David Dondero's "If You Break My Heart"
UNSUNG: Song of June
Any music journalist at the game long enough discovers artists unjustly denied greater acclaim despite their self-evident gifts. David Dondero's atop my list. I’m not the only one. NPR put him on their Top 20 Living Songwriters.
He’s an extraordinarily gifted writer who was famously influential on Conor Oberst early on when both were on Grass Records (Commander Venus & Sunbrain, respectively) and Oberst appreciated Dondero’s keening vocal style. (Oddly, tremendous amount of talent on that little label, perhaps will need to revisit that one day.)
In appreciation of one of my favorite songs of all time, and David’ s honored place as my very first podcast interview, he’s the inaugural UNSUNG: Song of June 2026.
He’s such a mensch, that when I missed a show in Indiana, he performed this song once more for me in the dressing room after the show. Who does that? David Dondero is who – one of the sweetest guys to wander the road.
The lyricism of this song and the extended metaphor are striking. If it’s no longer a phrase you hear because everyone shops at a chain store, growing up I distinctly being told as I child, moving about thrift stores and antique shops with my parents, “You Break It, You Bought It.”
The conundrum of the opening stanza is also priceless and the proper place to start talking about relationships: “How much is too much? How much is not enough?” (As Volcano Suns sing in another of my favorites, “It’s a Balancing Act”)
But the song shines brightest in the second verse with one of my all-time favorite couplets:
“Some decisions are incisions, much too late to make revisions // Sorry’s just a suture, leave the scarring for the future.”
It’s followed by a koan like meditation on memory judgment and commitment.
“Pencil’s better than a pen, merely try to change it again // This time I spilled the ink, Gone! Stained what you think.”
In Dondero’s trademark self-effacing manner, his heart’s something that can just be bartered with "over-the-counter," like a butcher:
“Don’t cost much, ain’t worth much // Bought second-hand, not in-demand… big ole bloody heart // Nothing but body part.”
There’s some really nice guitar on this and it’s over in just over three minutes. It’s off-beat as hell, like I like them, and rings true.
He recorded an even tighter (2:50 v. 3:10) "folk" version for his greatest hits album. I wouldn't want to have to choose.
Here's a live version from 2013.
