The 1990s were filled with major events for me. I moved to Pennsylvania, got engaged, got married, bought a house, had our first baby and started my own business.
Understandably, I wasn’t paying close attention to new music—especially during the first half of the decade. Now I keep discovering excellent songs from that period that passed me by completely.
Pete Droge’s “If You Don’t Love Me (I’ll Kill Myself)” is one of them. Released in 1994 on his debut album, Necktie Second, it also appeared on the Dumb and Dumber soundtrack. I didn’t hear it until a few years ago.
The title sounds alarming, but the song is clearly delivered as dark, exaggerated romantic comedy. Droge wraps the threat in such a relaxed, gentle arrangement that it almost sounds like a demented alternative to “Hush, Little Baby.”
Perhaps that shouldn’t work. Somehow, it does. The melody is warm, the performance is charming and the humor is just morbid enough to make the song unforgettable.