Kenny Rogers – This Woman

About The Song

“This Woman” is a country-pop single recorded by Kenny Rogers during his early-1980s crossover peak. The song appears on his Barry Gibb–produced album Eyes That See in the Dark, released in 1983 as one of Rogers’ first projects for RCA after leaving Liberty/United Artists. Issued as a single in the United States in early 1984, it followed the worldwide success of “Islands in the Stream” and helped extend the life of the album on country, pop and adult-contemporary radio.

The track was written by members of the Bee Gees’ songwriting team, led by Barry Gibb, which had been brought in specifically to craft a full album for Rogers. For Eyes That See in the Dark, Barry and his brothers supplied demo recordings of complete songs, with arrangements and vocal lines already mapped out, and then re-cut them in the studio with Rogers as the lead singer. “This Woman” grew out of that process: a mid-tempo ballad shaped to fit Rogers’ conversational delivery while still carrying the melodic fingerprints of the Gibb writers.

Recording sessions for the album took place primarily in 1983 at studios in Miami and Los Angeles, using many of the musicians associated with the Bee Gees’ late-1970s and early-1980s records. Barry Gibb produced alongside Albhy Galuten and Karl Richardson, the trio sometimes known as the “Gibb-Galuten-Richardson” team. The same core band that played on “Islands in the Stream” and the title track also appears on “This Woman,” giving the song a polished, contemporary sound that sits comfortably between radio country and soft rock.

Lyrically, “This Woman” is sung from the perspective of a man trying to navigate a fragile relationship while caught between what he feels and what he is willing to admit. The narrator describes how deeply this woman affects him and how much he depends on her presence, but he also hints at fear of commitment and at past mistakes that have made him cautious. The verses move between intimacy and distance, while the chorus underlines that, despite his hesitations, she is the centre of his emotional world. The lyric avoids detailed backstory, instead focusing on the push-and-pull between vulnerability and self-protection.

Musically, the track is built around a smooth, mid-tempo groove. Electric piano and soft keyboards carry much of the harmonic movement, with drums, bass and rhythm guitar giving it a steady, understated pulse. Subtle string lines and backing vocals appear mainly in the choruses, lifting the hook without overwhelming the lead. Rogers’ vocal is kept high in the mix and relatively dry, allowing his phrasing to carry the emotion rather than relying on large production flourishes. The overall sound reflects the blend the album aimed for: recognisably country in its storytelling and vocal approach, but arranged with a pop sensibility aimed at adult-contemporary playlists.

On release as a single, “This Woman” performed well on U.S. country and easy-listening formats. It became a Top 10 hit on the country chart and also reached the upper region of the adult-contemporary listing, while making a showing on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart. In Canada it likewise registered on country and AC radio, supporting the already strong performance of “Islands in the Stream” and keeping Rogers present on multiple formats through 1984. Although it did not become as universally known as the album’s lead single, its chart run confirmed that the Gibb–Rogers collaboration could generate more than one successful track.

Over time, “This Woman” has remained closely tied to the Eyes That See in the Dark era. It appears on reissues of the album, on various Kenny Rogers compilations that focus on his 1980s work, and on collections highlighting the Bee Gees’ songwriting for other artists. For listeners exploring Rogers beyond signature songs like “The Gambler” and “Lady,” it offers a clear snapshot of his early-’80s crossover style: a carefully crafted blend of country storytelling, pop-influenced production and the melodic sensibility of the Gibb writing team.

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Lyric

Well, she walks like you
In so many ways
It’s a different look
Different time of day

One look in her eyes
How can I make you understand
She’s the one good thing
That’s happened in so many years
There’s been so many tears
Since we lost the dream
And the winter came

And you said goodbye
And I don’t want another reason to cry

You be all you wanna be
You got the longest night
Baby, you’d be alone
I share my dream with someone else
I don’t wanna talk about her

This woman
She’s tearing my world apart
This woman
Don’t know what she’s doing
This woman
Touches me and I lose control
She’s living inside my soul
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This woman
I don’t even know her name
This woman
Don’t know what she’s doing
This woman
Goes through me like a hurricane
Falling in love again

To make those long legs mine
Is all I care about
She’s got so much to give
Got to be the one

Got to have someone to hold
I got to make it with that woman
When the nights get hot

She goes walking by
And the city light
And the city lights
They make you blind
I go insane

But am I crazy if she feels the same
You believe what you believe
You got the darkest night
Baby, you’d be alone
I take my love to someone else
She was made to measure for me

This woman
She’s tearing my world apart
This woman
Don’t know what she’s doing
This woman
Touches me and I lose control
Falling in love again

This woman
She’s tearing my world apart
This woman
Don’t know what she’s doing
This woman
Touches me and I lose control
Living inside my soul

This woman
I don’t even know her name
This woman
Don’t know what she’s doing
This woman
Goes through me like a hurricane
Falling in love again