'No One Needs To Know'

A Country Classic Remastered + Remembered

1995 WAS A MEMORABLE YEAR

When Shania Twain released The Woman in Me in 1995, I was recently out, single, and more than ready to mingle…in the most beautiful and chaotic way possible.

I was falling for every Tom, Dick, and Harry, whether they returned my affection or not.

Some of it was love. Some of it was lust. Most of it was projection. All of it felt urgent and real. Every glance carried meaning. Every touch felt like confirmation. Every new connection felt like it might finally quiet that needy, restless voice inside me.

It was exhilarating. It was destabilizing. It was the best of times and the worst of times, sometimes within the span of a week.

Ms. Twain’s songs became my anthems. They lived in my car, in my headphones, and in the quiet privacy of my bedroom, where I could feel everything without interruption. Her voice gave shape to feelings I was only beginning to understand. Longing. Hope. Anticipation. Heartbreak. Possibility.

Back then, The Woman in Me felt like a mirror, reflecting the man I was becoming.

Now, thirty-one years later, it feels like a mirrorball, reflecting the man I have become. Still a hopeful romantic. But a little more grounded in reality.

Even with the album’s 2023 remastering, the songs didn’t change. But I did.

Now, more of the album’s tracks hit me squarely between the eyes and heartstrings. They carry the weight of experience instead of the lightness of fantasy. They remind me of versions of myself I had forgotten and others I worked hard to outgrow.

None of the album’s twelve tracks feels more personal or more relevant to my life today than “No One Needs To Know.”

When I first heard it, I heard a song about that fragile moment when new love is just taking flight. The moments before anything has been defined. Before expectations can take hold. Before anyone else has the chance to weigh in with their opinions.

I remember living inside that emotional space. Carrying “secrets” that felt sacred. Protecting connections that were too raw and tender to expose. Letting something exist quietly between me and another person. It made everything feel more intimate. More meaningful. More real.

Now, when I listen to it, I hear something deeper.

I hear permission. Permission to keep something for myself. Permission to experience love without explaining it. Permission to let something be real without needing anyone else to witness it or validate it.

I no longer feel the need to announce every emotional development in my life. I no longer confuse visibility with legitimacy. Some of the most meaningful connections in my life have lived in these private spaces. In these quiet conversations. In the shared understanding that did not need an audience to matter.

“No One Needs To Know” reminds me that not everything needs to become a story I share with the world. Some things are allowed to belong only to me.

When I hear it now, I feel tenderness toward my younger self. I do not regret that version of myself. Baby Clint was brave in ways I did not fully appreciate at the time. He taught me how to feel. He taught me how to hope. He taught me how to love.

And all these years later, I still recognize love when it arrives. It arrives more quietly now. More gently. Without the urgency or desperation that once defined it. But its power has not diminished.

Some things never stop mattering.

No one needs to know. But I do.

Keep calm and love on!
Clint 🌈✌️

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FROM THE ARCHIVES

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BORN THIS WAY ON THIS DAY

• 02-19 = Beth Ditto (1981- ) = American singer-songwriter 🌈

• 02-19 = Carson McCullers (1917-1967) = American writer 🌈

• 02-19 = Chappell Roan (1998- ) = American singer-songwriter 🌈

• 02-19 = F. O. Matthiessen (1902-1950) = American historian and literary critic 🌈

• 02-19 = Jackie Curtis (1947-1985) American actor and playwright 🌈

• 02-19 = Liz Carmouche (1984- ) = American mixed martial arts fighter 🌈

• 02-19 = Monét X Change (1990- ) = Saint Lucian-American drag queen, singer, podcaster, and tv personality 🌈

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MAN CRUSH OF THE DAY

SMOKEY ROBINSON

“You know what, life is full of temptations.”
Smokey Robinson