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"It's all over but the crying"

I grew up listening to done-me-wrong songs on the now antiquated eight-track tapes. They seemed to be a self prescribed requirement of my moms house-cleaning routine. As sure as mom was dusting, polishing and vacuuming those two-timing, gettin'-over-you songs were playing with the volume as loud as she could crank it.

Most everyone has experienced what Alabama asserts as, "Love in the First Degree" - Only to be struck upside the heart by some double-crossing fool you wish you'd never met. As a remedy, we might then turn to a country song that gives us a sense of counteraction through it's lyrics. Country music has many such songs to offer, both past and present. Although, when I think "unforgettables", I think of days-gone-by.

Of the many unforgettable done-me-wrong songs, who could overlook the one truest to it's "label"? B.J Thomas' - "(Hey, Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song". If your familiar with the song, you can hardly read the title without singing it aloud. His voice is rather mesmerizing as he draws you into the lyrics. B.J Thomas certainly served as an advocate for those in the unlucky-in-love department. Perhaps he said it best with "Whatever Happened to Old Fashioned Love".

Are you suffering a case of those danged ole heart-bleedin' blues? If so, I recommend drowning your sorrows to one of my personal favorites - Don Williams. In his deep hypnotic, baritone fashion, he delivered "Some Broken Hearts Never Mend". A song you may find yourself playing continuously with a tissue at hand ... or perhaps just your sleeve.

In terms of melancholy love-condemning songs, Patsy Cline has certainly earned an elite place on the "unforgettables" list. Both men and women alike, have submerged themselves into the lyrical declarations of her bemoaning-the-blues ballads like "Crazy", "She's Got You" and "I Fall to Pieces".

In staying true to country's southern roots, we cannot discount the archive of pine-away songs by Dwight Yoakam. In his rich, authentic country twang, he's compiled songs like "What Do You Know About Love" and "All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down". Don't be surprised when you find yourself toe-tapping to Dwight's vilifying up-tempo, I-got-the-last-word songs.

The list of unforgettable done-me-wrongs in country music is relentless. However, from the time country music was first published in 1910 to our modern day travel into "Brokenheartsville" [Joe Nicholas], all you really need to know is this: "Don't Cheat In Our Home Town" [Ricky Skaggs] 'cause if you do, you might find that "Things have gone to pieces [George Jones] and ultimately give ears to... "Here's A Quarter, Call Someone Who Cares" [Travis Tritt].

Learn more about this author, Tonya Barton.
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