Deana Carter first broke out onto the country music scene back in 1996 with her debut album, Did I Shave My Legs For This?, which went on to change her life forever. The album went on to be certified 5X Platinum with sales exceeding five million, even earning her a nomination for “Album of the Year” at the 1997 CMA Awards.
Carter initially landed her record deal with Capitol Records after country music living legend Willie Nelson caught wind of her demo, inciting him to invite her to take part in the 1994 Farm Aid VII benefit concert as the only solo female act. Carter released “Strawberry Wine” as her debut country single which quickly soared to No.1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles and Tracks.
The massive success of “Strawberry Wine” prompted Did I Shave My Legs For This? to debut at No.2 on U.S. Top Country Albums, producing two additional No.1 hit, “How Do I Get There” and “We Danced Anyway.”
“Strawberry Wine” is the most successful song of Carter’s career and is widely considered her signature song, inevitably winning her “Song of the Year” at the 1997 CMA Awards.
The song tells the story of a young girl who loses herself after falling madly in love for the first time at the young age of 17 years old. Now a grown woman, the narrator recalls the bittersweet memories of that summer when they first fell in love. The two shortly lost touch with the arrival of September and it was time for her love to return to college, but admits she’ll never forget her “first taste of love.”
We drifted away like the leaves in the fall
But year after year I come back to this place
Just to remember the taste
Of strawberry wine and seventeen
The hot July moon saw everything
My first taste of love oh bittersweet
The music video for “Strawberry Wine” was directed by Roger Pistole and featured Carter singing along to the melancholy lyrics in a statuesque house. Additionally, scenes of a young couple stricken with love are juxtaposed with an elderly couple standing amongst abandoned farmland throughout the music video.
Carter, now 50 years of age, released her most recent album, Southern Way of Life, in 2013 and currently acts as a national spokesperson for the National Kidney Foundation after her late father received a life-saving kidney transplant.
You can watch Deana Carter’s emotionally charged music video for her critically acclaimed “Strawberry Wine.”