| "Stranger in My House" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byRonnie Milsap | ||||
| from the albumKeyed Up | ||||
| B-side | "Is It Over" | |||
| Released | April 2, 1983 | |||
| Genre | Country rock,rock | |||
| Length | 4:11 | |||
| Label | RCA Nashville | |||
| Songwriter | Mike Reid | |||
| Producers | Tom Collins Ronnie Milsap | |||
| Ronnie Milsap singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Stranger in My House" is a song written byMike Reid and recorded by Americancountry music artistRonnie Milsap. It was released in April 1983 as the first single from the albumKeyed Up.
The song tells of a man who suspects his wife is fantasizing about being with a secret lover. It is mainly in the key ofD minor, with some portions of the verses being in DDorian due to the sixth tone being raised by a half-step. Milsap's vocal ranges exactly two octaves (from D3 to D5). The main chord pattern on the verses is Dm-C-G twice, followed by Gm-Dm-Gm-A; the chorus uses Dm-Gm-A twice and ends on a Dm chord.[1]
Milsap's 35th single to be released, the song immediately became a major hit as it peaked at No. 5 on thecountry chart and No. 8 on theAdult Contemporary chart. The song also went as high as No. 23 on theBillboard Hot 100 pop singles chart.
The song features arock guitar solo from Bruce Dees. Some country stations edited this solo out of the song,[2] and a station inDenver, Colorado, refused to play the song, because its personnel opined that the song sounded like aLed Zeppelin song. That particular airplay lost from the Denver station likely kept the song from peaking at No 1.[3]
Reid would win theGrammy Award for Best Country Song category for this song in 1984.
A black-and-whitemusic video for the single, directed by David Hogan, was also released. During the beginning of the video, a man is shown trespassing in the narrator's house as the blind singer plays his piano. During theclimax, it shows his wife's imaginary lover playing an electric guitar as she performs anerotic dance to the solo. In the end, it shows detectives investigating thetape outline of an electric guitar.
| Chart (1983) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[4] | 55 |
| CanadianRPM Country Tracks | 1 |
| CanadianRPM Top Singles | 42 |
| USHot Country Songs (Billboard)[5] | 5 |
| USBillboard Hot 100[6] | 23 |
| USAdult Contemporary (Billboard)[7] | 8 |
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