On this day (July 29), Reba McEntire was at the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart with her rendition of “Cathy’s Clown.” The Everly Brothers originally recorded the song in 1960, and it was a massive hit, spending five weeks atop the Hot 100.
Today, many country fans remember McEntire as one of the biggest country stars of the 1990s. While it is true that every single she released during the decade landed in the top 40 of the country chart, the success was not new for her. After getting a slow start in the late 1970s, she became a dominant force on the country charts and airwaves in the early 1980s. Her success only grew as the decade went on, and she entered the 1990s while during a string of top 10 hits.
“Cathy’s Clown” became McEntire’s 13th No. 1 when it topped the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart dated July 29.
Reba McEntire Transformed “Cathy’s Clown”
Reba McEntire didn’t just cover the Everly Brothers’ 1960 hit. Instead, she changed the lyrics to bring a new perspective to the song.
“Cathy’s Clown” is about a man whose lover has publicly humiliated him. Everyone in town knows that she treats him poorly, and they make fun of him for it. He gets the nickname Cathy’s Clown because he allows her mistreatment of him to continue. The Everly Brothers sang the song from the perspective of the wronged man. According to Songfacts, Don Everly wrote the song about one of his former girlfriends. Their version of the song became the first single to simultaneously top the charts in the United States and the United Kingdom.
McEntire, on the other hand, changed the lyrics and told the story from the perspective of a woman who wanted to take the “Clown” away from Cathy. She sings about how much it hurts her to see the way his lover treats him and how much she wants to be with him.
