Pouring Water On a Drowning Man - James Carr

Pouring Water On a Drowning Man - James Carr
2:40
You Got My Mind Messed Up, 1967 (single released 1966)
Written by Dani McCormick and Drew Baker

I know this song, slightly, from the Elvis Costello cover.  This deep-friend southern soul slice is miles away from Costello's adenoidal vocal. Carr's powerful, raw, passionate, gritty vocals make this bittersweet love song into a classic. The juxtaposition between the driving brass and uptempo beat, and the palpable hurting in the vocal, helps gives this song its power.  The self-deprecation of the lyrics ("You bragged that I like everything you do / You put salt in my wound, it's sad but it's true") only heightens the pain of their message.