I DON'T FEEL LIKE LOVING YOU TODAY: (Written by Matraca Berg and Jim Collins). "My daughter rode with us over to the boot store, Off-Broadway just off the Row. We were tracking that day, and when we got back we recorded it almost immediately. We got the tape and the next day I listened to it. It went from John Rich's hands to my hands. I said, hey John, have you had a chance to listen that song, the one from Matraca, and he said, no, and I said, 'well then, hey, give it to me. I'm going to the boot store, and I'll listen to it on the way.' My daughter, as soon as it was over, said, 'I love that song, Mommy.' She never says anything like that. And I thought, 'And so do I.' It's a great song. It's so real. It's a little different than stuff I usually like. It's such a real mood and a real moment. I think it's one of those songs that every woman in the world will be able to relate to and just feel ... close to and feel like they've been there, or maybe they haven't been through it themselves but just know someone who has. It's a moving, moving song. My favorite line in that song is 'I've got 16 hours left to go.' That's the one that just, wheew. Ya know? It's another dark song. But it's very real ... 'I Don't Feel Like Loving You Today was just written. It was hot from the writing table to the studio, but that's few and far between that you find a song that sounds that old. It reminds me of Emmylou. (Harris). It's my favorite song on the record. It's the only song so far that John and I are singing harmony on, and I love the blend on that. It sounds so Emmylou to me.' "
REBEL CHILD: "That day we sat down, we wanted to write a Linda Ronstadt feelin'. And I remember saying that I just always thought ‘Rebel Child’ was just a cool-sounding title. It was one of those things outside of my usual writing circles that just worked out. it was just a good writing day. And I had written quite a few times with Wade, so I felt real comfortable with him, and I tried to get that Ronstadt groove in there every chance I got while we were writing it. The players are key. Not only do you have to be consistent in your songwriting and your lyric and everything, you have to be consistent in your sound in the studio, too. You gotta find the right guys that make that sound that makes your records sound like you. We varied a little bit from the first record to this one because I didn't have anything to do with the selection (of the players) on the first record. This time, I did."
RAINING ON ME: "That's another one we cut on that first session a long time ago. Me and John and Vicky. First song that the three of us as a threesome wrote together." (Why not recorded for the first album.) "We got to the point with the first record that we just had the record. We could have gone in and recorded five or six or seven more tunes, but I think it would have been a waste of the label's money, a waste of my money. We could have done the same thing with California Girls. I'm already in the same place with this record. I think the key is not waiting until the last minute, staying a step ahead of everything has really kept me from just getting really stressed on time and constrictions. On that first record, we really didn't have a whole lot of time. This one we started recording in December. And I knew I had til fall of the next year. I was leaving myself plenty of time because I knew it was going to be a crazy year. I knew my time in Nashville was going to be limited. I knew I was going to be making this record a day here and a day here and a day here. So I wanted to go in and get the bulk of some stuff done while I had a month off. So my off time wasn't really off, because I was in the studio. But I'm sitting here not worried about this record because of that. I know we've got it. We've got more than we need, I think. Once we go in and cut for more we'll have songs we won't know what to do with."
