"Let it Rain" and Just Deserts (which is ironic because it's very dry in the desert)

And a nice picture so my face doesn't show up on the G+ post

David Nail's song, "Let it Rain," has received many criticisms since it came out in 2011.  Most of them I don't disagree with, especially the point that the hook is pretty weak and misplaced.  I do, however, have something to add to them.

Examine:

So let it rain, let it pour, if she don’t love me anymore,
Just let it come down on me, let it come down on me,
Every word, let it hurt, even more than I deserve,
Let it come down on me, let it come down on me, let it rain

This is the chorus.  Ignore the bad grammar and focus on the third line.  Then focus even more on the second half of the third line.  ...even more than I deserve...

If you ask me, that sounds pretty arrogant.  Now, let's examine this closely.  To start, I'll tell you what the song is about.  It's pretty much about this guy who cheats on his wife this one night and then he (rightly) feels awful and ashamed about it, but his wife is of course pretty angry and throws all his stuff out the window.  Part of me wonders how much in the house is his and how long it took for her to throw it out, and did she just keep the stuff they owned equally?  But the other part of me likes to stay on-track, so that's what I'll do.  The parts of the song that don't explain that story are him talking about how bad he feels and how he is so ashamed.

Now, before you get to that third line, you're thinking, "Okay, this guy's really sorry and thinks he can't ever do enough to atone for his mistake."  And then you hit those five words.  ...even more than I deserve...

Now, why would anyone ever want to be hurt more than he deserves?  The concept of deserving something means that those things are equal.  You get the feel from most of "Let it Rain" that he thinks that compensation could never be equal to the sin he's committed.  But the third line makes it clear that he wants words that hurt more than what he did.  This essentially means that he's weighed the sin and found that it can be justified.  To carry it even further, he wants the sin to be more than justified.  He wants to be the victim.

Martyr complex, anyone?

You might think I'm looking too deep into this, especially since it's just a fictional situation and it can be hard to find the right words in songwriting, but I disagree.  That line ruins the whole song for me.  It, in my opinion, makes it much more self-centered and really trashes the whole shame theme.

Have a good day!