Ring on Her Finger, Time on Her Hands

"Ring on Her Finger, Time on Her Hands"
"Ring on Her Finger, Time on Her Hands"
Single by Reba McEntire
from the album Starting Over
B-side	"You Keep Me Hangin' On"
Released	November 1995
Genre	Country
Length	4:10
Label	MCA 55161
Songwriter(s)	Don Goodman; Pam Rose; Mary Ann Kennedy
Producer(s)	Tony Brown; Reba McEntire
Reba McEntire singles chronology

"Ring on Her Finger, Time on Her Hands"
"Ring on Her Finger, Time on Her Hands"
Single by Lee Greenwood
from the album Inside Out
B-side	"Don'cha Hear Me Callin'"
Released	February 1982
Genre	Country
Length	3:38
Label	MCA 52026
Songwriter(s)	Don Goodman; Pam Rose; Mary Ann Kennedy
Producer(s)	Jerry Crutchfield
Lee Greenwood singles chronology

"Ring on Her Finger, Time on Her Hands" is a song written by Don Goodman, Pam Rose, and Mary Ann Kennedy and first recorded by American country music artist Lee Greenwood. It was released in February 1982 as the second single from his album Inside Out. Greenwood's version peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. A cover was released by Reba McEntire in November 1995 as the second single from her album Starting Over. McEntire's version reached number 9 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in February 1996.^[1]

Content

The song is about a married couple whose problems foreshadow the wife's decision to have an affair. The lyrics – mainly pronouns – are slightly changed, depending on whether the singer is a male or female.

The song begins with a young couple standing at the altar, promising to be faithful to one another for the rest of their lives. The bride recalls that, as pure as the white in her gown, she stood by her groom's side and vowed to love him until her death.

However, the couple's love life quickly sours, as the husband constantly leaves his wife alone at night; the reason – work, drinking with friends or an affair – is never specified. As the lonely nights begin to mount up, the wife, left to maintain in a three-bedroom home (or prison, as she puts it), observes that the "gold turned cold in (her) wedding band." Eventually, with the need and desire for physical intimacy still very much alive in her, she turns to a stranger to meet her sexual needs ("The arms of a stranger was the only place left to turn").

McEntire's version changes the pronouns to place the song in a female's perspective.^[2]

Chart performance

Lee Greenwood version

Chart (1982)	Peak position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)^[3]	5
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	2

Year-end charts

Chart (1982)	Position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)^[4]	49

Reba McEntire version

Chart (1995–1996)	Peak position
Canada Country Tracks (RPM)^[5]	14
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)^[6]	9

References

^ Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks
^ "Reviews". Billboard. Vol. 107, no. 45. November 11, 1995. p. 76. ISSN 0006-2510.
^ "Lee Greenwood Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
^ "Talent in Acction" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 94, no. 51. December 25, 1982. p. TIA-24. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
^ "Top RPM Country Tracks: Issue 2875." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. February 5, 1996. Retrieved July 20, 2013.
^ "Reba McEntire Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.

This 1982 country song-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This 1995 country song-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks

[2] "Reviews". Billboard. Vol. 107, no. 45. November 11, 1995. p. 76. ISSN 0006-2510.

[sc_Billboardcountrysongs_Lee_Greenwood-3] "Lee Greenwood Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.

[4] "Talent in Acction" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 94, no. 51. December 25, 1982. p. TIA-24. Retrieved June 22, 2021.

[sc_Canadacountry_-5] "Top RPM Country Tracks: Issue 2875." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. February 5, 1996. Retrieved July 20, 2013.

[sc_Billboardcountrysongs_Reba_McEntire-6] "Reba McEntire Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.

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v t e Lee Greenwood
Discography
Studio albums	Inside Out Somebody's Gonna Love You You've Got a Good Love Comin' Meant for Each Other Streamline Love Will Find Its Way to You If There's Any Justice This Is My Country If Only for One Night Holdin' a Good Hand A Perfect 10
Compilation albums	Greatest Hits Greatest Hits Volume Two
Notable singles	"It Turns Me Inside Out" "Ring on Her Finger, Time on Her Hands" "She's Lying" "Ain't No Trick (It Takes Magic)" "I.O.U." "Somebody's Gonna Love You" "Going, Going, Gone" "Fool's Gold" "God Bless the U.S.A." "You've Got a Good Love Comin'" "Dixie Road" "I Don't Mind the Thorns (If You're the Rose)" "Don't Underestimate My Love for You" "Hearts Aren't Made to Break (They're Made to Love)" "Didn't We" "Mornin' Ride" "Someone" "If There's Any Justice" "Touch and Go Crazy" "I Still Believe" "You Can't Fall in Love When You're Cryin'" "I'll Be Lovin' You" "I Go Crazy" "Holdin' a Good Hand" "We've Got It Made" "Hopelessly Yours" (with Suzy Bogguss)
Collaboration singles	"To Me" (with Barbara Mandrell) "It Should Have Been Love by Now" (with Barbara Mandrell)
Related articles	"A Love Song" God Bless the U.S.A. Bible

v t e Reba McEntire singles
Albums Singles Videos
1970s	"I'd Really Love to See You Tonight" (with Jacky Ward) "Sweet Dreams"
1980s	"(You Lift Me) Up to Heaven" "I Can See Forever in Your Eyes" "I Don't Think Love Ought to Be That Way" "Today All Over Again" "Only You (And You Alone)" "I'm Not That Lonely Yet" "Can't Even Get the Blues" "You're the First Time I've Thought About Leaving" "Why Do We Want (What We Know We Can't Have)" "There Ain't No Future in This" "Just a Little Love" "He Broke Your Memory Last Night" "How Blue" "Somebody Should Leave" "Have I Got a Deal for You" "Only in My Mind" "Whoever's in New England" "Little Rock" "What Am I Gonna Do About You" "Let the Music Lift You Up" "One Promise Too Late" "The Last One to Know" "Love Will Find Its Way to You" "A Sunday Kind of Love" "I Know How He Feels" "New Fool at an Old Game" "Cathy's Clown" "'Til Love Comes Again" "Little Girl"
1990s	"Walk On" "You Lie" "Rumor Has It" "Fancy" "Fallin' Out of Love" "For My Broken Heart" "Is There Life Out There" "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" "The Greatest Man I Never Knew" "Take It Back" "The Heart Won't Lie" (with Vince Gill) "It's Your Call" "Does He Love You" (with Linda Davis) "They Asked About You" "Why Haven't I Heard from You" "She Thinks His Name Was John" "Till You Love Me" "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter" "And Still" "On My Own" "Ring on Her Finger, Time on Her Hands" "Starting Over Again" "You Keep Me Hangin' On" "The Fear of Being Alone" "How Was I to Know" "I'd Rather Ride Around with You" "What If It's You" "If You See Him/If You See Her" (with Brooks & Dunn) "Forever Love" "Wrong Night" "One Honest Heart" "What Do You Say"
2000s	"I'll Be" "We're So Good Together" "I'm a Survivor" "Sweet Music Man" "I'm Gonna Take That Mountain" "Somebody" "He Gets That from Me" "My Sister" "You're Gonna Be (Always Loved by Me)" "Love Needs a Holiday" "Because of You" (with Kelly Clarkson) "The Only Promise That Remains" (with Justin Timberlake) "Every Other Weekend" (with Kenny Chesney or Skip Ewing) "Strange" "Consider Me Gone"
2010s	"I Keep On Loving You" "Turn On the Radio" "If I Were a Boy" "When Love Gets a Hold of You" "Somebody's Chelsea" "Going Out Like That" "Until They Don't Love You" "Just Like Them Horses" "Softly and Tenderly" "Back to God" "God and My Girlfriends" "Freedom"
2020s	"Does He Love You" (with Dolly Parton) "I Can't"
Other singles	"Mind Your Own Business" (with Hank Williams Jr.) "Oklahoma Swing" (with Vince Gill) "Cowgirls Don't Cry" (with Brooks & Dunn) "Forever Country" (with Various artists) "Be a Light" (with Thomas Rhett) "What If"