She Threw A Damned Good Love Away
This one came easy—maybe too easy.
When I wrote it, I was younger and still wrapped in the righteous warmth of my own version of the story. The verses cast blame like a stone through glass, aimed squarely at her. She became the one who walked away from a “damn good love.”
But here’s the thing about time: it’s a mirror with a slow reveal.
And with enough years behind you—38 in this case—you start to notice the cracks in your own reflection. You start to remember your own lies, your own betrayals, the ways you made escape seem like the only sane option.
So now, when I hear this song, I still feel its poetry.
But I also see its indulgence. I hear a man working hard to justify what couldn’t be justified. Maybe I needed that then. Maybe we all do, for a while.
Would things have turned out different if we’d held on just a little longer?
Maybe. Maybe not.
But even if the song got the story a little wrong, I’m grateful for it.
It gave voice to the ache, to the stubborn pride, and eventually…
to the understanding that it never happens in a vacuum.
Thanks for letting me tell it wrong before I learned to tell it right.
Here’s to a damn good love—and to the people we used to be.

Damn Good Love

She’ll wake up some morning
Humming one of my songs
One that I wrote for her
when we were young

And she won’t have to wonder
If she’s still in love with me
She’ll like the bong and close her eyes
to escape reality

Still she has to put her makeup on
and look herself in the eye
So she’s learned these magic words
and believes they’re not a lie
She says

You were no good for me
You left me in the mess that I’m in
You always lied to me
I’ll never ever love another man
But down in her heart the truth will say
She threw a damn good love away

Then my son will remind her
Because he looks so much like me
So she’ll go off in the night
to prove she’s really free

In a club where there’s rock and roll
And they all know her by first name
She’ll pick some youngster up
to help her ease the pain

And after she’s laid down with him,
she’ll look him in the eye
And recite these magic words
that by now she’s memorized
She’ll say

You are so good for me
You’ve made me all that I am
You’ll never lie to me
I’m so glad I found such a man
But down in herDamn heart the truth will say
She threw a damn good love away

But me, my life’s going okay
It’s turned out fine after all
And she’s out there living the lie
and she sets herself up for the fall

Because the truth in her heart won’t go away
She says

You were no good for me
You left me in the mess that I’m in
You’ll always lie to me
I’ll never ever love another man
But down in her heart her truth will say
She threw a damn good love away
She threw a damn good love away