“I Don’t Know Why You Don’t Want Me” -Single by Rosanne Cash from the album Rhythm & Romance
B-side “What You Gonna Do About It”
Released February 1985
Label Columbia
Songwriters Rosanne Cash, Rodney Crowell
Producer David Malloy
This was a #1 Country hit, and it went to #16 on the Adult Contemporary charts.
The song was Cash’s fourth number one on the country charts. The single stayed at number one for a single week and spent a total of 15 weeks in the top 40. Cash wrote the song with then-husband Rodney Crowell.
Rosanne Cash was nominated for a Grammy for “Ain’t No Money.” She lost to Juice Newton, who also beat out Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, and Sylvia with her cover of “Break it to Me Gently.”
Driving home from the ceremony, with tongue planted firmly in cheek, Cash started a self-deprecating song about having bought a new dress and new shoes for the occasion, and lamenting, “I don’t know why you don’t want me.”
Working with Rodney Crowell, she expanded the idea into a surprisingly potent expression of longing, given its original award show inspiration. Her label made a game attempt to push her in a pop direction with this single, and it did get some top 40 airplay. But her songwriting was becoming increasingly mature and sophisticated as pop was going in the other direction. Despite the pop-flavored production, the heartache helps ground this as a killer country song, with Vince Gill’s background vocals doing some of the heavy lifting.
