Now Playing on the iPod: She Loves the Jerk

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I've been out sick the past couple of days, which is a natural consequence of spring in the Ohio Valley. My brother calls it "the Ohio Valley crud." I know allergists love this time of the year. Spring to them is like "Black Friday" to retailers. Anyway, now playing on the iPod is "She Loves the Jerk," one of those songs that, to me, has everything going for it. It's written by my favorite living songwriter, John Hiatt, and covered (in this particular version) by another favorite songwriter, Rodney Crowell. The "jerk" in the title is an abusive husband, not a dance. It's not "she loves the dance called 'the jerk." It's a terrific song about a man who is in love with a married woman who is in a bad relationship ("she lives with the lies and the bumps and the bruises, he's a no-good so and so") but, like many other women in similar relationships, doesn't want to break free ("she'll never let him go though she knows it'll never work"). This is one of the comparatively few songs where I like the cover better than the original. Hiatt's version, on Riding With the King (yes, that "Riding With the King," the one BB King and Eric Clapton did), is sung with quiet resignation. Crowell has anger in his voice. It's a marvelous cover. I do love John's version, but, to me, Rodney put the raw emotion in this song that it needed. She Loves the Jerk Written by John Hiatt Recorded by Rodney Crowell From Street Language, 1986