Vienna, Va. - Reba McEntire's new song about a woman dying of AIDS was considered too grim to be released as a single.

But She Thinks His Name Was John - the most personal song about AIDS ever to connect with a mass audience - is shaping up as a hit anyway. It was launched after radio stations in Houston, Dallas, Detroit and San Francisco began playing the album cut and got a visceral response from listeners.

"I think the industry and radio were shocked that there were so many calls about the song," McEntire said backstage following a concert at Wolf Trap. John portrays a desperately ill woman obsessed with the vague memory of a man with whom she had a one-night stand years before.

Dene Hallam of Houston's KKBQ-AM says his station jumped on the song immediately, playing it four or five times a day when the album arrived May 14. "We felt it important or us to play it, but we also thought it was a hit record. We had phenomenal response and had people crying on the phones."

The song was co-written by Sandy Knox and Steve Rosen. Knox also co-wrote McEntire's hugely popular duet with Linda Davis, Does He Love You, as well as McEntire's recent Why Haven't I heard From You.

Knox's brother died in 1984 after being infected with the AIDS virus during a transfusion following cancer surgery. Knox, who wrote the lyrics, says, "I don't know if I could have written it if I hadn't seen the disease take someone's life.

"I let the idea incubate because I know it would be a hard idea to write and get across in a subtle manner." To maintain the subtlety she envisioned AIDS being the bull's-eye of an archery target and "wrote all around it." "You never hear the word 'AIDS' or 'death' or 'dying' or 'medicine' or 'doctors' or 'needles' or 'sex.' " Knox says her songwriting success has led to meetings with a major label for possible recording deal. "I've had a little Reba run, which is fine with me."