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Wide Open Spaces (song)
"Wide Open Spaces" is a song written by Susan Gibson and recorded by the American country music group Dixie Chicks. It was released in August 1998 as the third single and title track from the band's album Wide Open Spaces. The song hit number one on the U.S. Country singles chart and spent four weeks there in November 1998. It also placed to number 41 on the U.S. Pop singles chart.
In 2001, the RIAA placed "Wide Open Spaces" at number 259 on its 365 Songs of the Century list. In 2003, CMT named it number 22 in its 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music list.
Amarillo, Texas-based Susan Gibson wrote the song's first lyrics in 1993, on her first visit back home after leaving for forestry school at the University of Montana. She left the notebook containing the lyrics at home by mistake when she returned to school; her mother found it and included it in a care package, inspiring Gibson to complete a song along the themes of leaving home. She first performed it in local clubs around the University of Montana, where it was sometimes requested.
By the late 1990s, Gibson was lead singer of the alt country band The Groobees. They recorded an album, Wayside, that included "Wide Open Spaces" and which would be released in 1999. It was produced by Lloyd Maines, father of new Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines.
Lloyd Maines identified with the tale of a daughter leaving home, and thought it would match Natalie's vocal character well; he brought the song to the group, who tested it in concert a few times to a strong response. Both the Chicks and Sony Music agreed with Lloyd Maines' assessment, not only recording it but making it the title tune of the Maines-era group's first album as well.
The youthful, romantic, adventurous sense of independence featured in "Wide Open Spaces" helped key much of the group's new image; it thus became one of their signature songs and proved very popular among young teenage girls. The lyric speaks of possibilities yet undiscovered:
The lyric has been considered an exemplar of the songwriting strategy in which lines are not repeated in either the verses or chorus. The Texas, bluegrass-flavored arrangement in the recording begins with a fiddle riff, with the band soon joining in. Verses are sung by Natalie Maines by herself, with drums, fiddle, and soft guitar and piano carrying the accompaniment. Choruses feature sisters Emily Strayer and Martie Seidel backing Maines with harmony vocals, and also add a banjo line. The instrumental break features Strayer and Seidel on mandolin and fiddle respectively. The main fiddle riff then brings the recording to a close.
Emily Strayer was proud that the group's hits such as this were still able to incorporate the banjo, an instrument the Nashville establishment often frowned upon as being too hillbilly. Susan Gibson and "Wide Open Spaces" has been considered an example of the influence of the West Texas influence in country music songwriting; Gibson herself considers Amarillo to be "where the wide open spaces are. Amarillo has the most beautiful sunsets." Gibson's childhood family drives from Amarillo to Missoula, Montana, also trace the song's lyric and settings.
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Wide Open Spaces (song)
"Wide Open Spaces" is a song written by Susan Gibson and recorded by the American country music group Dixie Chicks. It was released in August 1998 as the third single and title track from the band's album Wide Open Spaces. The song hit number one on the U.S. Country singles chart and spent four weeks there in November 1998. It also placed to number 41 on the U.S. Pop singles chart.
In 2001, the RIAA placed "Wide Open Spaces" at number 259 on its 365 Songs of the Century list. In 2003, CMT named it number 22 in its 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music list.
Amarillo, Texas-based Susan Gibson wrote the song's first lyrics in 1993, on her first visit back home after leaving for forestry school at the University of Montana. She left the notebook containing the lyrics at home by mistake when she returned to school; her mother found it and included it in a care package, inspiring Gibson to complete a song along the themes of leaving home. She first performed it in local clubs around the University of Montana, where it was sometimes requested.
By the late 1990s, Gibson was lead singer of the alt country band The Groobees. They recorded an album, Wayside, that included "Wide Open Spaces" and which would be released in 1999. It was produced by Lloyd Maines, father of new Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines.
Lloyd Maines identified with the tale of a daughter leaving home, and thought it would match Natalie's vocal character well; he brought the song to the group, who tested it in concert a few times to a strong response. Both the Chicks and Sony Music agreed with Lloyd Maines' assessment, not only recording it but making it the title tune of the Maines-era group's first album as well.
The youthful, romantic, adventurous sense of independence featured in "Wide Open Spaces" helped key much of the group's new image; it thus became one of their signature songs and proved very popular among young teenage girls. The lyric speaks of possibilities yet undiscovered:
The lyric has been considered an exemplar of the songwriting strategy in which lines are not repeated in either the verses or chorus. The Texas, bluegrass-flavored arrangement in the recording begins with a fiddle riff, with the band soon joining in. Verses are sung by Natalie Maines by herself, with drums, fiddle, and soft guitar and piano carrying the accompaniment. Choruses feature sisters Emily Strayer and Martie Seidel backing Maines with harmony vocals, and also add a banjo line. The instrumental break features Strayer and Seidel on mandolin and fiddle respectively. The main fiddle riff then brings the recording to a close.
Emily Strayer was proud that the group's hits such as this were still able to incorporate the banjo, an instrument the Nashville establishment often frowned upon as being too hillbilly. Susan Gibson and "Wide Open Spaces" has been considered an example of the influence of the West Texas influence in country music songwriting; Gibson herself considers Amarillo to be "where the wide open spaces are. Amarillo has the most beautiful sunsets." Gibson's childhood family drives from Amarillo to Missoula, Montana, also trace the song's lyric and settings.