Friday Mix Tape: 10 Country Songs That Capture Lovelorn Pain And Hardship

Few genres of music capture the lovelorn pain and hardship of everyday people quite like classic Country. Did your wife leave you? Did the plant shut down? Are you wallowing so far down the bottle that you can barely lift your head to cry all over again? There’s real blood seeping through that twang. Patsy Cline lived it, and Merle Haggard feels it to this day. If you’re lucky enough, you’ll find a little humor amidst the tears, like Waylon Jennings, who swears that he “will have sweet, sweet, sweet mental revenge” on his ex and her new lover. I will drink to that this weekend.

More Friday Mixtapes:

Patsy Cline – “She’s Got You”

Sample Lyric: “I’ve got your memory, or has it got me? I really don’t know, but I know it won’t let me be.”

Waylon Jennings – “Mental Revenge”

Sample Lyric: “Well, I hope that the train from Caribou Maine runs over your new love affair.”

Dolly Parton – “I Will Always Love You”

Sample Lyric: “Good-bye, oh, please don’t cry, cause we both know that I’m not what you need.”

George Jones – “If Drinkin’ Don’t Kill Me (Her Memory Will)”

Sample Lyric: “If drinkin’ don’t kill me, her memory will. I can’t hold out much longer they way that I feel.”

Johnny Cash – “Sunday Morning Coming Down”

Sample Lyric: “And there’s nothing short a’ dying that’s half as lonesome as the sound, of the sleeping city sidewalk, and Sunday morning coming down.”

Tammy Wynette – “D.I.V.O.R.C.E.”

Sample Lyric: “I’m doin’ alright except I can’t sleep, I cry all night ’till dawn.”

Conway Twitty – “Hello Darlin’”

Sample Lyric: “But the words we’re hiding from him now tear the heart right out of me.”

Merle Haggard – “If We Make It Through December”

Sample Lyric: “I don’t mean to hate December. It’s meant to be the happy time of year. But my little girl don’t understand why Daddy can’t afford no Christmas here.”