The 1970s File Feature
How Can I Tell Her
Lobo and the Chart Journey of "How Can I Tell Her" Roland Kent LaVoie, who recorded under the stage name Lobo, was one of the more distinctive figures in the…
01 The Story
Lobo and the Chart Journey of "How Can I Tell Her"
Roland Kent LaVoie, who recorded under the stage name Lobo, was one of the more distinctive figures in the early 1970s soft rock landscape. Born in Tallahassee, Florida, in 1943, LaVoie had spent the late 1960s working as a session musician and staff songwriter before emerging as a recording artist in his own right. His artistic persona, built on introspective balladry and confessional narrative, found a receptive audience in the early 1970s as the commercial music market shifted toward singer-songwriter material and intimate pop production.
Lobo had established his chart credentials with a series of successful singles in the early 1970s. "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo" reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1971, introducing him to a broad national audience and establishing the gentle, acoustic-inflected sound that would define his commercial identity. Subsequent releases including "I'd Love You to Want Me," which reached number two in 1972, confirmed his status as a consistent hitmaker in the soft pop and adult contemporary market. By the time "How Can I Tell Her" was released, he had a well-established audience that appreciated his approach to relationship-themed songwriting.
"How Can I Tell Her" was written by Lobo himself, continuing the pattern of self-written material that had distinguished his earlier successes. The song addressed the emotionally complex situation of a man attempting to end a romantic relationship while protecting his partner from the fuller truth of his feelings or intentions. This kind of nuanced narrative scenario, rooted in the emotional complications of real relationships, was characteristic of the confessional singer-songwriter mode that had gained commercial traction through artists like James Taylor and Carole King in the early part of the decade.
The single was released on Big Tree Records, the independent label that had distributed Lobo's earlier hits. Big Tree had been instrumental in building Lobo's commercial profile, working effectively with radio programmers and retailers to ensure that his records received appropriate exposure. The label's adult contemporary focus aligned well with Lobo's artistic sensibility, and the promotional infrastructure it provided helped "How Can I Tell Her" reach a substantial audience despite competing against major-label releases.
"How Can I Tell Her" entered the Billboard Hot 100 on June 23, 1973, debuting at number 78 and climbing steadily through the summer months. The single's ascent reflected strong support from adult contemporary radio, where Lobo's material consistently performed above its pop chart placement. By August 25, 1973, the song had reached its peak position of number 22 on the Hot 100, representing one of the stronger performances of his career. The single spent twelve weeks on the survey, sustaining audience interest through the heart of the summer season.
The production of the track embodied the clean, unfussy aesthetic that characterized Lobo's recordings. Acoustic guitar formed the backbone of the arrangement, with restrained orchestral embellishments that emphasized rather than overwhelmed the vocal performance. The production approach reflected the broader soft rock aesthetic of the period, which prioritized intimacy and emotional clarity over sonic complexity. This approach had proven commercially effective for Lobo's earlier releases, and "How Can I Tell Her" applied the same formula with consistent results.
The song's commercial performance was mirrored by strong showing on the Adult Contemporary chart, where Lobo's material typically outperformed its Hot 100 rankings. Adult contemporary radio in 1973 was a significant commercial force, reaching the demographic that drove single purchases and album sales in the soft pop category. Programmers at these stations consistently favored Lobo's emotionally direct, melodically accessible approach to relationship-themed songwriting.
The song has retained a place in assessments of early 1970s soft rock as an example of the genre's strength in emotional narrative. Lobo's catalog from this period demonstrates the commercial viability of understated production and confessional lyrical content at a time when the music industry was navigating between the remnants of late 1960s rock experimentation and the emerging formats of adult contemporary radio. "How Can I Tell Her" represents one of the more successful expressions of that particular moment in American popular music history.
02 Song Meaning
Emotional Ambiguity and Relational Honesty in "How Can I Tell Her"
"How Can I Tell Her" operates within the territory of romantic conflict and emotional ambivalence that defined much of the confessional singer-songwriter tradition in the early 1970s. The central dilemma presented in the song concerns the difficulty of honest communication within an intimate relationship, specifically the challenge of conveying feelings or intentions that carry the potential to cause pain. Lobo's lyrical treatment of this subject is notable for its refusal to assign blame or seek easy resolution, presenting instead a portrait of genuine emotional complexity.
The song's narrative perspective is that of a man caught between competing obligations: honesty toward a partner and the desire to protect that same partner from the consequences of full disclosure. This tension is a recognizable feature of real relationship dynamics, and the song's commercial appeal derived in significant part from the authenticity with which it rendered that tension. Listeners in the early 1970s, navigating the social changes of a period marked by shifting expectations around relationships and communication, found in the song a frank acknowledgment of the emotional difficulties that those changes produced.
The question embedded in the title carries multiple layers of meaning. On the surface it is a practical question about how to deliver difficult information. At a deeper level it reflects uncertainty about whether full honesty serves the other person's interests or primarily the speaker's own need for resolution. This ambiguity gives the song a psychological complexity that elevates it above simple narrative, situating it within the tradition of confessional songwriting that uses personal experience as a vehicle for broader emotional truth.
The soft rock production context in which the song was conceived and received shaped how listeners interpreted its emotional content. The genre's acoustic intimacy and restrained arrangements created a listening environment that encouraged introspective engagement with lyrical content. Unlike the confrontational energy of rock music or the formal distance of orchestrated pop, soft rock of this period positioned itself as the sound of honest personal communication, which made it an especially suitable vehicle for material dealing with the difficulties of emotional honesty in relationships.
Lobo's vocal delivery contributes substantially to the song's emotional effect. His performance is calibrated to convey hesitation and genuine distress without melodrama, communicating the weight of the situation through subtle tonal variation rather than expressive excess. This restraint is consistent with the singer-songwriter aesthetic of the period, which valued authenticity of expression over performative emotionality, and it suits the subject matter particularly well.
The song can be understood as part of a broader cultural conversation in early 1970s America about the nature of honesty in personal relationships. The women's movement, changing social norms around marriage and partnership, and the broader cultural introspection of the post-1960s period had collectively placed questions of communication and authenticity at the center of popular discourse. Songs that engaged with these questions, as Lobo's material consistently did, spoke directly to a generation working through the practical implications of changed expectations in their own relationships. The enduring resonance of "How Can I Tell Her" rests on that timely engagement with a genuinely complex emotional situation.
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