Thin Line Between Love and Hate

The opposite of love isn't hate - it's indifference. In this song, that thin line that separates love and hate are crossed. The song is written from the perspective of a guy whose woman is really good to him despite his blatant indiscretions. In the first verse, when he comes home at 5 a.m., she hangs up his coat and hat, asks if he's hungry, and never questions where he's been. But then we hear some sage advice: Don't think you can keep breaking a woman's heart We don't know the details, but the second verse finds him in the hospital, and it's clear she put him there. He didn't think she had it in her.

Songs about domestic violence rarely get much airplay (an exception: "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss)" by The Crystals), but this one makes no mention of how the guy ended up in the hospital, which keeps it more abstract. A common reaction to the song is, "he deserved it."

This song was written by the brothers Richard and Robert Poindexter, along with Robert's wife, Jackie Members. The Poindexter brothers, who also produced the track, also wrote the Linda Jones songs "Give My Love A Try" and "Hypnotized." They also wrote a song called "(My Girl) She's a Fox" that was recorded by The Icemen and featured Jimi Hendrix on guitar. That one was sampled by John Legend on his 2006 song "Slow Dance."