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Ask not for whom the fiddle whines; the fiddle whines for thee. Or at least I think it does if you were born and raised in America. Country music, whether you or your hipster friends want to admit it, is like our collective subconscious. All those songs about cheating, death, doom, and mama's sweet, sweet love have worked their way into us like so much psychic lice. Try as you may, you can't get away from it. But would you really want to get away from music that, believe it or not, knows exactly how your last relationship broke up?

Start with the master of the form: Hank Williams. If you've never listened to "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," then go download it right now. The deceptive simplicity of the lyrics mask the depth of grief he sings about. This is one of the best break-up songs ever. Hank will never tell you to stop calling at 2 a.m. crying about your baby that left and won't come back. And he'll sympathize with the trouble you and your darlin' were having before you broke up. Just a few lines from "You're Gonna Change (Or I'm Gonna Leave)" will let you know you've found a soulmate in ol' Hank. And when you're ready to go back on the prowl, spin a few measures from "Hey Good Lookin'" to boost your morale.

Or, if you like to simmer in your own sense of sin, check out the music of Kitty Wells, classic country's own prophetess of pain. "You're cheating on me dear and cheating's a sin," she sings in the eponymous song, but sweetly, not naggingly, so she really gets you in the gut and makes you feel all dirty. Another selection for the guilt mix on your IPod: "Broken Marriage Vows Song." The song is exactly as the title says; Kitty is nothing if not direct. Other ways to say to yourself or that special someone that they're a low-down-dirty-cheating dog: "Just When I Needed You (You Left and Went Away)," "My Used To Be Darling," and "The Only One I Ever Loved I Lost." A warning though: you may need the services of a therapist after too many sessions with Kitty.

On only a somewhat lighter note, there's Lefty Frizzell to put everything in perspective by reminding you about the inevitability of your relationships with "That's The Way Love Goes." One of those ways, Lefty knows, is that habit we have of looking for Mr. or Miss Right Now to deal with the pain of being mistreated by our current love as he sings in "If She Just Helps Me Get Over You." But we all know you'll never get over them all the way, will you? That's why "I Can't Get Over You To Save My Life" will let you know you're in good company.

Finally, no overview of country music would be complete without a nod to the faded royalty of George Jones and Tammy Wynette, a real-life couple whose relationship seemed to follow the trajectory of their songs. He was a bit of a drinker, she was a bit of a martyr, but dang it, they had their love to keep them together, until of course, it didn't. What captures the starry eyed surprise of early love more than "Even The Bad Times Are Good" or "Near You?" But even the starriest of eyes start to cloud over with time and soon you're singing right along to "I've Seen Better Days." Maybe the bottle enters the picture, or somebody else, and then you don't need to look at a clock to know it's "Cryin' Time." And because you know "If You Don't Someone Else Will," and it will feel good, "God's Gonna Get'cha For That." That's just the way it goes. Ask Lefty, Hank or Kitty. You can't fight fate and you can't change the fact that country music knows a little more about you than you want to admit. And that, my friends, is much cheaper than therapy.

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