"Maybe I Mean Yes" is a song by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer

Holly Dunn Holly Suzette Dunn (August 22, 1957 – November 14, 2016) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Dunn recorded for MTM Records between 1985 and 1988, Warner Bros. Records between 1988 and 1993, and River North Records between 1995 ...

. It was a new song from her 1991 compilation '' Milestones: Greatest Hits'', from which it was released as a single in 1991. Dunn wrote and produced the song with her brother

Chris Waters Christopher Waters Dunn, known professionally as Chris Waters is an American singer and songwriter, record producer, and culinary writer. He is the brother of country singer Holly Dunn. Dunn has written and produced many of his sister's singles, ...

. The song was withdrawn from airplay at Dunn's request, just weeks after its release and while climbing the ''Billboard''

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart, due to controversy over the song's lyrics.

Content

Written by Dunn along with her brother

and songwriter

Tom Shapiro Tom Curtis Shapiro (born in Kansas City, Missouri) is an American songwriter and occasional record producer, known primarily for his work in country music. To date, he holds four Country Songwriter of the Year awards from Broadcast Music Incorpor ...

, the song is about a flirtatious woman. Dunn herself described the song as a "lighthearted look at one couple's attempt at dating, handled in an innocent, nonsexual, flirtatious way."

Critical reception

Kimmy Wix of ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' wrote that the song "drives her scorching vocals to an all-time-high performance" and that it "also ranks high on the list with commanding lyrics, spicy instrumentation and a barreling tempo that conjures up a musical storm."

Controversy

The song was the subject of controversy at the time of its release concerning the lyric "''When I say 'no' I mean 'maybe', or maybe I mean 'yes." Due to negative feedback from listeners who perceived this lyric as condoning

date rape Date rape is a form of acquaintance rape and dating violence. The two phrases are often used interchangeably, but date rape specifically refers to a rape in which there has been some sort of romantic or potentially sexual relationship between ...

, Dunn sent letters to radio stations and television stations, asking for the single to be withdrawn from rotation. Dunn also stated that "My co-writers and I stand by our original intent 100%." Dunn also agreed to stop performing the song in concert.

Chart performance

The song peaked at No. 48 on the

chart dated August 10, 1991, after only five weeks on the charts. Despite Dunn's decision to withdraw the song having already been enacted, it increased in airplay for that week, rising from the No. 53 position.

References

{{authority control 1991 singles 1991 songs Holly Dunn songs Songs written by Holly Dunn Songs written by Chris Waters Songs written by Tom Shapiro Warner Records singles Obscenity controversies in music