About The Song
Guess everyone would agree that “When You Say Nothing at All” is one of the most timeless country songs out there. It is one of the most well-loved songs to come out of 1988.
And in 1995, an amazing thing happened. The blue-grass country singer covered the song with the group Union Station off the tribute album to Whitley, Keith Whitley: A Tribute Album. Krauss’ cover quickly started receiving unsolicited airplay.
Its success caught Krauss by surprise. “It’s a freak thing,” she said in an interview. “It’s kinda ticklin’ us all. We haven’t had anything really chart before. At all. Isn’t it funny, though? We don’t know what’s goin’ on…The office said, ‘Hey, it’s charting,’ and we’re like, ‘Huh?’”
Krauss’ “When You Say Nothing at All” went on winning the 1995 CMA award for Single of the Year. It has also been featured several times in the soap opera The Young and the Restless and was even used in the 1999 motion picture “The Other Sister.” The song has since sold nearly 500,000 digital downloads as of 2017.
Indeed, “When You Say Nothing at All” has absolutely endured over the years.Written by Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz, “When You Say Nothing at All” describes how a loved one could communicate best “without saying a word.”
“The smile on your face lets me know that you need me. There’s a truth in your eyes saying you’ll never leave me. The touch of your hand says you’ll catch me wherever I fall. You say it best when you say nothing at all,” the song goes.
Overstreet and Schlitz came up with the song at the end of what seems to be an unproductive day. While strumming a guitar, trying to write their next song, the duo was coming up empty. “As we tried to find another way to say nothing, we came up with the song,” Overstreet said. They thought the song was fine, but nothing special.
However, when Keith Whitley heard it, he loved it and could not let it get away. In 1988, Whitley released the song, and it surprisingly entered the Hot Country Singles chart at No. 61. The song then gradually rose to the top, where it stayed for two weeks at the end of the year.
“Keith did a great job singin’ that song,” Schlitz said. “He truly sang it from the heart.” CMT later ranked Whitley’s version as the 12th greatest country love song of all time. Sadly, a few months after Whitley released “When You Say Nothing at All,” the country music artists passed away. His death left a void in the entire country community, as countless mourned for the loss of a talented singer who still had so much potential.
Video
Lyrics
It’s amazing how you can speak right to my heart
Without saying a word, you can light up the dark
Try as I may, I can never explain
What I hear when you don’t say a thing
The smile on your face lets me know that you need me
There’s a truth in your eyes saying you’ll never leave me
The touch of your hand says you’ll catch me wherever I fall
You say it best, when you say nothing at all
All day long, I can hear people talking out loud (ooh)
But when you hold me near (you hold me near) you drown out the crowd (out the crowd)
Try as they may, they can never define
What’s being said between your heart and mine
The smile on your face lets me know that you need me
There’s a truth in your eyes saying you’ll never leave me
The touch of your hand says you’ll catch me wherever I fall
You say it best (you say it best) when you say nothing at all
Oh, the smile on your face lets me know that you need me
There’s a truth in your eyes saying you’ll never leave me
The touch of your hand says you’ll catch me wherever I fall
You say it best (you say it best) when you say nothing at all
That smile on your face (you say it best)
(When you say nothing at all) the truth in your eyes
The touch of your hand lets me know that you need me (you say it best, when you say nothing at all)
(You say it best, when you say nothing at all) nothing at all
(You say it best, when you say nothing at all) nothing at all
(You say it best, when you say nothing at all) nothing at all
nothing at all