Song Review – Reba McEntire’s “Going Out Like That”
“Going Out Like That” is not just another single. It symbolizes the very first song from the NASH Icon enterprise pairing Big Machine Records with Cumulus Media in an effort to revitalize overlooked legacy artists, and the first single from Reba McEntire in nearly four years. As the precursor to a planned 2015 album release, the single also may give us a glimpse into what we can expect from a revamped Reba—if through the NASH Icon venture she may have the latitude to be a little more traditional, or if she will try to hang with the young pups with a more contemporary sound.
Reba resides in her own unique generation when it comes to country artists. She was already established when the “Class of ’89” came rolling out, yet her commercial success has stretched well into the 2000’s, and has been assisted by her acting career and her seemingly constant presence in front of the cameras and the generally favorable take on her as an artist from a wide swath of country fandom. Considering the entire breadth of her body of work, it would be tough to call her either traditional or contemporary because she’s dabbled in both, though her decision to cover Beyoncé’s “If I Were A Boy” in 2011 made many wonder if she was reaching for a shot at relevancy beyond her twilighting status.
Written by veteran songster Rhett Akins with Ben Hayslip and Jason Sellers, “Going Out Like That” sees Reba delve into the whole nightlife motif that is very hot right now in “country” music. Giving a 3rd person account of a girl going through a breakup, the song takes an empowering trajectory of not allowing the jilt of love lost to hold a young woman down. She fights through the tears to hit the town and leave all her bad memories behind in a volley of alcoholic drinks and dance moves.
Where the song tries to find a balance between the two country worlds Reba resides in is in the instrumentation. The serrated-edged Stratocaster-style rock guitar is there, but starts off a little more subdued that what most modern country might feature; just tempered enough to allow the acoustic guitar to still be heard in the mix, while steel guitar helps countrify the rhythm and instrumentation. The drumming may be a little too much for a country song, but it fits the style and context. Though not ideal to either the old school or new school mindset, the song starts off amicable to both until a fairly self-indulgent guitar solo careens into the spotlight, and Reba’s vocals begin to be transmogrified by technology.
Thematically, one of the issues with “Going Out Like That” is not necessarily where it goes, but where it could have gone. Like so many modern country songs, it swaps a third resolving verse for yet another run through the catchy chorus. The song seems custom written to score more of a deep emotional impact by resolving into something more than “she’s smiling while she’s throwing back shots.” It could have spoken to a more personal realization or a true vindication for the heroine instead of just a boozed-fueled night of blurry recollections of party moments. This is the fundamental difference between country music circa 1985 and country music in 2015—the moral is gone. With many of country’s current hot upstarts, you can excuse this oversight because they arguably have never interfaced with country music of that nature. But with Reba, you kind of expect it, or at least hope for it.
Other small things like Reba talking about guys “blowing up her phone” feel a little anachronistic from Reba’s vantage and reinforce the theory that she’s trying to reach for renewed attention to her career, though the song is savvy to set its perspective in the 3rd person to attempt to resolve this.
“Going Out Like That” was released on January 6th and immediately shot up to the #1 song spot on iTunes, speaking once again to the buying power of the middle-aged country public that has been so unnecessarily abandoned by the mainstream in a headlong pursuit of youth. This was the space NASH Icon was hoping to fill, and with their very first trial balloon, they’re already seeing success, and in terms of sales and not just streaming—something that gives these NASH Icon artists a financial advantage over their younger counterparts. The song should also do well on radio with its Cumulus backing, and we can expect to see favorable chart results for the single in the coming weeks.
This is a safe move from Reba. “Going Out Like That” won’t win her any traditionalist support, but it also won’t stimulate a ton of criticism, while similarly finding a receptive audience to mainstream 30 to 50-somethings that have joined classic country fans lately in wondering what the hell has happened to their country radio.
1 Gun Up, 1 Gun Down.
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“Going Out Like That” does not have any public display media available at the moment, but can be previewed or purchased on Amazon and iTunes, or if you do the Spotify thing, listen below.
January 9, 2015 @ 1:42 pm
I wouldn’t even go back as far as 1985. Pam Tillis, Patty Loveless and Lorrie Morgan all explored this theme with greater introspection and realism in the mid 1990s. Songs like ‘Something In Red’ by Morgan or ‘All The Good Ones Are Gone’ by Tillis had so much more heart to them. It’s kind of like the endless arguments of the bro crowd about there always having been drinking songs in country. Yes, there has been but they had emotion and regret and they dealt with real life and not just a ‘hey let’s get drunk’ attitude and that’s sort of how this song feels to me. If you listen to mainstream country right now you would think that the answer to every problem is ‘let’s throw back a couple of shots’.
The lack of depth in these songs is really sad.
January 10, 2015 @ 1:32 am
Amen to that. I would argue that the neotraditional period from the mid-80s to the mid-90s represented the last golden age of country music, due to the deep emotional lyrics and the soothing yet delightful melodies stemming from fiddle and steel guitar with a tinge of soft rock.
January 9, 2015 @ 3:54 pm
I was hoping for more but, after years of waiting for a return to the more traditional side of things I think that boat has sunk. Once again an artist with true talent is autuned to death I don’t know if its the sound people want these days but someone with the talent of reba doesn’t need it. My hope was for her to pick up the flag of traditional music and and use it to show that Country Music use to tell stories.
January 9, 2015 @ 4:13 pm
I’ve been waiting for you to review “Going Out Like That,” Trig! At first, the song reminded me her 90’s hit “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter” – which was a real good thing! Then, by the end of the song I was cringing! Why the electronic, voice manipulation shit? She still has one of the most dynamic voices in the industry. It might have worked for Cher in the 90’s, but it fells dated here.
And the “Heart is a Lonely Hunter” message was much deeper. It’s funny to think how that line about shots would have been received in the 90s.
There’s good and there’s bad, which is all we can hopeful when it comes to mainstream radio country anymore. But not a reach for the Nash Icon label, just more of the same ole, same ole.
I just want someone to come along like Jack White did for Loretta Lynn and produce (mentor) a killer album.
January 9, 2015 @ 5:38 pm
I have not heard the song in question so I won’t comment .
BUT ….Here’s a query about the workings of iTunes downloads. Excuse my ignorance .
Why couldn’t I as an artist or a label buy 25,000 downloads the first day it comes out Yes …iTunes gets their cut but the rest of that money comes back to ME the artist/label ….no ? Couldn’t the iTunes percentage be written off as promotion ?
Maybe someone can guide me in my ignorance of this or lend me enough money to buy 25000 copies of my iTune- posted original song and make me a # 1 star overnight .
Stumped near Seattle .
January 9, 2015 @ 5:49 pm
Yes, this is a common theory of how to launch an artist or a single, and its been said this is what Taylor Swift’s dad did with her first record to launch her career, though nobody has ever presented any bit of evidence it actually happened. The thing is, with MediaBase and Soundscan, such irregularities these days would almost immediately be picked up on and then the public outcry would cost them way more. As corrupt as certain potions of the music business are, there are certain incentives for everyone involved to make sure sales and stream reporting is accurate and fair. Otherwise everyone could lose in the long run.
I think Reba’s sales are legit because the single has been well-promoted, there’s no free way to listen to it, and most of her constituents are older. I think there’s a lot of anticipation for a new Reba album.
January 9, 2015 @ 5:51 pm
Thanks for the response Trigger . BTW I just found it and listened to it free on You Tube .
January 9, 2015 @ 6:45 pm
I would appreciate it if baseless rumors were not spread at all. Thanks.
January 10, 2015 @ 2:37 pm
Seriously Eric…not a rumour …I did find this on You Tube here in Canada . Perhaps it isn’t available in the U.S. …??
January 10, 2015 @ 4:23 pm
I was referring to baseless rumors about specific artists inflating their sales, not about the availability of this song.
January 10, 2015 @ 8:32 am
You can listen free on Spotify, she had more guys than Taylor to release it there.
January 9, 2015 @ 6:00 pm
That’s not exclusively at digit problem. That occurred often in the physical realm, too – all they had to do was ship the product for it to count towards Gold and Platinum records. I remember the label coming to us in 07 and asking us (as a major distributor) to purchase and ship X amount of product because Jason Aldean was close to having his first (at the time) Gold album. In return they gave us a deep discount up-front and waived all return-fees for the product we didn’t sell (we return most of it).
January 9, 2015 @ 6:03 pm
I forgot to add: we called that a Morton’s Steak dinner.
I used to eat so well.
January 9, 2015 @ 5:50 pm
OK …just heard the song .
Same 4 chords as the ” mashup” posted the other day …
Voice tweaked to sound like a younger vocalist ( at least Dolly doesn’t have to do that …she’s always sounded young )
What the hell is that ….THING ….going on with the bridge vocal ???
I think the track maybe one guitar short of a dozen and ONE FULL DOZEN seems to be the standard on all of these Wall-Of -Sound productions .
NO emotional substance to the delivery or , in fact , the generic lyric .
The saddest part of this is that Reba is trying to do Carrie Underwood from two years ago and REBA DOESN’T HAVE TO . She has a fan base who know and respect her approach and isn’t that the fan base/listener base ICON aspires to tap into ?
I hope Reba hasn’t given up her REAL job – a unique and consistent performer of REAL music with REAL messages and stories , REAL traditional instrumentation and her REAL voice ….not some auto-tuned ,burried and altered version of that gift. Surely she can’t need the $$$$ THAT badly …?
Next please .
Next please .
January 9, 2015 @ 6:34 pm
One can blame radio for focusing on the youth market now if one wants, but no woman has EVER had hits on country radio at the age that Reba McEntire is now. Reba was born 13 years after Tammy Wynette. When was Tammy’s last hit? 1985?
January 12, 2015 @ 3:17 pm
Well, the fact that Tammy Wynette has been dead for decades likely has something to do with that….
January 10, 2015 @ 3:04 am
I do not understand auto-tune fir artists who can actually sing. Why do they do that. And it nice to see the production people are still “loudening” to compete with already loudened music out there, thus once again blowing out the low end and high ranges leaving basically NO dynamic range. *shakes head* Why are production people SO against dynamic range?! I swear I examined wav filrd from songs from all kinds of past eras and there are peaks valleys in the green, but music today even this song is more like one big block of sound no peaks, no valleys (sigh)…
January 10, 2015 @ 8:35 am
Oops meant guts lol. And also I know the song mentions drinking but I took it more as a short celebration of a larger thing, bigger meaningful decision in the woman’s life, which is what we love about Reba, the empowerment.
January 10, 2015 @ 12:06 pm
She uses auto tuned in one song on a couple parts?? Not a big deal. I think the song is perfect and is 100% Reba while still being modern! She’s a smart lady. Her and N arvel know what they are doing.
January 12, 2015 @ 3:18 pm
She used the same technique she used in the song, State of Grace from the What If It’s You Album here.
January 11, 2015 @ 1:10 pm
I’ll wait for the album. Reba releases more radio friendly songs but the album always has a few good songs on it.
January 11, 2015 @ 10:08 pm
Too much voice manipulation. Hurts my ears. I think the sound engineers don’t like it either, since they drown her voice with loud music. Such a shame.
January 12, 2015 @ 10:38 am
I love Reba, but I expected a lot more.
January 13, 2015 @ 12:55 pm
I haven’t heard the song, but if you take out all references to Reba along with any historical context it reads like a review of Lady Antebellum’s “Hey Bartender.”
January 15, 2015 @ 6:11 pm
Firstly, I have to honestly say I am completely unsurprised we got this as a lead offering.
If we”™re being fully honest with ourselves here, McEntire was already trending toward pandering to a youthful listening demographic with the lead single (and secondary single) from her previous 2010 release “All The Women I Am”. That single, “Turn On The Radio”, also found her pandering to trendy tropes of the time: most notably Twitter, texting, DJs and Chevy trucks. Top all that off with the fact Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert were already producing chart-topping kiss-off hits like “Cowboy Casanova” and “Undo It”, and it”™s quite clear that single choice was predicated on sheer marketing more than anything else (though it”™s easy to understand why they felt it would work).
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Still, that”™s by no means excusing the painful disappointment “Going Out Like That” is: especially on the lyrical front.
Aside from the “blowin”™ up her phone” lyric: which is shameless pandering in itself…………what makes me raise my eyebrows the most is the second verse that shockingly hasn”™t even been touched on yet here:
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“She”™s got her hands up dancin like the floors on fire,
yeah she”™s the hottest thing in here”¦”
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Firstly, Reba copies and pastes a cliched line first used to death in watered-down EDM pop circuits. Then, she shamelessly refers to this female subject as a THING.
I expect that kind of behavior from most of your dime-a-dozen bro-country swilling male artists. But from a female veteran of the genre like Reba? Uggghhh, that”™s painfully discouraging.
Then, finally, she sings “She”™s smiling while she”™s throwing back shots.””¦”¦”¦thereby reinforcing this alarming and irresponsible idea that alcohol is the only effective means of escapism or resolve from heartaches. There”™s no nuanced hint of consequence to celebratory drinking here, just as Lady Antebellum”™s “Bartender” failed to articulate (even though “Bartender” at least got the tone right in that it has an eerie-sounding solo in its bridge).
All in all, I”™d rate this 1 1/2 out of 2 Guns Down. I can’t give her a free pass when this is blatant Nashville machine songwriting and the “She’s the hottest thing in here!” lyric alone makes me cringe.
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In spite of this dud, I have high hopes that this will prove to be an outlier on her new album just as “Turn On The Radio” and “If I Were A Boy” were outliers on “All The Women I Am”. Even while pandering with singles from her previous album, the album as a whole proved McEntire still knows how to deliver such chilling, cut-right-to-the-bone fare as well. “Somebody”™s Chelsea” even got released as a single and while it tragically bombed, it was one of the best radio singles that year, and “The Day She Got Divorced” and “When You Have A Child” also proved she still hasn”™t lost that touch when she puts her heart to it.
January 24, 2015 @ 1:11 pm
Everything you said above Noah – RIGHT ON !!!
March 2, 2015 @ 9:17 pm
1 1/4 out 2 guns down
March 22, 2015 @ 4:33 pm
Some of you people are WAY too harsh…Jesus
April 23, 2015 @ 8:09 am
Reba performed this song on The Voice this week and it was just awkward for me. Here we have a beautiful vintage country vocalist at 60 years old dressing and trying to perform like somebody half her age. I thought her vocal performance was great, but everything else, including the indulgent guitar solo, was just not good. I think she (or her coach / producer / etc) is trying to pander to a younger demographic and that totally undermines her core audience. I’m just thoroughly disappointed so far because she is capable of so much better than this.
June 3, 2015 @ 7:13 pm
I seldom listen to country anymore, except in classic form. Shortly after Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood emerged, I gave up on the modern form of this genre almost completely. On occasion I listen to Miranda Lambert. I turned on the local radio station today out of curiosity, and heard this song. I have been a Reba fan my whole life–I’m sorry, this is not what I would expect from her. It isn’t country at all, and it’s out of character. I am very saddened with the state of country music these days. The music of my youth is gone. I am in my 30s and feel like I lost a lifelong friend that has died.
November 5, 2016 @ 12:05 am
I actually like this song , it’s fun, uptempo & I don’t have a problem with Reba McEntire chasing radio. After all everyone else is doing it.