Summary
“When You Say Nothing at All” is a country song written by Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz. It is among the best-known hit songs for three different performers: Keith Whitley, who took it to the top of the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart on December 24, 1988; Alison Krauss, whose version was her first solo top-10 country hit in 1995; and Irish pop singer Ronan Keating, whose version was his first solo single and a chart-topper in the United Kingdom and Ireland in 1999.
Piano Performance
Lyrics
It’s amazing how you
Can speak right to my heart.
Without saying a word
You can light up the dark.
Try as I may, I could never explain
What I hear when you don’t say a thing.
[Chorus:]
The smile on your face
Lets me know that you need me.
There’s a truth in your eyes
Saying you’ll never leave me.
[Album version:] The touch of your hand says you’ll catch me wherever I fall.
[Live version:] The touch of your hand says you’ll catch me whenever I fall.
You say it best when you say nothing at all.
All day long I can hear
People talking out loud (oooh).
But when you hold me near (you hold me near)
You drown out the crowd (the crowd, the crowd).
Try as they may, they can never define
What’s been said between your heart and mine.
[Chorus:]
The smile on your face
Lets me know that you need me.
There’s a truth in your eyes
Saying you’ll never leave me.
[Album version:] The touch of your hand says you’ll catch me wherever I fall.
[Live version:] The touch of your hand says you’ll catch me whenever I fall.
[Album version:] You say it best (you say it best) when you say nothing at all.
[Live version:] ‘Cause you say it best (you say it best) when you say nothing at all.
[Chorus:]
The smile on your face
Lets me know that you need me.
There’s a truth in your eyes
Saying you’ll never leave me.
[Album version:] The touch of your hand says you’ll catch me wherever I fall.
[Live version:] The touch of your hand says you’ll catch me whenever I fall.
[Album version:] You say it best (you say it best) when you say nothing at all.
[Live version:] ‘Cause you say it best (you say it best) when you say nothing at all.
(You say it best when you say nothing at all.
You say it best when you say nothing at all.)
That smile on your face,
[Album version:] The truth in your eyes,
[Live version:] The look in your eyes,
The touch of your hand
Lets me know that you need me.
(You say it best when you say nothing at all.
You say it best when you say nothing at all.)
[Live version additional ending:]
The smile on your face,
The look in your eyes,
The touch of your hand
Lets me know that you need me.
