Reba McEntire’s “Tammy Wynette Kind of Pain” Sing of Real Heart Ache

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Produced by Buddy Cannon, “Tammy Wynette Kind of Pain” by Reba McEntire is the fourth track to her 2019 album Stronger than the Truth. McEntire released the song on March 8, 2019, with credits to songwriters Shelley Skidmore, Mark Narmore, and Brandy Clark. The song may not be as popular as her other tracks but it deserves its own recognition. 

An article from Spectrum Pulse described the ballad as a ‘rich pool of vintage country references.’ The article gave more praise saying, “The key change is the sort of neotraditional 90s move that Reba pulls off in a way that makes you really wish acts of all genres would bring back.” This further proves that McEntire is still standing strong in the business of modern country music. 

Singing it as if it were a personal heartache, the Queen of Country caters to the old country fans and the new. With a polished brand of country, she made “Tammy Wynette Kind of Pain” a listenable tune that focuses on a story of a domestic betrayal in a grounded fashion. The First Lady of Country Music, Tammy Wynette, would be proud to hear how she influenced one of Reba McEntire’s best modern ballads. 

Meaning of the Song

Reba McEntire recognizes the all-consuming suffering brought by a lover’s cheating through the ballad “Tammy Wynette Kind of Pain.” It describes heartache in its most painful form, inserting Wynette’s best songs into its lyrics, such as “Standing by your man, that’s a broken plan. When he breaks your heart and all your trust with his two cheating hands.” 

She further emphasizes a Wynette reference in the second verse “So it’s D-I-V-O-R-C-E, and you don’t want him to see you crying. So you’re crying’ in the rain. This is Tammy Wynette; we’re talking Tammy Wynette kind of pain.”

McEntire even affirmed that her pain ‘ain’t no little-girl heartache’ to stress the weight of it. The song is a nostalgic wave with a meaningful message of marital devastation. As the song ends, a steel guitar dramatically changes its key, accompanying McEntire’s full-throated emotional delivery. 

“It is so much fun to play a demo in this control room for the band and they just go, ‘Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!’ [They] just love this.” McEntire shared during her recording session. “Number one, it’s got modulation. Two, it’s countrier than country. This is what I was looking for when I said my album is going to be a stone-cold country.”

Sing your pain away with Reba McEntire’s gut-wrenching tune, “Tammy Wynette Kind of Pain.” 

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