"Something in Red" is a song written by Angela Kaset and originally recorded by her in 1991. Kaset's recording was released by

Dover Records Dover Records was a British record label that was formed about 1989. One of the recordings was a celebration of Arsenal winning the 1989 League Division One with "We're Back (Where We Belong)" single. Recordings on the Dover label released com ...

as a single in the UK in 1991. 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

Lorrie Morgan Loretta Lynn Morgan (born June 27, 1959) is an American country music singer and actress. She is the daughter of George Morgan, widow of Keith Whitley, and ex-wife of Jon Randall and Sammy Kershaw, all of whom are also country music singers. Mo ...

released her version in May 1992 as the fourth single and title track from the album ''

Something in Red ''Something in Red'' is the second studio album by American country music artist Lorrie Morgan. It reached #8 on the Billboard country albums chart, including the #3 "We Both Walk," the #9 "A Picture of Me (Without You)" (a cover of a George Jone ...

''. Morgan's version reached number 14 on 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 Singles & Tracks 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 and peaked at number 10 on the ''RPM'' Country Tracks in Canada. The song also earned Morgan her first and only nomination for the

Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance was first awarded in 1965, to Dottie West. The award has had several minor name changes: *From 1965 to 1967 the award was known as Best Country & Western Vocal Performance - Female *In 1 ...

. In 2004, British musical theater actress

Elaine Paige Elaine Jill Paige (née Bickerstaff; born 5 March 1948) is an English singer and actress, best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Barnet, Hertfordshire, Paige attended the Aida Foster Theatre School, making her first professiona ...

recorded the song for inclusion on her "best of" compilation album ''Centre Stage'', released the same year.

Background

Morgan came to record the song after Kaset's publisher, Barry and Jewel Coburn, pitched the song to Morgan's producer

Barry Beckett Barry Edward Beckett (February 4, 1943 – June 10, 2009) was an American keyboardist, session musician, record producer, and studio founder. He is best known for his work with David Hood, Jimmy Johnson, and Roger Hawkins, his bandmates in th ...

and record label

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

. Morgan admitted her initial reluctance to record the song, telling the Gannett News Service in 1992, "I just couldn't hear it. I never got past the first verse. I turned if off and said it's not me. I didn't give it a chance because I didn't know what it was about." During the recording of her second studio album, Morgan's new producer

Richard Landis Richard Landis is an American studio musician, recording artist, singer/songwriter, and music producer. He has over 40 years of professional credits and chart success including a share of the 1994 CMA award for Album of the Year. At years end, ...

also suggested she record the song. She revealed, "I finally got to the third verse and said 'golly, what have I been missing?' Once I got it, it was a hit."

Content

Kaset described "Something in Red" in 1992 as a "basic life-of-love kind of story that most people who ever have a relationship go through... the beginning with the red and meeting somebody and wanting to catch their eye". The song is sung from the perspective of a woman going through the romantic events of her life looking for certain colors for a dress reflecting her current emotional state. For instance, the titular color red grabs the attention of her future lover; while green illustrates envy and jealousy to bring him back after a breakup; white reflects purity and perfection in a wedding dress; and she requests blue for a baby boy, born as she is experiencing a lull in the adventure of her marriage. She concludes the song by looking for a red dress "like the one when I first turned his head", suggesting that the passion has cooled, but is far from dead.

Music video

The music video was directed by Jim Shea and premiered in March 1992.

Chart performance

Year-end charts

References

{{Lorrie Morgan 1992 singles Lorrie Morgan songs RCA Records Nashville singles Song recordings produced by Richard Landis 1991 songs Songs about marriage