"Whatever You Say" is a song written by

Ed Hill Edward Monroe Hill (born in Hanford, California) is an American country music songwriter. Hill has been active since the early 1970s. Hill plays piano and keyboard and has backed Merle Haggard and Kris Kristofferson.

and Tony Martin and 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 ...

artist

Martina McBride Martina Mariea McBride (née Schiff, July 29, 1966) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is known for her soprano singing range and her country pop material. McBride was born in Sharon, Kansas, and relocated to Nashville, T ...

. It was released in February 1999 as the fifth and final single from McBride’s album ''

Evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

.'' The song peaked at number 2 on the US ''

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 ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

and at number 37 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It also peaked at number 6 on the Canadian ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' chart.

Background

"Whatever You Say" is a slow contemporary-styled ballad, which was the theme of McBride's album that this song was released on.

Content

The ballad is a first-person perspective of someone who is experiencing emotional invalidation. It may even evoke a sense of

gaslighting Gaslighting is the manipulation of someone into questioning their perception of reality. The term derives from the 1944 film ''Gaslight (1944 film), Gaslight'' and became popular in the mid-2010s. Some mental health experts have expressed c ...

or minimization for some listeners with lyrics of "''You think I'm always making/ Something out of nothing/ You're saying, 'Everything's ok'.''" and "''Now, we can change the subject/ Pretend I never brought it up/ Same old story, anyway.''" The chorus culminates in a powerful plea, where the singer expresses that the other party is hearing them speak, but not listening, and that the future of their relationship will depend on the other person's response that plea.

Sara Evans Sara Lynn Evans (; born February 5, 1971) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is also credited as a record producer, actress, and author. She had five songs reach the number one spot on the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboar ...

and

Neil Thrasher Joe Neil Thrasher Jr. (born July 13, 1965) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Between 1995 and 1997, he and Kelly Shiver comprised the duo Thrasher Shiver, which recorded a studio album for Asylum Records in 1996 and charted ...

sing

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

. In the official music video, examples of different types of relationships are intermittently shown and highlight that the sense of emotional invalidation can occur in a variety of interpersonal relationships.

Chart performance

"Whatever You Say" was issued as the fifth and final single from Martina McBride's fourth album, ''

,'' which was a multi-platinum success. The song was released as a single to country radio in early 1999, peaking at number 2 on the

chart and number 37 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming one of two singles spawned from the album that reached number 2 (" Happy Girl" was the first). The song also reached a peak of number 6 on the Canadian ''

'' chart that same year, becoming her sixth Top 10 on that chart.

Year-end charts

Parodies

* American country music parody artist

Cledus T. Judd James Barry Poole (born December 18, 1964) is an American country music artist who records under the name Cledus T. Judd. Known primarily for his parodies of popular country songs, he has been called the "Weird Al" Yankovic of country music, and ...

released a parody of "Whatever You Say" titled "What the *$@# Did You Say".

References

{{Martina McBride singles 1999 singles 1997 songs Martina McBride songs Music videos directed by Deaton-Flanigen Productions Songs written by Tony Martin (songwriter) Song recordings produced by Paul Worley RCA Records Nashville singles Songs written by Ed Hill