Chart Rewind: In 2001, Cyndi Thomson’s Debut Single Was ‘Meant’ for No. 1

Cyndi Thomson experienced a series of firsts in 2001 thanks to “What I Really Meant to Say.”

That May, the Tifton, Ga., native heard herself on the radio for the first time; in July, she released her first album, My World; in August, she sang “Meant” in her Grand Ole Opry debut; and in September, she took the single to No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, dated Sept. 22.

It all emanated from an awkward encounter that Thomson had with an ex at a party just a few weeks after a breakup. She smiled but never spoke to the guy, but when she turned that event into a song, she imagined having a conversation with him. Even in that scenario, she kept her feelings to herself, setting up the song’s premise. Thomson penned it with Chris Waters (Terri Clark’s “Better Things to Do,” Holly Dunn’s “You Really Had Me Going”) and Tommy Lee James (Kenny Chesney’s “All the Pretty Girls,” Tim McGraw’s “She’s My Kind of Rain”), who coproduced it with Paul Worley (The Chicks, Lady A).

Thomson shocked many in the music industry a year later when she walked away from her Capitol recording contract after just one album, explaining that she was unable to commit to the volume of work expected of a new artist. She flirted with recording again a few years later, but never issued new music until this year. Thus far, she’s released two new songs and joined Vince Gill as a vocal partner and cowriter on “Eighteen Summers,” the title track to his EP released in August.