He Thinks He'll Keep Her
| "He Thinks He'll Keep Her" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Mary-Chapin Carpenter | ||||
| from the album Come On Come On | ||||
| B-side | "Only a Dream" | |||
| Released | December 6, 1993 | |||
| Format | Cassette single, 7" single | |||
| Recorded | 1992 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 4:01 (album version) | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Writer(s) | Mary Chapin Carpenter, Don Schlitz | |||
| Producer(s) | Mary Chapin Carpenter, John Jennings | |||
| Mary-Chapin Carpenter singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"He Thinks He'll Keep Her" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Mary Chapin Carpenter. It was released in December 1993 as the sixth single from the album Come On Come On. The song was Carpenter’s first number-one single on the Radio & Records country music charts, although it peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. It was written by Carpenter and Don Schlitz.
The song was motivated in response to a 1970s Geritol TV commercial in which a man points to his wife’s many accomplishments and attributes, and then concludes with "My wife...I think I'll keep her".[1] The song itself, however, is about a woman who leaves an unhappy marriage, despite outward signs that it had been happy if not stable.
The song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year, and was accompanied by a live performance music video, taken from the 1993 CBS special Women of Country, where Carpenter was accompanied by Emmylou Harris, Kathy Mattea, Patty Loveless, Trisha Yearwood, Suzy Bogguss and Pam Tillis.
Music video
The music video – a live performance of the song with backing vocals by Emmylou Harris, Trisha Yearwood, Patty Loveless, Pam Tillis, Kathy Mattea and Suzy Bogguss, taken from the 1993 CBS television special Women of Country – was directed by Bud Schaetzle, and premiered in early 1994.
Chart positions
| Chart (1993-1994) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada Country Tracks (RPM)[2] | 6 |
| US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[3] | 2 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (1994) | Position |
|---|---|
| Canada Country Tracks (RPM)[4] | 74 |
| US Country Songs (Billboard)[5] | 16 |
References
- ↑ Staff of WomaNews. "Smart Talk: Shortcuts," Chicago Tribune, 1992-09-06.
- ↑ "Top RPM Country Tracks: Issue 2426." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. March 28, 1994. Retrieved August 4, 2013.
- ↑ "Mary Chapin Carpenter – Chart history" Billboard Hot Country Songs for Mary Chapin Carpenter.
- ↑ "RPM Top 100 Country Tracks of 1994". RPM. December 12, 1994. Retrieved August 4, 2013.
- ↑ "Best of 1994: Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 1994. Retrieved August 4, 2013.
