I Lava Patsy Cline.

No one says it the way she does.

I got my first taste of Patsy from my high school boyfriend who was convinced that we should learn Patsy Cline songs and sing them to old people.  I wasn't so set on the idea- Country!  Ha!  I'd have rather hung myself with a noose of wrangler jeans.  Of course once the process of breaking up got underway, well, I discovered the merits of having a little Patsy in my life.  I still have the CD he accidentally left at my house. He'd have to fight me for it to get it back. And I've got some scrappy friends who have my back.

My biggest complaint about most pop music is that it's just so formulaic and optimistic.  Love isn't that way.  It can be happy.  It can be incredibly, deliriously happy.  But it has this dark side to it that can crush every little morsel of hope and joy you have.  It can turn a vibrant person into an outline.  Patsy's music reflected this.  And not just in lyrics, her voice was edged with such pain, longing and desperation at times that you can't help but wanna buy her a glass of wine and hold her hand through it all.  It's not like that weak shit music where they say they're miserable but it sounds like a happy love song.


Even the happier patsy songs are realistic.  Back In Baby's Arms is about recovering from a quarrel.  It's optimistic for the future, but damn. Once we found out how it hurts, I'll bet we never quarrel anymore.  

And oh boy, if you've had an unfaithful lover then you've got a friend in Patsy.  She touches on the resignation to just being in love with someone with a pattern of infidelity in Foolin Around.  And she does a heart wrenching version of Hank Williams' Your Cheatin' Heart.
 
Her music is no stranger to the other side of the cheating spectrum.  She sings about the things most people won't even touch on. Tra-la-la-la-la-la Triangle is one of my favorites because of this.  Being in love with two people, seems like there should be a plethora of music based on this but it's so taboo- there are probably piles of songs on this topic untouched.  You can't admit it, you can't even think it, let alone sing a song about it.  Patsy sings it anyway. It is kind of falsely happy which does conflict with my Maroon 5 complaint, but I like to think that it only is ironically so.  Because uh, there's a triangle Ding! in there. 

Also, A Poor Man's Roses sings to the conflict of choosing between two lovers, one who can provide for her but whom she has no spark with, another who is basically a loserbeast but she loves him anyway.  You can probably guess which one is chosen.  I'll bet mom wasn't too thrilled with that one...

She's also a great storyteller.  She takes some of those standards and transforms them.  You can see the whole thing play out as she croons "The Wayward Wind" or "South of the Border".

I leave you with one of my other favorites, "You're Stronger Than Me".  She just absolutely has to be one of my favorite vocalists and that is why I Lava Patsy Cline.