A Happy Take On An Angry Song, and Why That Might Be A Good Thing

Patty Loveless has a blast with this one. Who wouldn't, with Stuart Duncan on fiddle, and two crackerjack back-up singers? And that drummer? That's how to rock hard -- stay off the cymbal.

All that said, I want Loveless to be angry; clearly she's singing about a toxic relationship with a psychopath. Even Richard Thompson, who wrote this one and a whole host of other brilliant songs about toxic relationships, invariably comes across as someone who's more bilious than contemptuous. Bluegrass icon, Jimmy Martin, would have torn this one up and spat it out -- and we would have been wildly entertained.

If we can't have Jimmy, we might as well have Loveless' transcendent country pop. It's not a bad alternative.

What, you thought I was saying I hated her interpretation? Quite the contrary; I love it. I just wouldn't sing it this way.

Perhaps what Patty Loveless is saying is, "Thank the good Lord I've never been through this with some crazy man."

In any case, here she is with Richard Thompson's legitimately "Tear-Stained Letter".