"We Tell Ourselves" is the title of a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Clint Black

Clint Black

Clint Patrick Black is an American country music singer-songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist and occasional actor. Signed to RCA Records in 1989, Black made his debut with his Killin' Time album, which produced four straight Number One singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country...

. It was released in June 1992 as the first single from Black's album The Hard Way

The Hard Way (Clint Black album)

The Hard Way is a 1992 album by country singer-songwriter Clint Black. It was his third album and the first one he co-produced with James Stroud....

. The song reached number 2 on the Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

Hot Country Singles & Tracks

Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

 chart in August 1992 and number-one on the RPM

RPM (magazine)

RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,...

Country Tracks chart in Canada. It was written by Black and Hayden Nicholas

Hayden Nicholas

James Hayden Nicholas is a country guitarist and songwriter.Nicholas grew up in the Houston, Texas area, where he taught himself to play guitar at age nine. In the early 1980s, he was briefly member of the band Revolver, headlined by Tim McCrary, which played extensively in Texas...

.

Critical reception

Deborah Evans Price, of Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

magazine reviewed the song favorably, saying that Black gives "an impassioned reading of these savvy, introspective lyrics about fooling yourself." She goes on to say that the tone of the production is "both imaginative and energetic."

Music video

The music video was directed by Michael Patterson and Candace Reckinger and premiered in mid-1992.

Chart performance

Chart (1992)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks	2
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	1