About The Song
It seems that writing and recording songs with sensual themes is pretty much Conway Twitty’s thing. Afterall, he started making a big name in the music industry with his sexy songs such as “Hello Darlin’” and “I’d Love to Lay You Down” to name some. In 1973 though, Twitty’s sexual persona went to a new level—a lot—after recording “You’ve Never Been This Far Before.” By all accounts, the song became one of his most famous songs.
Considered as his sexiest song ever, “You’ve Never Been This Far Before” is, in fact, one of country music’s eyebrow-raising tunes. Due to its lyrical content, which is generally racy in nature, many outraged listeners expressed dislike for the song. They’ve thought of it as not a good idea at all. As a result, several radio stations banned it from playing on air. However, despite the numerous controversies surrounding the song, it still managed to snatch the top spot of the country music chart. That then made the song Twitty’s 10th No. 1 as a solo artist. It’s also astonishing that the single stayed atop the chart for three weeks and spent a total of 16 weeks on the chart. Moreover, the song was Twitty’s only country single to cross over to the Billboard Hot 100 chart’s top 40 peaking at No. 22.
There are some interesting things we can derive from the hit if we dig deeper into its context. And these may probably be some of the contributing factors to the song’s success.
First, the song is honest in its apparent sense. Quite plainly, the song narrates two characters who are in the process of making love. The man, knowing that it’s his partner’s first time, tried to calm her. Also, the song explores the motivations and intentions behind the act which added sweetness to its sentiment. As Twitty revealed, the woman in the song has just broken up with someone and he has anticipated what her thoughts were. She wonders if he’ll still love her in the morning after everything that had happened the previous night. He assures her that he will. Yet, the fact that the song went further than any other love song at the time remained. It did not only talk about or hint at sex but it actively narrates the act.
Secondly, the song holds a special place in Twitty’s career. Apart from battling controversies and experiencing being banned with this song, it serves as a classic representation of the singer’s shameless sexual aura. While many artists chose not being truly unique in their style for fear of losing fans with such kind of song, Twitty embraced it. For that reason, he’s undeniably considered one of the country’s legends.
Video
Lyrics
I can almost hear the stillness
As it yields to the sound of your heart beating
I can almost hear the echo
Of the thoughts that I know you must be thinking
And I can feel your body tremble
As you wonder what this moment holds in store
And as I put my arms around you
I can tell you’ve never been this far before
I don’t know what I’m saying
As my trembling fingers touch forbidden places
I only know that I’ve waited
For so long for the chance that we are taking
Well I don’t know and I don’t care
What made you tell him you don’t love him anymore
And as I taste your tender kisses
I can tell you’ve never been this far before
And as I take the love you’re giveing
I can feel the tension building in your mind
And you’re wondering if tomorrow
I’ll still love you like I’m loving you tonight
You have no way of knowing
Tonight will only make me love you more
And I hope that you’ll believe me
‘Cause I know you’ve never been this far before
