"It Don't Hurt" by Sheryl Crow

Hello Dialophiles! Tonight, the Dial pulls a fascinating album track from our vast musical archives. Join us as we put on our music scholar caps, and psychologically dissect a song which details the great lengths to which one woman has gone in an extraordinary effort to erase the pain from a nasty breakup. Ladies and Gentlemen… Miss Sheryl Crow and “It Don’t Hurt”. 

“It don't hurt like it did… I can sing my song again” 

Following an unspecified romantic heartbreak (the details of which are left the imagination of the listener), Sheryl’s character turns to home renovation, tearing down wallpaper and replacing carpet, in order to occupy her time and attempt to remove the memories of her absent lover. 

“I don't dream 'cuz I don't sleep… the moon is hanging like your hat…

The sun comes up, well I don't see… curtains tied up like a bat” 

Despite the earlier sprucing up of her home, Crow’s narrator begins to suffer from insomnia, as thoughts of her failed romance keep her awake. Her curtains are kept closed, isolating her from the light of the outside world. 

“The electric man looks good today… Maybe not, well I'm trying hard…

Trying hard to feel that way… The electric man's a good place to start” 

Following a half-hearted attempt to seduce an electrician, (or perhaps administer self-pleasure via a battery operated device… it’s open to interpretation), our heartbroken girl removes paintings created by her former partner (including a portrait of herself), and attempts to deal with her own growing claustrophobia by building an addition onto the home… “all cuz the house was feeling small”. 

After each failed attempt to mask her pain, she declares that she can sing her song again, putting forth a brave face, even though she knows that she still hurts.

Eventually, her internal turmoil reaches a tipping point, when she admits that nothing she has done so far has erased the longing felt for her former love. So, she packs her bags and moves out entirely, and in one glorious, and very final *F. U.*, she bulldozes the house into oblivion. It is only then that she arrives at the painful realization that… 

“It don’t hurt… like it did… it hurts worse… who do I kid?” 

A few seconds later, the tempo increases and the music explodes into a long guitar passage, which echoes Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’”, as both songs possess similar rhythms and the vocal refrain “whoo-hooo… whoo-hooo”. This seems to suggest that she is now willingly “falling” into madness, given the weight of her last emotional admission.

The song concludes with a static, disruptive tone that overwhelms the music entirely. As the only thing keeping her on a comparatively even keel this whole time was this very song she was singing, the tone represents her ultimate loss of sanity. Now only the tone remains, and that too, eventually fades to nothingness.

Now, I don’t typically care for “woe is me” breakup songs, but Sheryl’s track is much different. Far from a clichéd slow, melodramatic weeper, “It Don’t Hurt” is intelligent and raw and as a result, possesses a maturity that most breakup songs do not. Additionally, the country-styled alt-folk instrumentation conceals the song's bleak storyline, hiding a song of emotional torture in a comfortable and catchy mid tempo rocker.

Featured on Crow’s 1999 Best Rock Album Grammy winner “The Globe Sessions”, which spawned the U.S. hit singles “My Favorite Mistake”, and “Anything But Down”, “It Don’t Hurt” was never issued as a single but remains a favorite both in Sheryl’s concert repertoire, and here at the Radio Dial... and with good reason!

"Sweet Dreams" by Air Supply

Hey Dialophiles… Take a pause from your hectic day with the Dial, as we spotlight an interesting selection from the duo of singer/songwriter Graham Russell, and vocalist Russell Hitchcock; known to us as Air Supply, (the unquestionable kings of Australian soft rock); and their forgotten former hit “Sweet Dreams”.

This is the time when you need a friend, you just need someone near. I'm not looking forward to the night I’ll spend, thinking of you when you're not here. 

Best remembered for a series of smooth orchestral ballads that dominated U.S. airwaves from 1980 through 1983, “Sweet Dreams” was certainly an atypical single release for the boys from Melbourne. Its opening instrumental section seems completely out of place from the bulk of the song itself, and sounds very different from the majority of their hit output.

This startling intro firmly gripped my imagination whenever I heard it as a kid, and I quickly envisioned a title sequence for a fictional horror film set at a beach side town for which Air Supply’s opening would provide excellent musical accompaniment for. 

Opening waves sound (starts 0:01) – the rhythmic sound of waves rolling on a shore, total darkness on the screen.

Opening crescendo (starts 0:10) – scene gradually brightens, coinciding with the note’s ascension until a small shoreline on the right, and the vast expanse of the ocean to the left is revealed. Stars twinkle in the sky above, and a few lights on the horizon hint at a town nearby.

Keyboard notes and “Waves” sound effects (0:18) - Things seem tranquil on the beach, yet slightly unsettling.

Ominous chords (0:34) –key info displays during the title sequence as each chord chimes (“director name presents:”, “title”, “names of leading actors names”) 

Descending tone at the end (0:54) - the beach scene abruptly goes to black at the tone’s conclusion, then switches to the first scene of the film.

After the opening, Graham’s vocals float in with only sparse piano accompaniment. This lasts for the duration of the first verse (Russell’s vocals replace Graham’s half way through), then the full instrumentation begins with the first chorus. The remainder, featuring a great guitar solo after the bridge, still sounds markedly different than other Air Supply hits, and exudes a dreamy, “not of this world” vibe. The lyrics, especially during the chorus, reinforce this feeling.

Close your eyes I want to ride the skies, in my sweet dreams.
Close your eyes I want to see you tonight, in my sweet dreams.

Taken from the 1981 LP “The One That You Love”, “Sweet Dreams” peaked at US #5 on the Hot 100, and made #4 on the AC chart in early ‘82, but has largely disappeared from terrestrial radio since then. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the bulk of Air Supply’s hits remain more prominent in the public consciousness, as light rock stations still tend to frequently play “Lost In Love”, “All Out Of Love”, “The One That You Love”, and the Jim Steinman penned “Making Love Out of Nothing At All”… or, hmmmm… maybe it’s because “Sweet Dreams” DOESN’T contain the word “Love” in the title.

Come to think of it… Air Supply’s other smash hits “Every Woman in the World”, “Here I Am (Just When I Thought I Was Over You)”, and “Even the Nights Are Better” enjoy nowhere near the amount of airplay as the songs listed above. I was initially only joking, but maybe there really IS something to the idea of a secret radio conspiracy that prevents Air Supply songs from being played UNLESS they directly mention “Love” in the title. Hey, stranger things have happened!

However, I tend to think that unique and somewhat creepy opening sequence can be blamed for its airwave infrequency. As regimented and pre-programmed as radio tends to be these days, I could see a current day soft rock radio program director relegating Sweet Dreams to obscurity because it would sound out of place amongst the Celine Dion, Phil Collins, and Mariah Carey ballads he tends to program.

Yes, I know time has not been kind to Air Supply… they are often mentioned with derisive tones as schmaltzy and campy, and the mention of their name has been known to produce chuckles among “hipsters” and ‘80s survivors alike these days. But 30 years ago, at their career peak, we all were singing along with their romantic melodies, myself included. Their hits send me back in time, returning positive memories of childhood, and “Sweet Dreams”, with its off-kilter, cinematic-style opening leads the pack for me.

Sleep like a child resting deep… You don't know what you give me I keep… For these moments alone…

"Jet City Woman" by Queensryche

Break out your air guitars, Dialophiles! Tonight the big ‘ole, bad ‘ole Radio Dial brings you a choice cut from 1990, a heavy metal classic containing strong elements of prog rock. Raise your lighters in the air for Queensryche, and “Jet City Woman”. 

Waited so long I can't wait another day without you. Jet City Woman. It's a long way, home to my Jet City Woman. 

The fourth single from the triple platinum LP Empire, extracted immediately following the Grammy-nominated smash “Silent Lucidity”, JCW charted high (#6) on the US Mainstream Rock chart, but amazingly, did not cross over to US Top 40. It, however, did reach #39 on the UK singles chart. 

Waited so long now the plane's delayed an hour… reminds me of all our days apart. Hold on, just a little longer. 

Interestingly enough, though air travel is confirmed near the track’s end as the preferred mode of transport (reinforced by the jet sound effects in the final seconds), the Jet City mentioned here is actually a nickname for Seattle, Queensyrche’s home city.

I first heard JCW, and the entire Empire LP, while working at the Square Circle record store in Maryland’s St. Charles Towne Center mall, an awesome job with a great group of folks. Here, co-workers helped me dabble in the back catalogs of groups like the Grateful Dead, Depeche Mode, and “The Ryche”, a personal favorite of assistant manager Mike. In fact, it was through Mike's collection that I was able to listen to great Queensryche LPs like 1988’s Operation: Mindcrime and their 1983 self-titled EP.

Being such the fan of music that I am, working in a record store was a dream. In addition to my co-workers enthusiastically sharing their favorites, I was also able to expand my musical knowledge by listening to tunes that were not getting airplay on the top 40, adult contemporary, and classic rock stations I was enjoying at the time. It was here that I gained an appreciation for acts as diverse as 29 Palms, Animal Logic, Robin Lee, and of course, Queensyrche.

So check your luggage, and catch a flight with Queensyrche’s prog metal classic. Far from a power ballad, it’s a sophisticated romantic track, albeit one with a killer riff. 

No more nights alone I'm almost home now. Jet City Woman. Close my eyes, I'm there in my Jet City.