The Benefits of Pain

Song 520: This week on the playlist you can hear Hurt Me Bad (In a Real Good Way) by Patty Loveless, written by Deborah Allen and Rafe Van Hoy, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. At the turn of the 1990s, listening to a NYC country station soon introduced me to the music of Ms. Loveless, and when her greatest hits album came out in the middle of 1993, I quickly added it to my collection, making it a regular spinner on the CD player. I always enjoyed the ironic lyrical twist on this cut, which appears just before the record closer Jealous Bone (Song 277). I too can remember having someone hurt me bad in a real good way when she opened my eyes to a world beyond that impossible dream I was livin' on, so with my feet on the hard ground of the real world, I would later find out how the river of tears that flowed from my eyes was only moving me on to a different paradise. On a side note, here’s an interesting question: Should Patty Loveless? I actually ask that question at the beginning of verse 2 of my song As Long as Merle is Still Haggard, and you can find the YouTube video of that tune by clicking on the title as well.