There are very few songs that make me break down into full-on sobs every single time I hear them.
Okay, that’s not necessarily true, but there are only a handful that will like ruin my day.
The list includes heavy-hitters like “Maggie’s Song” by Chris Stapleton, “Just a Dream” by Carrie Underwood, and “Saving Amy” by Brantley Gilbert.
But I have so many memories of sobbing to “This Ain’t Nothin’” by Craig Morgan before and after school while watching CMT or GAC.
I mean, this song hits all of the tropes that will make you cry: death of a loved one, destruction, war, inspirational message. It’s just ripe with instances that will break your heart because the song is trying to.
The song is an interview with a man whose home was destroyed by a tornado, but this man says that this disaster is nothing compared to what he has been through.
He’s lost his father in a mine cave-in, his brother and his hand in Vietnam, and his wife only a year prior.
And the lines about this man losing his wife will break you. They are absolutely heart-wrenching:
“He said, ‘You sit and watch your lovin’ wife
Of fifty years fightin’ for her life
Then you hold her hand ’til her heart of gold stops pumpin’
Yeah, boy that’s somethin’”
Sad country songs are aplenty, you don’t have to search for them.
But what makes Morgan’s song stick out for me is that it is rather relentless in its sadness. Even though the man is trying to be kinda inspirational by saying that physical stuff can be replaced, he only believes that because so many people in his life have died.
Like, dude, come on. That’s so freaking devastating.
The guy even claims that he’s not going to cry over the damage because of all the crap he’s been through:
“So if you’re waitin’ here for me to cry
I hate to disappoint you boy, but I won’t”
Like, good for you, dude. I’m so glad your trauma made you strong, but I’m curled in a corner, sobbing hysterically, and will be out of commission for the rest of the day.
I mean, is the song beautiful, and will it make you appreciate your loved ones while they’re alive? Yeah, sure.
But, it’s also so, so sad. It just hurts, man.
And of course, Craig knows this pain better than most as he lost his teenage son Jerry in a boating accident a few years back… making the song hurt ever more.
Pass the Kleenex.