John Moreland - You Don't Care for Me Enough to Cry

When explaining to friends my love of horror movies, or graphic violence, or other extreme content, I typically elaborate the common connecting thread of high emotion. Great horror, or anger, or sadness, can intensify great joy when overcome, the peaks feel taller when the valleys are deeper. An identical enjoyment exists for me in sad music; like really, really, sad music.

As touched upon in the last Music In Review, I am not a big fan of country music, with of course the most notable exception of Johnny Cash. However, there is some deeply depressing music in the genre of country so sometimes, though not often, I come across a song so morbidly saddening that it appeals to me, if for no other reason than it has ventured into the realm of high emotion.

Enter, John Moreland.

Like many musicians, and songs I discover these days, I happened across John Moreland while letting youtube play whatever it wanted to while I was at work or super high, somehow, I manage to never be both at the same time. The song “You Don’t Care for Me Enough to Cry” plays and it is sad, really, really, sad.

The second verse:

“Now I'm forcing myself into,
What you've already been through,
But darlin’ I can't help the way I feel.
And you need something stronger,
A drug to kill the hunger,
And ease the awful pain of living here.”

Wow that is sad. I love it.

Then the third verse is this:

“I dreamt I'd take you with me,
And you'd say you forgive me,
And we'd live out some easy ancient song.
Now where I am unattended,
In a splendid love's remembrance,
You lost the mind to even do me wrong.”

Wow, she cares so little about him she cannot even muster the energy to mistreat him. Ties in nicely with the chorus and song title:

“You don’t care for me enough to cry.”

So, those are some very sad words, clearly, but the delivery of Moreland’s soulful voice adds that extra something special that elevates this song to the level of high emotion. This is not just a sad song, but a deeply painful display of heartache. So, on these merits alone we have a fine song, but, the fine guitar picking of Moreland bestows upon our ears that needed sorrowful twang that is both country and yet universal.

So, then I watched this live version of this song:

Music City Roots Live From The Factory:

And, ah, god lord, that is a big man.

It is principally irrelevant what Moreland’s physical appearance is, what truly matters in the context of any conversation about his music, is the music. Our attention should be on his soulful voice and guitar skills; however, I draw attention to Moreland’s size for one reason, the opening line to his chorus on this song is as follows:

“Well I'm the kind of love that hurts to look at.”

Do you think maybe this line is meant both figuratively and literally?

I must imagine that Moreland’s deals with a variety of health issues both being the cause of and consequence from his body. I suspect there is a significant number of people he has encountered in his life that have been very rude and cruel to him. Lastly, I assume a strong majority of woman would disqualify him from romantic consideration. This line, about how difficult his love is look upon, was miserable enough as is, but once we apply this second dimension, it is possible to interrupt a personal tinge of anguish from the man Moreland. We all experience heart break but damn, the scenario this single line infers to me paints a truly painful struggle.

Lastly, let us return to that live video, and look at the faces in the crowd. No one is smiling, they all look very unhappy, yet I am confident in believing they are having a good time. They came to enjoy the quality live music, but they also came to take in all that sadness. There is a comfort in sharing pain with others, a reminder how similar our capacities for joy and sorrow are. This is a perfect example of what I talk about when I say I enjoy dark subject matter and high emotion. That connection we can find in each other when we explore the human condition, whether it is pleasant or not. This song “You Don’t Care for Me Enough to Cry” captures all of this and more.

- King of Braves