He Thinks He'll Keep Her

Infobox Single
Name = He Thinks He'll Keep Her


Caption =
Artist = Mary-Chapin Carpenter
from Album = Come On Come On
Released = 1993
Format = cassette single, CD single, 7" vinyl single
Recorded = 1992
Genre = country music
Length = 4:04 (album version)
Label = Columbia
Writer = Mary-Chapin Carpenter, Don Schlitz
Producer = Steve Buckingham, Mary-Chapin Carpenter, John Jennings
Certification =
Last single = "The Bug"
(1992)
This single = "He Thinks He'll Keep Her"
(1993)
Next single = "I Take My Chances"
(1993)
Misc =

"He Thinks He'll Keep Her" was a 1993 song recorded by American popular music artist Mary Chapin Carpenter. The song was Carpenter’s first number-one single on the "Radio & Records" country music charts, although it peaked at #2 on the "Billboard" Hot Country Songs chart.

First appearing as a cut on her album "Come On Come On", the song was motivated in response to a 1970s Geritol TV commercial in which a man points to his wife’s many accomplishments and attributes, and then concludes with "My wife...I think I'll keep her". [Staff of "WomaNews". "Smart Talk: Shortcuts," Chicago Tribune, 1992-09-06.] Carpenter's song lyrics at first seem to echo the sentiments of the Geritol spot, describing the many duties and demands of a seemingly perfect wife. However, in the second verse of the song, the woman throws her husband out of the house and it becomes apparent that Carpenter intends the phrase to be taken literally ("he "thinks" he'll keep her").

This song's upbeat tempo and clever phrasing attracted detractors with it's one-sided, selfish look at the ease with which one person can destroy the work, effort and investment of another without a second thought. The song allows the woman to keep the house that the man paid for and kick him out with the subjective reasoning "I'm sorry, I don't love you anymore."

The song was nominated for a Grammy, and was accompanied by a live performance music video, taken from the 1993 CBS special "Women of Country", where Carpenter was accompanied by Emmylou Harris, Kathy Mattea, Patty Loveless, Trisha Yearwood, Suzy Bogguss and Pam Tillis. None of these singers appeared on the actual recording of the song.

References