“I CAN’T KEEP YOU IN LOVE WITH ME”: SECULAR SONGS OF THE LOUVIN BROTHERS
Charlie and Ira Louvin returned to the Capitol Records studio in 1958 to prove that they were capable of selling secular records. While the duo continued to record and perform sacred songs until they disbanded, the reappearance of the secular ballads that launched their career proved successful. The power and emotion behind their lyrics expanded their already dedicated fan base, and the listeners who had already fallen in love with their harmonic mastery from their sacred songs were drawn to the contrasting ballads. Despite the seeming external disparity of lyrical subjects, the resulting songs were in fact more thematically connected than they would first appear. The same key concepts of love, acceptance, and rejection that are found in the brothers’ sacred song repertoire surface yet again, but with a slightly different context.
Musicologist Bill Malone states that love, both successful and failed, drives the plot throughout most lyrics from the developmental period of bluegrass and country music, and the “predilection for the mournful” as a Louvin Brothers song theme is “very high”. By the time the Louvin Brothers reached their peak in the mid-1950s and 1960s, country music standards such as “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” “Crazy Arms,” and “Walkin’ after Midnight” all depicted the persona in the common genre trope of a victim of “love gone wrong.” This stark perspective was not only accepted, but beloved by the mid-century Americans. Malone maintains that rural communities “responded affectionately to songs which reaffirmed the values of home, family, mother, and God, and they took to their hearts songs about dying orphans, neglected mothers, blind children, maidens who died of broken hearts, and eastbound trains that carried penniless children to see their poor blind convict fathers”.
“A Tiny Broken Heart,” written by the Louvin Brothers, has subject matter that is uniquely suited to this study. While this 1958 duet is not the most well-known of all of the duo’s creations, the song did experience a revival in popularity when Dan Tyminski recorded it as a duet with Alison Krauss on his 2000 album Carry Me across the Mountain. The plot details the story of a young boy who discovers one day that his sweetheart is moving away. Sung from first-person perspective, the song’s main character seeks to reverse the sensation of loss that he feels when his friend leaves. After noticing a moving truck next door while playing outside one day, the young boy learns from his father that his playmate’s family is moving away that same day. Heartbroken, the boy tries to “conceive a plan” to prevent them from leaving, which consists of selflessly sacrificing his toys and small collection of coins—incidentally, which the little girl helped him to gather—to assist his father in buying their neighbors’ farm.
A closer examination of this song reveals subtle themes that depict a complex set of circumstances. The fifth verse of the song provides some crucial insight into the socioeconomic situation of both families. The father tells his son that his sweetheart’s family cannot remain on their farm anymore because they firstly do not even own the property, and secondly, their temporary job is completed. This explanation suggests that that the little girl may belong to a family of sharecroppers or hired farm workers who must leave after the harvest. However, the little boy cannot fully understand the economic disparity of the two families’ situations. While he and his father do not have to move, and, one might assume, may in fact own their farm and not have to work for hired labor, the boy’s “darling” and her family are not so fortunate.
As well, “A Tiny Broken Heart” depicts the emotional character development of its main character. The little boy moves from the mindset of a carefree child playing outside with his toys to retaining several of the values that he sees his father embody on a daily basis. His immediate reaction of distress (“‘Oh no,’ he cried, ‘dear God, don’t let it be’”) gives way to an attitude of decisiveness and planning. Within the song, the little boy subconsciously tackles such responsible concepts as planning for the future, having a sweetheart, and providing for her in their domestic life. However, he does not have the actual resources to carry out his plans, leaving him helplessly offering suggestions to his father of how their neighbors may remain in their house. Nevertheless, the care and forethought that he shows despite his limited capabilities shows touching devotion to his sweetheart. His emotional coming-of-age, despite the fact that he is too young to fully realize it at this point in his life, is developed through these feelings of love and loss and therefore fosters his maturity. This song ends ambiguously, implying to the listener that the little boy’s generosity, while touching, will be lightly dismissed by his realistic father. The upbeat tempo and sprightly mandolin contrast with the lyrics in a way that mirrors this perceived dismissal.
Another offering that similarly describes the topic of love is the classic duet “If I Could Only Win Your Love.” The song was written by Ira in 1958 about one of his own failed flirtations and was released on the album Ira and Charlie (Wolfe 89). It is addressed to an unnamed subject who is the object of the speaker’s unrequited affections. The song begins with a love-struck narrator who is lamenting the hopelessness of their current relationship with an unnamed beloved. The song lyrics make it evident that the speaker is pleading with a character who has captured their heart and imagination, but who is either not as emotionally invested as the narrator, is purposely choosing to ignore the singer’s feelings, or may be completely oblivious. The persona describes the sacrifices that they would be willing to make for the object of their affections throughout the song, such as being willing to sacrifice their current life to marry this individual. They state that they would “make the most of everything” and would always remain true to their love. However, the narrator still is haunted by the fact that they do not feel that they are able to explain these feelings towards the beloved despite their great attraction.
The song’s titular concept of love is rather ambiguous throughout this song. While the speaker uses the word quite frequently throughout the course of the piece, the specific type of love they refer to is vague. For instance, the narrator sings in the second verse, “Oh, how can I ever say / how I crave your love when you’re gone away”. The previous chorus and verse, as well as the title of the song itself reflect on how delighted the speaker would be if they could in fact obtain this character’s love, implying that the love referred to in the second verse is a different form of love than the one that they are currently receiving (for instance, romantic and platonic love). This ambiguity also raises questions about the progression of the relationship. While the final line of the second verse reveals that the love interest has in fact previously held the narrator tight, little else is said about the reciprocation or actions between the characters other than the musings of the speaker.
