"Seven Year Ache" is a song written and recorded 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, ...
artist
Rosanne Cash
Rosanne Cash (born May 24, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of country musician Johnny Cash and Vivian Liberto Cash Distin, Johnny Cash's first wife. Although she is often classified as a country art ...
. It was released in February 1981 as the first single and title track from Cash's
album of the same name. The song was Cash's first of ten No. 1 hits on the US Country charts.
Music video
A music video, Cash's first, was made for the song. Directed by Arnold Levine, and produced by Yvonne May. It was filmed at EXIT/IN Nashville Music Forum in
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...
, and features Cash singing to a crowd, accompanied by her full band.
Commercial performance
"Seven Year Ache" was Cash's fourth single and her first single released in 1981. Considered her breakthrough recording, the song was Cash's first No. 1 on the
Billboard Country Chart
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 ...
, while also crossing over to the
Billboard Pop Chart, reaching No. 22. It was also a Top 10
Adult contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...
hit, cresting at No. 6.
The single was issued on Cash's second studio album, ''Seven Year Ache'' that year, which also produced the No. 1 hits "
My Baby Thinks He's a Train" and "
Blue Moon with Heartache."
Charts
Notable cover versions
"Seven Year Ache" has been recorded several times. American country artist
Trisha Yearwood
Patricia Lynn Yearwood (born September 19, 1964) is an American singer, actress, author and television personality. She rose to fame with her 1991 debut single " She's in Love with the Boy," which became a number one hit on the ''Billboard'' c ...
recorded a version for her 2001 album ''
Inside Out
Inside Out may refer to:
*Backwards (disambiguation) or inverse
Books
* '' Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd'', by Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason
* ''Inside Out'', Christian book by Larry Crabb
* ''Inside Out'', novel by Barry Eisler
...
'' that featured Cash herself singing
background vocals
A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...
.
References
{{Rosanne Cash
1981 singles
1981 songs
Rosanne Cash songs
Trisha Yearwood songs
Songs written by Rosanne Cash
Columbia Records singles
Song recordings produced by Rodney Crowell