“It’s Not Love (But it’s Not Bad)”
Merle Haggard
Written by Hank Cochran and Glenn Martin
Billboard
#1 (1 week)
November 4, 1972
We’ve reached an example of a rare country music scenario that is one of my favorites: secretly loving someone else that you can’t have, and taking that secret to the grave.
George Strait’s “Meanwhile” and Reba McEntire’s “One Promise Too Late” are two later variations on this storyline. Haggard recorded one of the best with “It’s Not Love (But it’s Not Bad),” which damns the current relationship with faint praise as he pines for the woman he still loves.
It’s spectacularly cruel to the woman on his arm, but then again, if he never says it out loud, is it really that cruel? How many “’til deaths do us part” reached their natural conclusion with one person settling and never letting the other person know?
I’m sure Haggard fans were careful to look around before playing this one on the jukebox.
“It’s Not Love (But it’s Not Bad)” gets an A.
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More painful realism of the 70’s country. Now that I am in my 50’s I have seen enough to know there is not a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and even though true love may be possible it does not happen for most. SO may couples I know are in relationships of compromise. This is actually a common attitude of many couples. Just not spoken outload. I guess we should be happy that country moved on to more pop positivity, but how can you not appreciate this mush realism. “A+”.
100 % A no question about it. I also love the Chris Hillman’s version on “Bakersfield Bound” record just as much and that record if you never heard it is a fantastic covers record with a few originals thrown it.
I’ve written three posts now that have disappeared into the spam folder. Before writing anything about this song, I’m gonna post this and hope it makes it onto the site.
I’ve never heard this song before but it’s a homerun. Based on the title, I anticipated it would be a midtempo one-night stand anthem. Instead, I got a long-term lament of being stuck in the wrong marriage, distilled effectively by the provocative title. Reba’s “One Promise Too Late” is a good comparison, although I suspect this lyric is meant to convey a perspective deeper along in the marriage than was Reba’s song.
Haggard was nothing if not a realist and his ability to sing truth about life’s realities made him a transcendent performer.
Like Tom T Hall (and few others), Haggard could find those “slices of life” stories and make them come alive while being versatile enough to tackle almost any other topic or style. Many of us regard Hag as the greatest country artist of all time.
This is a definite A+
In a past post, I had suggested “Carolyn” was Haggard’s cruelest recording,and it was suggested that this song claimed that title.
The deceit detailed in this song is hurtful and cruel because it comes from a place of weakness and fear.
It is a brilliant Hank Cochran composition and perfectly suited to Merle Haggard. In fact, I always thought this was a Haggard tune. The song is uncomfortably raw and honest.
Haggard was almost without power as a songwriter and vocalist.
I would agree he is a transcendent performer and artist.