Strawberry Wine (Deana Carter song)
"Strawberry Wine" is a song written by Matraca Berg and Gary Harrison, and recorded by American country music artist Deana Carter. It was released on July 26, 1996 as Carter's debut single and the first from her debut album, Did I Shave My Legs for This? The song became a number 1 hit on both the US Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) chart and the Canadian RPM Country Tracks.
"Strawberry Wine"
"Strawberry Wine" is Carter's most successful single overall, and is considered a signature song both for her and for songwriter Matraca Berg.[2][3]
Content[edit]
"Strawberry Wine" is a sentimental ballad, backed primarily with steel guitar and percussion. As the narrator remembers a summer spent on her grandparents' farm, she nostalgically recalls herself as being naïve and youthful in pursuit of love. She compares her first love to strawberry wine, considered to be sweet and intoxicating, but ultimately bittersweet in aftertaste. As she grows older, she returns to the farm to find that everything has changed. Carter originally performed this song in the key of D-flat major with a vocal range of A♭3–D♭5. It has a 6/8 time signature and the main chord pattern is D♭-G♭-D♭-A♭-D♭.[4]
The lyrics were inspired by Berg's own coming of age as a teenager outside of Luck, Wisconsin.[5] She recalled, "We used to go to my grandparents' dairy farm in the summer. My aunt, who's six months younger than me, and I would try to score some wine. And I met this boy..."[6] The title references Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill, a wine cooler popular with teenagers at the time.[7]
Composition and recording[edit]
Berg and Harrison wrote the song in less than four hours.[7] Berg originally intended to record the song herself, but after being dropped by her record label, she shopped the song to other singers; multiple artists, including Trisha Yearwood, passed on it.[6] Berg shopped the song to record labels around Nashville, but consensus mistakenly considered it overly long, controversial due to its reference to a teenage girl losing her virginity, and "not catchy enough."[5]
Carter heard the song when she was the only artist to attend a showcase by Berg's publisher, Pat Higdon. Although she was nervous performing the song, Berg had no other new material to perform instead.[7] Carter acquired the song and recorded it for the US version of her debut album, Did I Shave My Legs for This?, which had been delayed at the same time that "Strawberry Wine" was being turned down by other singers.[5] Berg said of the situation, "I am so happy Deana recorded that song. ... I was sad to let the song go, but she's just the coolest girl."[6]
Critical reception[edit]
"Strawberry Wine" won Song of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards in 1997 and was voted Song of the Year by the Nashville Songwriters Association International and the Nashville Music Awards. That year, the song was also nominated for three additional awards; Grammy Award for Best Country Song, Academy of Country Music Awards Best Country Song nominee, and Country Music Radio Awards for Song of The Year.
Commercial performance[edit]
"Strawberry Wine" debuted at number 70 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the chart week of August 17, 1996.[8] The song reached Number One on the chart in November 1996, holding the position for two weeks. The song has sold 870,000 digital copies in the US as of October 2015.[9]