About The Song
“Maybe Not Tonight” is a song written by Keith Stegall and Dan Hill, recorded as a duet by American country music artists Sammy Kershaw and Lorrie Morgan, and released in February 1999 as the first single from Kershaw’s sixth studio album Maybe Not Tonight on Mercury Records. The song also appeared on Morgan’s fifth studio album My Heart on BNA Records, released concurrently on April 13, 1999. It peaked at No. 17 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart, marking the final Top 20 hit for both artists.
The recording took place in Nashville, produced by Keith Stegall for Kershaw’s version and Richard Landis for Morgan’s, with a country-pop arrangement featuring acoustic guitar, piano, and harmonized vocals by Kershaw and Morgan. The session included musicians such as Brent Mason on electric guitar and Steve Nathan on keyboards, creating a smooth, emotional tone. The track runs 4:10 on both albums, with the single version maintaining the same length for radio play. Maybe Not Tonight reached No. 9 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, while My Heart peaked at No. 36, though neither album achieved RIAA certification.
The lyrics depict a couple on the brink of separation, with lines like “You don’t touch me anymore / You never say the words I love you,” reflecting a strained relationship. The narrative shifts as they reconsider leaving, with “Just as I’m leaving you / You walk in the room / I see the flicker in your eyes,” suggesting a moment of reconciliation. The song was promoted simultaneously by Mercury Nashville and BNA Records, capitalizing on the artists’ duet chemistry.
The music video, directed by Steven Goldmann, premiered in 1999, featuring Kershaw and Morgan in a domestic setting with flashbacks of happier times, emphasizing the song’s emotional tension. It was shot to support the single’s release. Kershaw, born Samuel Paul Cashat on February 24, 1958, in Kaplan, Louisiana, and Morgan, born Loretta Lynn Morgan on June 27, 1959, in Nashville, Tennessee, brought their personal and professional history to the recording, having married on September 29, 2001, after the song’s release.
The track was released in multiple formats, including CD and 7-inch vinyl, with B-sides like “Without Strings” from Kershaw’s album. It was performed live during their 1999 tours, showcasing their vocal harmony. The song marked a collaborative peak for both artists, following Kershaw’s earlier hits like “She Don’t Know She’s Beautiful” and Morgan’s successes like “What Part of No.”
Video
Lyric
You don’t touch me anymore
You never say the words I love you
You just sit behind your paper
The silence cuts me like a razor
I’m gonna leave you
Maybe someday soon
When I can give up this fight
But maybe not tonightWe don’t talk much anymore
Not the same way we used to
Whenever I reach out to hold you
You turn away
What am I supposed to do
I’m gonna say goodbye
When the moment’s right
Like an eagle I will fly
But maybe not tonightCan you just hold me
In your arms so deep
Wanna feel you breathin’ on my skin
We fell out of love
We can fall back inYou never look at me that way
So many times I’ve longed to say
You used to brush the hair back from my face
Oh God, how I miss those days
You used to make me feel like someone
Tell me where did we go wrong
You were my best friend, my one and only love
You’re still the only oneJust as I’m leaving you
You walk in the room
I see the flicker in your eyes
We say maybe not tonight