"She Let Herself Go" is a song written by

Dean Dillon Dean Dillon (born Larry Dean Flynn; March 26, 1955) is an American country musician and songwriter. Between 1982 and 1993, he recorded six studio albums on various labels, and charted several singles on the '' Billboard'' country charts. Since 1 ...

and Kerry Kurt Phillips, 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, ...

singer

George Strait George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait is considered one of the most influential and popular recording artists of all time. In the 1980s, he was credited for ...

. It was released in September 2005 as the second single from Strait's album '' Somewhere Down in Texas''. The song reached the top of the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

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 in January 2006. The song became Strait's 40th Number One single on the U.S. ''Billboard''

charts, tying the record held at the time by

Conway Twitty Harold Lloyd Jenkins (September 1, 1933 – June 5, 1993), better known by his stage name Conway Twitty, was an American singer and songwriter. Initially a part of the 1950s rockabilly scene, Twitty was best known as a country music performer. ...

Content

The song is a mid-tempo describing a woman whose male lover has just left her. Although the male presumes that the female will "let herself go" in the traditional sense of that expression; in other words, that she will refrain from keeping her physical, emotional, or aesthetic stature in check. The phrase "she let herself go" is then given a different meaning in the chorus, where it is revealed that she "let herself go" on excursions that he had never let her do before, such as going on a singles cruise, a spa in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, or on a trip to the beach.

Critical reception

Stephen Thomas Erlewine reviewed the song favorably, calling it a "clever breakup tale".Allmusic: album review
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Chart positions

"She Let Herself Go" debuted at number 49 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs for the week of September 17, 2005.

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

2005 singles Country ballads 2000s ballads George Strait songs Songs written by Dean Dillon Song recordings produced by Tony Brown (record producer) MCA Nashville Records singles Songs written by Kerry Kurt Phillips 2005 songs {{2000s-country-song-stub