A-side "Tequila Talkin'" Format CD Single, 7" 45 RPM Length 2:53 | Released January 8, 1996 Genre Country Label BNA | |
"No News" is a song performed by American country music band Lonestar. It was released in January 1996 as the second single from their debut album, Lonestar. "No News" reached the top of the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in April 1996 (see 1996 in country music), giving the group its first number-one single. It was written by Phil Barnhart, Sam Hogin, and Mark D. Sanders.
Contents
Content
The song's narrator tells of how his former lover has left him. Having not heard from her or her family, he says that he would "prefer a bad excuse to no news". In the verses, he offers several possibilities as to her disappearance, such as "Lost her car at the mall / Got locked in a bathroom stall". The line "Joined a cult, joined the Klan, on the road with Pearl Jam, buried with the Grateful Dead, came back as a parrothead" replaced the Klan reference with the milder "playin' guitar with the band" on the radio edit.
Critical reception
Deborah Evans Price, of Billboard magazine reviewed the song favorably, calling it "different, catchy, and utterly infectious." She goes on to say that the production is "first-rate" and that the performance is "right on the mark."
Music video
This was their first music video, and it was directed by Deaton-Flanigen Productions. It shows a woman who was riding on a bus to nowhere, she takes her glasses off and transforms into a beauty who hitchhikes at the end. Scenes also feature the band performing the song outside. A portion of their debut single "Tequila Talkin'" was played at the beginning of the video.
Chart positions
"No News" debuted at number 57 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of January 13, 1996. The song was commercially released as a double A-side with "Tequila Talkin'"; this double-sided single reached number 22 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100.