Released August 18, 2008 Length 3:35 | Genre Country Label Warner Bros. Nashville | |
Format CD single
Music download Writer(s) Jennifer Adan
Cory Batten | ||
"She Wouldn't Be Gone" is a song written by Jennifer Adan and Cory Batten, and recorded by American country music singer, Blake Shelton. It was released in August 2008 as the first single from his fifth studio album, Startin' Fires, which was released on November 18, 2008. The song became his fifth Number One song on the Hot Country Songs chart for the weeks of February 7–14, 2009.
Contents
Content
"She Wouldn't Be Gone" is a mid-tempo in which the male narrator reflects on his relationship and a lover who has just left him. He expresses regret over having not attempted to keep her from leaving, saying that if he had tried to keep her (by bringing her flowers, watching sunsets with her, and paying attention to her needs), "maybe she wouldn't be gone".
Cory Batten, one of the writers of the song, came up with the opening stanza ("Red roadside wildflower, if I had only picked you / Took you home and set you on the counter / Oh, at least a time or two / Maybe she'd have thought it through") after seeing a patch of red wildflowers outside his window. Adan said that she wanted the song's narrator to have a "feeling of desperation" by realizing after the fact what he should have done to keep his lover from leaving. When he recorded the song, Shelton said that he had "been able to dump more emotion into that vocal" than any of his previous material.
Critical reception
The song received a "thumbs down" review from the country music site Engine 145. Reviewer Brady Vercher states that "Shelton's phrasing and breathing are awkward enough to not make the song easily memorable or singable, decreasing its chances at chart success." Allmusic critic Steve Leggett considered it the strongest track on Startin' Fires, saying that it was "a brilliant portrayal of a man who finally finds his passion and love for a woman when it's way too late and she's already gone, and the chorus swells to passionate, almost white-knuckle perfection. It's a great song and Shelton gives it everything."
Music video
The music video was directed by Scott Speer and premiered in late 2008.