Reba McEntire has been an undeniable creative force and one of the most beloved household names in country music. And through the ups and downs of her life, it was her faith that got her through. As she once wrote and sang, “I Got the Lord on My Side.”
The track was one of the 22 gospel songs on her 2-disc GMA Dove Award-winning album Sing It Now: Songs of Faith & Hope, which she produced along with her musical director Dough Sisemore and Rascal Flatt’s Jay DeMarcus and released in 2017 under Rockin’ R Records, Nash Icon, Big Machine Records, and Capitol Christian Music Group. The first disc contained all traditional hymns, while the second contained all original Reba McEntire songs.
According to McEntire, it wasn’t her idea to do a gospel album. It was her manager, Jim Weatherson, whom she worked with back in the ‘80s.
Some of the songs off the album that she really liked to listen to and perform on stage were “God and My Girlfriends,” “Back to God,” “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” and, of course, “I Got The Lord On My Side,” which she had written with her Mama.
Meaning Behind the Song
“I Got the Lord on My Side” was written by Reba and her mom, Jackie McEntire.
In an interview with NPR, she said that she wrote the song when she was out walking one day in her place in Tennessee. “That’s my church time. That’s when I get out and I praise the Lord and I thank him for everything. And I was just – you know, just saying I’m so happy. I got the Lord on my side. And, oh, I’m smiling. I got the Lord on my side.”
She wrote exactly how she felt that day, and it came out as a very fun and upbeat song to sing when you’re having a great day. It’s also the perfect pep song to sing along to if you’re feeling down and weary.
But when she went in to record the album, her mom, who was sitting in the studio’s control room that day, gave her a suggestion. That is, for the second verse, instead of saying “I,” why not say “you.” And her first response to it was, why didn’t she think of it?
And her mama’s suggestion was spot-on. Listen to “I Got the Lord on My Side” by Reba McEntire in the video below.
