The previous month, Rodney produced “No Memories Hangin’ ‘Round,” Rosanne’s duet with Bobby Bare, at Emmylou Harris’ home in Los Angeles. Rosanne’s first single came in at #17 on Billboard’s country chart. Her first album, “Right or Wrong” spawned two more singles and by August of 1980, Cash headed to Davien Sound Studio in North Hollywood to work on her follow-up project, “Seven Year Ache.”
The title track, an autobiographical song Rosanne wrote after an argument with Rodney at a French restaurant on Ventura Boulevard in Los Angeles, was issued as the first single. She labored long and hard in the writing of “Seven Year Ache, taking nearly six months to finish.
The tune was inspired by rock singer Rickie Lee Jones’ self-titled first album, which Rosanne liked a lot. She referred to the LP’s content as “street songs,” observing that there weren’t any songs in country music about being on the street. Then, she and Rodney had the dust-up at the restaurant and they left each other on the street. Cash subsequently wrote a long poem about the incident, which turned into “Seven Year Ache,” footnoted as Rosanne’s first of her 11 Billboard number one country singles on May 23, 1981.