Tammy Wynette – They Call It Making Love

Among the many songs in Tammy Wynette’s remarkable catalog, “They Call It Making Love” stands out as one of her most emotionally charged and narratively complex works. Released in 1979, during a period when Wynette was transitioning into a more contemporary country sound, the song manages to retain all the hallmarks of what made her voice so enduring—emotional vulnerability, lyrical clarity, and an uncanny ability to articulate the inner lives of women with grace and honesty. In this haunting ballad, she confronts the hollowness of physical intimacy when love and emotional connection have faded, offering a sobering reflection that’s as relevant today as it was over four decades ago.

“They Call It Making Love” is a masterclass in restrained storytelling. Its title alone sets up a quiet tension—a juxtaposition between the romanticized notion of lovemaking and the emotionally barren experience described by the narrator. The woman in the song remains physically present in the relationship, but her heart has long since departed. “I can’t count the times he’s left me lonely,” she sings, with a weariness that only Wynette could convey. Her voice doesn’t erupt in anger or collapse into melodrama—it simply aches. That emotional subtlety is what elevates the song from mere heartbreak ballad to something more powerful: a meditation on the emotional cost of staying in a love that no longer nourishes the soul.

Produced by Billy Sherrill, the track is wrapped in the smooth, countrypolitan sheen that defined much of Wynette’s late-’70s output. Strings swell delicately, the piano offers understated punctuation, and the steel guitar lingers mournfully in the background. Yet none of this ever overwhelms her voice. Sherrill’s production here is clean and elegant, allowing the emotion of the lyric to breathe. In a time when country music was increasingly crossing over into the pop realm, this song retained its emotional roots, speaking directly to listeners who had experienced the quiet desperation of love lost in the familiarity of routine.

What makes Tammy Wynette such a singular artist is her ability to embody songs like “They Call It Making Love” with such lived-in truth. She never overstates the message. Instead, she invites the listener to feel it alongside her—to sit in the silence between words, to recognize the gulf between body and heart. It’s a song for adults, for those who know that love is not always grand or triumphant, but often fragile, and sometimes gone before we even admit it.

In this track, Wynette does what she always did best: give voice to the unspoken, with elegance, courage, and unmistakable authenticity.