Reba McEntire photo by Russ Harrington, courtesy of the Valory Music Co.

"This is a song I was on the fence about because it was so deep that I just didn’t know how to take it. And so I let Autumn McEntire Sizemore, my niece, listen to it. She started crying and said, ‘You’ve got to record this song.’ I let more people listen to it and they were like, ‘Oh my gosh!’

"It didn’t hit me as hard as it did a lot of other people. I guess I haven’t had to get away. I think my music is my release. Whenever I am menopausal or whatever, I can release things in my music when I sing. That is my therapy. It touched so many people that I recorded it. When I sang it live it choked me up so much that I couldn’t get through it.

"This woman has a meltdown and she is just putting sheets on the bed and winds up in a bunch of dirty clothes on the floor, crying her eyes out. She checks into a cheap motel and lets it all out, crying in the bathtub. It was just as simple as picking up the kids and she’s back in life again. She just needed to go away and take time for herself. Eight hours later, they’re sitting around table eating chicken and laughing. It’s eight crazy hours and the story of love."

"Nothing To Lose"
(Kim Fox)

"Nothing to Lose" was on Melonie Cannon’s album. When I was working with (Melonie’s father) Buddy Cannon years ago, he gave it to me. I love Melonie’s voice. ‘Nothing to Lose’ was one of those songs that I said, ‘Man, if I could ever record that?,’ so I did. I told everybody, ‘I want to feature the band on this,’ so we let the band play two or three times. Everybody had an instrumental. It’s about a woman leaving on the bus going down to Georgia. She doesn’t know where she’s going and doesn’t know what lies ahead, but she doesn’t care. It’s another strong woman song."

"Over You"
(Michael Dulaney, Steven Dale Jones, Jason Sellers)

"Whew! That is a sad song, kind of like Anne Steele. It’s a beautiful melody. (My husband) Narvel said he loved this song. He would play the demo over and over. It’s just one of those about ‘I knew the day would come when we would see each other again. You look great and got on with your life, but I’m still not over you.’ It’s really sad."

"Maggie Creek Road"
(Karen Rochelle, James Slater)

"We were in the studio and I was having trouble with my resonance; I wasn’t getting my soft voice at all. During lunch I saw Dr. Richard Quisling, my throat doctor in Nashville, and he opened up my sinuses or resonances or something. I came back to the studio and started singing again and Tony Brown’s mouth dropped open, ‘My gosh, what did he do to you?’ ‘He lasered out a little infection.’ I put Dr. Quisling on my album thanks-yous. He is just a miracle worker.

"I had been on the fence about this song, but Tony really wanted me to record it. While I was coming back in, I said, ‘Let’s do ‘Maggie Creek Road’ next,’ and he said, ‘Yes!’

"It’s about this woman who has a daughter that is almost déjà vu for this mother. The little girl is leaving with evidently an older man on a date. This is what happened to the mother 20 years ago. She isn’t going to let history repeat itself, so she follows them. They are parked down by the river and she opens the door and takes care of the situation. As the song says, ‘You don’t want to see Mama go to war.’ Mama was protecting her daughter. It’s one of those swampy Louisiana songs with that feel."

"I'll Have What She's Having"
(Jimmy Melton, Georgia Middleman)

"This is a cute song. I loved it the first time I heard it. They had horns on it and I said, ‘Of course we’ll change it to fiddle and steel guitar.’ It’s real sassy. A woman is walking into a bar and she’s looking for a man. She sees a woman having a good time, dancing with a man. ‘I’ll have what she’s having? and by the way, that looks hot.’ We’ll have fun with it onstage."