What She's Doing Now

Album: Ropin' The Wind (1991)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Originally recorded by Crystal Gayle in 1989 as "What He's Doing Now," this ballad written by Brooks and Nashville songwriter Pat Alger follows the singer's tortured thoughts about an ex-lover.

    "'What She's Doing Now' was an idea I had a long, long time about a man wondering what a woman was doing," Brooks explained in the liner notes for the compilation album The Hits. "And it was very simple. What is she doing now? Is she hanging out the clothes? Is she running a business? Is she a mother? Is she married? Who is she with? When I told the idea to Pat Alger, he looked at me with a smile and said, 'I wonder if she knows what she's doing now to me?' When I heard that, the bumps went over my arms and the back of my neck, and I knew that he had something... It is a song that has crossed all boundaries and borders around the world. This has made me extremely happy because the greatest gift a writer can ask for is to relate to someone. I can't help but think that this song might relate to a lot of people."
  • This was Brooks' eighth #1 hit on the Country chart.
  • This is the third single from Brooks' landmark third album, Ropin The Wind, which also features the hit singles "The River" and "Shameless." After the enormous popularity of his previous album, No Fences, the follow-up debuted at #1 in America, making Brooks the first country performer to achieve the feat.
  • Gayle's version wasn't released as a single but was included on her 1990 album, Ain't Gonna Worry. She landed a minor hit on that release with "Never Ending Song Of Love."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: '80s Edition

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: '80s EditionMusic Quiz

You know the scenes - Tom Cruise in his own pants-off dance off, Molly Ringwald celebrating her birthday - but do you remember what song is playing?

History Of Rock

History Of RockSong Writing

An interview with Dr. John Covach, music professor at the University of Rochester whose free online courses have become wildly popular.

Don Brewer of Grand Funk

Don Brewer of Grand FunkSongwriter Interviews

The drummer and one of the primary songwriters in Grand Funk talks rock stardom and Todd Rundgren.

Tim Butler of The Psychedelic Furs

Tim Butler of The Psychedelic FursSongwriter Interviews

Tim and his brother Richard are the Furs' foundation; Tim explains how they write and tells the story of "Pretty In Pink."

Paul Williams

Paul WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

He's a singer and an actor, but as a songwriter Paul helped make Kermit a cultured frog, turned a bank commercial into a huge hit and made love both "exciting and new" and "soft as an easy chair."

Experience Nirvana with Sub Pop Founder Bruce Pavitt

Experience Nirvana with Sub Pop Founder Bruce PavittSong Writing

The man who ran Nirvana's first label gets beyond the sensationalism (drugs, Courtney) to discuss their musical and cultural triumphs in the years before Nevermind.