Released August 26, 1997
Produced by Paul Worley and Martina McBride
Album photography by Timothy White
1. I'm Little But I'm Loud
2. Happy Girl
3. Be That Way
4. A Broken Wing
5. Wrong Again
6. Keeping My Distance
7. Still Holding On
8. Whatever You Say
9. I Won't Close My Eyes
10. I Don't Want to See You Again
11. Some Say I'm Running
12. Here in my Heart
13. One Day You Will
14. Valentine
The Album
"For this album, we threw the mix wide open. We recorded in such a way that I could sing more like I sing live. We experimented a lot; we used different microphones than I've ever tried before. The result is that the vocals sound real warm. Without bragging, I think it's the best I've ever sounded on a record. I think it's the closest we've ever come to recording the true sound of my voice.
With this one, "Evolution", I feel like my music is really coming from a focused place. I spent a lot of time on this one. It's the most concentrated on a project that I've ever been. I took time off the road and had nothing to do except go to work on it every day." Martina McBride
"Yes that is Delaney at age 2½. She was in the kitchen one day, I was just recording her talking to me. I said, ‘Delaney’, we just started talking about mama going to work and singing and you know a broken wing , and it was just killer and I just decide it would be a fun way…" Martina McBride, referring to Delaney singing, "With a broken wing", at the end of the "Evolution" album.
I'm Little But I'm Loud
Written by Kimmy Dickens and Boudleaux Bryant
Martina at age 7
Acoustic guitar: Daryl Schiff
Recorded on a portable cassette player by Jeanne Schiff
I'm puny short and
little but I'm loud
I learned to do my singing walking 'long behind a plow
The singing teacher always passed me by
And so I learned to sing the only way that I know how
I'm little but I'm
loud
I'm poor but I'm proud
I'm countrified and I don't care who knows it
I'm like a Banty Rooster in a big red rooster crowd
I'm puny short and little but I'm loud
I'm puny short and little but I'm loud
Happy Girl
Written by Annie Roboff and Beth Nielsen Chapman
I used to live in
a darkened room
Had a face of stone
And a heart of gloom
Lost my hope, I was so far gone
Cryin' all my tears
With the curtains draw
I didn't know until my soul broke free
I've got these angels watching over me
Chorus
Oh watch me go
I'm a happy girl
Everybody knows
That the sweetest thing that you'll ever see
In the whole wide world
Is a happy girl
I used to hide in
a party crowd
Bottled up inside
Feeling so left out
Standing in the corner wearing concrete shoes
With my frozen smile
And my lighted fuse
Now every time I start to feel like that
I roll my heart out like a welcome mat
Chorus
Laugh when I feel
like it
Cry when I feel like it
That's just how my life is
That's how it goes
Oh watch me go
I'm a happy girl
And I've come to know
That the world won't change
Just 'cause I complain
Let the axis twirl
I'm a happy girl
Chorus
Oh yeah, Oh yeah
I'm a happy girl
“Thank you Beth, for giving us your song! What a joy to produce. The Irish trio was a gas! I do remember that at this stage of Evolution we were all in a state of permanent exhaustion! No sleep for 31 straight days. We were working in three different studios at the same time for trying to get finished! Over dubbing in one, mixing in one, and mastering in another. At the same time!” Paul Worley
“This was the last song we found for Evolution. We had finished the album,
but thought we needed another happy song, so when the demo tape came the
very next day with the title, ‘Happy Girl,’ I couldn’t believe it! I
thought, ‘well it’s kind of a fluffy title, I’ll probably hate it.’ But then
I listened to it and I just loved it. I think it’s poetry, especially the
second verse. I, like Paul, have the strongest memory of the day we came up
wit the fiddle/penny whistle/accordion stuff. It was so exciting because I
thought it was a real eclectic mixture of instruments and we kind of came up
with the idea and had no clue what they would sound like together. So it was
really an experiment, which we did a lot while making Evolution. It turned
out so much better than we expected! I love the rhythm of the acoustic
guitars on this I love the kick drum pattern and I love the bass licks. I
especially love the drum fill Lonnie did during the vocal lick before the
solo. So cool! And Dann Huff once again came in and overdubbed the perfect
electric guitar rhythm (which I now wish we had put louder in the mix) and
the coolest solo. Having said that about the mix, I remember that it was
hard to mix this because there was so much cool instrumental stuff and if we
mixed it so that it all stood out, you wouldn’t even notice the vocal! So it
was a bit tricky and probably my favorite mix of this is the TV track, which
is only instrumental with no vocals!” Martina McBride
Be That Way
Written by Stephony Smith and Bob Dipiero
Every time I turn around
I run into your pride
Sometimes I'm not so sure if I wanna
Know that guy, know that guy
'Cause you got a rock hard head
Stubborn as a mule
Oh, yeah, and by the way, I still love you
Chorus
Go on and be that way
Slam that door
Make a scene
Yell some more
Come on let's have it out
Have your say
'Cause with a love this strong
Baby it's okay
For you to be that way
Sometimes what you don't say
Can make the deepest cut
And I get my feelings hurt
And I just go nuts, well a little nuts
So try to ignore that girl
Oh and I don't know about her
But I hope you say to me
Chorus
Baby let's get emotional
What do you say we let it all go
Let it go
Chorus
Be that way, oh yeah
A Broken Wing
Written by James House, Sam Hogin and Phil Barnhart
She loved him like he was
The last man on
earth
Gave him everything she ever had
He'd break her spirit down
Then come lovin' up on her
Give a little, then take it back
She'd tell him about her dreams
He'd just shoot 'em
down
Lord he loved to make her cry
"You're crazy for believin'
You'll ever leave the ground"
He said "only angels know how to fly".
Chorus
And with a broken wing
She still sings
She keeps an eye on the sky
With a broken wing
She carries her dreams
Man you ought to see her fly
One Sunday morning
She didn't go to church
He wondered why she didn't leave
He went up to the bedroom
Found a note by the window
With the curtains blowin’ in the breeze
Chorus
With a broken wing
She carries her dreams
Man you ought to see her fly
“Remember when we first heard
this? We were working late on a Friday night at the studio, and you made me
call the writers right then and put the song on hold. Also, this track was
cut as a demo. We were just doing some pre-production and rehearsal with the
studio band. The compressor was set all wrong on Biff’s acoustic guitar
(which is why it sounds so cool), but the magic just happened then and never
really happened later when we had everything set ‘correctly.’ Dann Huff, you
really are the best guitar player in the universe! And the background
vocals…what a treat to work with Bob, Vicky, and Kim. By the way, do you
hear the distortion on the lead vocal track? Yeah, that happened on the
track date as well.” Paul Worley
“After ‘Independence Day’ I got every social issue song on the planet. And was I asked over and over again if I would ever record a song like ‘Independence Day’ and I always said I would if I ever found one that was written well enough. Because, lets face it, ‘Independence Day’ set a pretty high standard to follow. When I heard ‘Broken Wing’ it was in the evening at the studio. As Paul said we were getting ready to leave and we noticed this song on the desk and we put it on and by the time the first chorus was finished I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is amazing!’ He called immediately as the last notes played on the demo and left a message to the publisher that we wanted to record it. I just loved that you know exactly the way you feel about this women and exactly how you feel about his man by the time the song is half over. And when I heard, ‘Man you oughta see her fly’ it just killed me! As Paul said, this recording was actually a rehearsal and we came back the next day and tried to cut it and it just never had the same magic” Martina McBride
Wrong Again
Written by Tommy Lee James and Cynthia Weil
Background Vocals: Sara Evans and Neil Thrasher
From the day we
met
You made me forget
All my fears
Knew just what to say
And you kissed away
All my tears
I knew this time I
had finally found
Someone to build my life around
Who'd be a lover and a friend
After all my heart had put me through
I knew that it was safe with you
And what we had would never end
Wrong again
Everybody swore
They'd seen this before
We'd be fine
And you'd come to see that you still loved me
In good time
And they said
there's nothing you can do
It's something that he's going through
It happens to a lot of men
And I told myself that they were right
That you'd wake up and see the light
And I just had to wait 'til then
Wrong again
And it seemed to
me the pain would last
My chance for happiness had passed
And nothing waited 'round the bend
I was sure I'd never find someone
To heal the damage you had done
And my poor heart would never mend
Wrong again
Wrong again
“I was talking with the writer, Tommy Lee James, just yesterday about how many instrumental mutations this song went through. Remember it originally started with a doubled steel guitar played by Dan Dugmore. How it morphed into simple the simple intro played by Dann Huff I don’t exactly remember, except I do remember torturing Aubrey Haynie one afternoon trying to get a fiddle intro. Sorry Aub. I was ‘wrong again’ (ha).” Paul Worley
“I love this…I love the melody and the way it has a different chorus each
time. I had a really easy time singing this vocal…once I figured out where
to breath! It felt natural, like a good fit. That’s Neil and Sara on the
background vocals again. We had the hardest time coming up with an intro for
this. An although Paul took the blame for Aubrey’s day of torture, it was
actually my lame ideal to try a fiddle intro! Oh well…you never know if you
don’t try. I love Dann Huff’s guitar solo, but then I love everything he
does if you haven’t noticed that already! We did a really cool acoustic
version of this song that is worth searching out.” Martina McBride
Keeping My
Distance
Written by Jimmy Davis, Tommy Burroughs and Don Smith
I'm keeping my
calendar open
Even if it takes me years
'Til you figure out what your plan is
Your figure out all of your fears
I don't wanna know anything about her
Or what you feel like you have to defend
But I've seen your situation
And the world she keeps you in
Chorus
I'm keeping my distance
I'm keeping my distance
And I'll wait until my time is here
I'm keeping my distance
I'm keeping my distance
And I'll wait until you make it clear
If I don't want to
rush it baby
Well then by all means don't
But I'm gonna wait for the day when
You see that it's me you want
I can see, I can tell that you need me
You know that I need you too
So why on earth can't you ever let her go
Will you ever try anything new
Chorus
Where will you
find the strength
I can't hold you against your will
You keep me at arm's length
I'm reaching out to hold you will, yeah, yeah, yeah
I can see that you
need me
You know that I need You too
So why on earth can't you ever let her go
Will you ever try anything new
I'm keeping my
distance
And I'll wait until my time is here
I'm keeping my distance
I'm keeping my distance
Still Holding On
Written by Clint Black, Matraca Berg and Marty Stuart
Duet with Clint Black
There's something
out there left for you
But it's not me
We reached a point of no return it's only right
I set you free
I know I'll have to turn away
But there's nowhere for my love to go
And there won't come a day
When I won't honor that we vowed
But I'll go on
with my life
We can even say good-bye for now if
If that's what we have to do
But here in my heart
Even when my arms are empty darlin'
I'm still holdin' on to you
We can't deny that
this one's
Out of control
Stronger than the the both of us
And bound to take it's toll
I can't stand the test of time
And as far as I can see
There are no walls that we can't climb
Standin' between you and me
But I'll go on
with my life
We can even say good-bye for now if
If that's all we have to do
But here in my heart
Even when my arms are empty darlin'
I'm still holdin' on to you
And there's a
place you'll always be
No matter where you are
You're here with me
When the world is turning upside down
Together we can stand our ground
We can even say
good-bye for now if
If that's what we have to do
But here in my heart
Even when my arms are empty darlin'
I'm holdin' on to you
I'm still holdin'
on to you
When I'm gone, when I'm gone I'm holdin' on
"I think it really turned out great. I had written the melody for her, and she took it from there and put her own stamp on it. There are things she did that I wouldn't have thought of. To suddenly hear someone else's interpreting what you've written was really exciting." Clint Black
"I've never sung with Clint before, but I couldn't be happier about the way we sounded together.
I had the feeling about that song and about the fact that Clint Black was involved. It just felt really big when we were recording it. I don't have that with everything I record, but that one felt like it was going to be a hit.
I admired and loved Clint Black and his music for a long time before I ever moved from Kansas to Nashville. When I heard the song (Still Holding On), that was the clincher--it's beautiful. It's great that eight years later, I'm singing on the radio with him. And it's exciting that it has caught fire so quickly." Martina McBride
Whatever You Say
Written by Tony Martin and Ed Hill
Background Vocals: Sara Evans and Neil Thrasher
You think I'm
always makin'
Something out of nothin'
You're sayin' everything's okay
You've always got an answer
Before I ask the question
Whatever you say
Now we can change
the subject
Pretend I never brought it up
Same old story anyway
Later we can work it out
Right now you're talked out
Yeah, whatever you say
Chorus
Oh I know you can hear me
But I'm not sure you're listening
I hear what you're sayin'
But still there's something missin'
Whether I go whether I stay
Right now depends on
Whatever you say
You say yes you
need me
And no you wouldn't leave me
And that should be enough to make me stay
And even though I want to
I don't hear I love you
In whatever you say
Chorus
Oh whether I go
whether I stay
Right now depends on
Whatever you say
Whatever you say
Whatever you say
“Special thanks to Ed Hill and Tony Martin for holding this song for us for over a year. These days I doubt anyone would do that. How many times did we mix this? Five or six. We knew it was a hit song…had to get a hit mix!” Paul Worley
"I love this song. We had it on hold for so long! Paul found this one and we both knew it be a great record. This is one of those songs that has the low soft verse and the big chorus, which actually went on to become, I feel a bit of a signature style for me. I love the background vocals Sara Evans and Neil Thrasher did. And I really, really love the fiddle solo. This song went through many mixes and I still say there is a rough mix that Clarke did that we never quite beat. I also think I sing this now with a lot more soul and frankly it bothers me to listen to the vocal recording on this recording. This one I wish I could go back and re-sing. But then you would probably all hate it! (ha)"
I Won't Close My Eyes
Written by Kevin Montgomery and Larry B. Gottlieb
I don't wanna
think
That you could be runnin' around
After all the love
That I have shown you
Chorus
I won't knock on your door
I won't call to see if you're home
But I won't close my eyes
Love's a matter of
trust
And I just want to believe in us
But last night in your kiss
I felt a lie on your lips
Chorus
There are two
kinds of love
Those who are true and those untrue
I see black and white
Are you somewhere lot between the two
I won't knock on
your door
I won't call to see if you're home
I won't knock on your door
I won't call to see if you're home
But I won't close my eyes
No I won't close my eyes
I don't wanna
think
That you could be runnin' around
I Don't Want To See You Again
Written by Jackson Leap
I don't want to
see you
'Cause I don't want to feel you
Don't look so
surprised
I told you that I'd say good-bye
If you could just make up your mind
You keep saying love can wait
But I can't, and it's too late
This old heart has just run out of time
Chorus
I don't want to see you
'Cause I don't want to feel you
I don't want a love that I can't win, baby
I don't want you to call
'Cause if I can't have it
I dn't want to see you again
When your new life
gets you down
Don't be tempted to come around
Just think of all the times I let you slide
And when your teardrops finally come
You'll realize that I'm the one
But I won't be there when it's your turn to cry
Chorus
Chorus
Some Say I'm Runnning
Written by Brent Bourgeois and Michael W. Smith
Here I go restless
heart
Another lovely misadventure in the dark
All my friends who knew me when
Tell me not to wander down that road again
What they don't
know what they can't see
It's being on that road that makes me free
Some say I'm running
I know I'm falling back to you
The water's deep
under the bridge
As I pass by our old house upon the ridge
All our sins have washed away
Now all that's left are all the things we didn't say
Oh restless heart
you beat so fast
While my mind is telling me that it won't last
Some say I'm running
I know I'm falling back to you
Against the odds
I'll roll the dice
I guess my heart has won despite all good advice
So grab your things and come on in
And get to know your children once again
When does a fool
stop being a fool?
And since when is love obliged to any rules?
Some say I'm running
I know I'm falling back to you
Let's learn to
give let's talk things out
Let's give them someone else to talk about
Some say I'm running
But I know I'm falling back to you
"Well, this is definitely a different kind of love song. But I think it shows a very real and honest picture of a relationship and that this story is probably one many can relate to. Some love stories are complicated. This is a beautiful story about faith and forgiveness and hope." Martina McBride
Here In My Heart
Written by Gayla Borders and Susan Ashton
Wondering, waiting
Restless for a sign
I thought you walked so slow
In my haste I left you behind
Caught in the pace of this madness
Searching for shelter I find
Chorus
That here in my heart there's a refuge waiting
Here in my heart you just won't let me go
I could run away run away
But you stay here in my heart
Meaning, purpose,
Got lost in pursuit of a dream
I've been longing, aching
In quest for a love that's supreme
Chorus
I couldn't see you
were reaching
But I should've known all along
Chorus
Chorus
One Day You Will
Written by Richard Leigh and Shane Teeters
Background Vocals: Jason Sellers and Martina McBride
I am timeless, I
am patient
I'm beside you and above
I'm the words when you need comfort
I'm the feeling you can love
Chorus
You say that you can take or leave me
You think right now that you don't need me
Some way, somehow young heart believe me
One day you will
One day you will
You're a vessel,
you're a temple
You're a journey just begun
You're a young one who is running
You are destined to find love
And when you're
lost, that's when you'll find me
We can't see till we are blinded
It's already all been decided
That one day you will
One day you will
Chorus
I am timeless, I
am patient
I'm the feeling you call love
Valentine
Written by Carol Chase, Jim Brickman and Jack Kugell
Produced by Dan Shea
Featuring Jim Brickman on Piano
If there were no
words
No way to speak
I would still hear you
If there were no tears
No way to feel inside
I'd still feel for you
And even if the
sun refused to shine
Even if romance ran out of rhyme
You would still have my heart until the end of time
You're all I need, my love, my Valentine
All of my life
I have been waiting for
All you give to me
You've opened my eyes
And shown me how to love unselfishly
I've dreamed of
this a thousand times before
In my dreams I couldn't love you more
I will give you my heart until the end of time
You're all I need, my love, my valentine
And even if the
sun refused to shine
Even if romance ran out of rhyme
You would still have my heart until the end of time
'Cause all I need is you, My Valentine
You're all I need, my love, my Valentine
“What a beautiful performance you made of this! It really hacked me off that I didn’t produce it. This was your first hit ballad. (See, I really can be petty and jealous!)” Paul Worley
“Not much to say about this except that this was the first time I worked on anything with out Paul and that was a strange feeling. I had no idea this would be such a big hit. I enjoyed getting to know Jim Brickman and working on the video together (even though it was FREEZING!) This was originally meant o only be on his album, but we got such a great response from it that we decided to make a more country version and put it on Evolution. Usually when we do this in concert I show home movies of my kids while I’m singing it. It helps me connect with the words better if I think of them while singing it.
This song is special to a lot of people. It is a pretty song that is still a fan favorite. It is romantic and sweet.” Martina McBride
