worst No. 1 single of Reba McEntire’s lengthy career. The Everly original is a song of stark defiance, where a man finds his grit and refuses to be Cathy’s clown anymore. McEntire rewrites it into a ballad where she’s pouting over the guy who is still very much Cathy’s clown.

So where the Everlys sing this:

I gotta stand tallYou know a man can’t crawlWhen he knows you’re tellin’ lies and he hears ’em passing byHe’s not a man at all

Reba sings this:

You gotta stand tallYou know a man can’t crawlWhen you let her tell you lies and you let them pass you byYou’re not a man at all

It’s this bizarre spectacle where she’s trying to win a man’s heart by pointing out his emasculation, then gently reassuring him that she’s even more pathetic and weak than he is, so “Pick me!!!!”

An unmitigated disaster. But her next visit to the top kicks off her imperial era, so it all worked out in the end.

“Cathy’s Clown” gets an F.

Every No. 1 Single of the Eighties

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7 Comments

  1. Dreadful. Simply dreadful. Giving this song an “F” is unfair – it is not that good. Easily the worst recording Reba ever made – but I think most listeners were favorably inclined toward the song thanks to the Everly’s recording and didn’t actually listen to the pathetic lyrics

  2. Never heard the Everly Brothers version so I have no basis for comparison. I’ve never felt strongly either way about this song so seeing a failing grade was a bit eye-popping. While she hits a few pleasant notes over the course of the record, her overall delivery is stilted to the point that I’ve never listened carefully to the lyrics as I didn’t think I was worth the degree of concentration necessary to decipher them. Reading the lyrics now as I listen to the song, I don’t notice anything that I would consider particularly embarrassing. While I certainly don’t love this, I can think of at least a couple of Reba hits that I liked less.

    Grade: C-

    • I think the strength and appeal of this song is that it is an internal monologue; we hear the narrator’s perspective and the community’s, but never his.

      It’s the private thoughts of a woman who can see beyond the herd mentality and group think of a cruel community of bullies who essentially laugh at the nameless cuckold. Whereas everyone else sees just a clown to make fun of and mock, she sees a man worth thinkink and dreaming about.

      Isn’t it empathy that allows her her to clearly criticize his actions and weaknesses, while also seeing better for him?

      I hear an aching hopeful tenderness and despair to this performance about unrequited love. Not knowing what is holding back the narrator from claiming Cathy’s lover as her own adds a layer of intrigue to the listening experience for me as she waits for him to get up off the mat.

      Patient kindness is the emotion being promoted in this cover as opposed to the defiant self-expression of the original Everly Brothers recording. The narrator is waiting for Cathy’s clown to find his grit and confidence. Maybe he is currently the emotional coward of the county.

      I can easily imagine Cathy’s clown as Tommy before finding his Becky.

      Incidentally, this song also reminds me so much of Bobbie Cryner’s “You Could Steal Me.”

  3. I will admit that I don’t know if this story is true but I have heard that the demo was from a Dolly cover and Reba copied and sang it the exact same way. Apparently, Dolly scrapped it, but Reba found it and decided to record it. It’s possible as Dolly does write and generally Reba seldom gets involved in any writing/re-writing. Has anyone else heard that story?

    • Yes, that story is in the billboard book of number one country hits, straight from Reba herself.

      I say this with as much love and charity for both women as possible, as they are both two of my favorite artist of all time:

      If Dolly Parton tries to cover something and decides not to release it, nobody else should. She’s done more embarrassing covers than I care to count, so I’m not surprised one that even she thought wasn’t good enough ended up a disaster for someone else.

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