"Rebecca Lynn" is a song co-written by

Skip Ewing Donald Ralph "Skip" Ewing (born March 6, 1964) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Active since 1988, Ewing has recorded nine studio albums and has charted 15 singles on the ''Billboard'' country charts. Career Ewing was born ...

and Don Sampson, originally recorded by Ewing on his 1990 album ''A Healin' Fire''. It was later recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

singer

Bryan White Bryan Shelton White (born February 17, 1974) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Signed to Asylum Records in 1994 at age 20, White released his self-titled debut album that year. Both it and its follow-up, 1996's '' Between Now ...

. It was released in September 1995 as the fourth and final single from his self-titled debut album. The song reached a peak of Number One on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' country charts in early 1996, giving White his second Number One.

Content

"Rebecca Lynn" is a mid-tempo country ballad in which the narrator recalls a female named Rebecca Lynn, a "quiet girl with green eyes full of fire" with whom he fell in love in second grade. The first verse and chorus follow them through elementary school as they play together. In the second verse, they learn in high school "what it really means to be in love" and eventually get engaged after the

prom A promenade dance or prom is a formal dance party for graduating high school students at the end of the school year. Students participating in the prom will typically vote for a ''prom king'' and ''prom queen''. Other students may be honored ...

. By the third verse, the two have married and had a child named Laura Jean together as well. At Music Fest '96, White sang the song to Rebecca Lynn Rushing, a fan of his who was then 6 years old. The song also won White the TNN/Music City News award for Single of the Year.

Critical reception

Tom Lanham of ''New Country'' magazine favorably compared White's delivery on the song to that of

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He played in a number of local bluegrass music, bluegrass bands in the 1970s, and from 1978 to 1982, he achieved his first mainstream attention after ta ...

, calling the song "lazy small-town reminiscence".

Music video

The music video was directed by Jeffrey C. Phillips and premiered in late 1995.

Chart positions

Year-end charts

References

{{Bryan White 1995 singles 1990 songs Skip Ewing songs Bryan White songs Songs written by Skip Ewing Song recordings produced by Kyle Lehning Song recordings produced by Billy Joe Walker Jr. Asylum Records singles Songs written by Don Sampson