'I Hope It Hurts' by Jessie Murph – Lyrics & Meaning

Jessie Murph's recently dropped debut album, That Ain't No Man That's The Devil, is an impressive collection that beautifully showcases the young country-adjacent pop rocker's brilliant range. Throughout the release, she flexes her unparalleled vocals on tracks like the Teddy Swims duet, 'Dirty', and the Bailey Zimmerman-aided 'Someone in this Room' and shows off her singular delivery with tunes like the chilling 'Cold' and the racing 'Love Lies'.

With the final single 'I Hope It Hurts', which dropped just ahead of the album's official release on Sept. 6, Murph solidified her talent with the bewitching offering, delivering a spellbinding opus full of flame-licking vocals, stinging strings and the bittersweet flavor of revenge.

Opening in a chill of delicate keys and swelling strings, 'I Hope It Hurts' joins the album's moodier offerings. The smoky tune, made desolate by broody steel and sluggish drums, is sparse but effective, a melancholic melody for a beautifully sullen ballad.

I met a man in Miami-Dade
I almost died when he looked my way
I felt the moon setting too soon
He held my hand on the interstate
It'd been a while since I felt this way
I bet too soon, I bet on you

'I Hope It Hurts' opens on a chance encounter in South Florida, when Jessie Murph locks eyes with some mystery man. She falls fast, hard and way too soon for this person who ultimately leaves her heartbroken, wounded and looking to get even.

At the start of this love affair, she wasn't in search of trouble or thinking she would get hurt; it had been awhile since she had felt this way, so she let her guard down. In the end, however, she ends up with the wind knocked out of her after realizing it was all a lie and a game.

And so, she does the only thing she can do: she lights him on fire.

Well, not him exactly. In fact, 'I Hope It Hurts' doesn't specifically say what is being set on fire – she sings, I doused it all in gasoline / I went home and you went up in flames – but it likely refers to their relationship, the memory of him, perhaps even some of his belongings. Whatever it is, though, she hopes it hurts.

And I hope it burns, and I won't be there
I hope it hurts everywhere
You're gonna learn I'm happy to lose
But I hope you hurt, 'cause God knows I do

With these cleansing flames, she makes a statement about no longer needing this person. In the song, she lights the match and then leaves the state, traveling through the Everglades and into Georgia to make her escape. She may be heartbroken now, but by separating herself from the cause of such pain, she can find a place to lick her wounds and heal.

In the end, she won't be around when he's sifting through the ashes, left to realize what he's truly lost, and that awareness should be more painful than any burn.

And I hope it burns, and I won't be there
I hope it hurts everywhere
You're gonna learn I'm happy to lose
But I hope you hurt, 'cause God knows I do
I hope it hurts, I'm happy to lose
And I hope you hurt, 'cause God knows I do

I met a man in Miami-Dade
I almost died when he looked my way
I felt the moon setting too soon
He held my hand on the interstate
It'd been a while since I felt this way
I bet too soon, I bet on you

I'm not this dumb, not again
It hit the heart and knocked the wind
It knocked the door, I don't care
It opened up, I saw it there
And what a lie and what a game
I doused it all in gasoline
I went home and you went up in flames

And I hope it burns, and I won't be there
I hope it hurts everywhere
You're gonna learn I'm happy to lose
But I hope you hurt, 'cause God knows I do

I lit the match and I walked away
I said no words and I left the state
Smoke in my eyes, I sat and cried
Headed north through the Everglades
Georgia line felt like Heaven's gate
It broke me in two, ten thousand miles

I'm not this dumb, not again
It hit the heart and knocked the wind
It knocked the door, I don't care
It opened up, I saw it there
And what a lie and what a game
I doused it all in gasoline
And I went home and you went up in flames

And I hope it burns, and I won't be there
I hope it hurts everywhere
You're gonna learn I'm happy to lose
But I hope you hurt, 'cause God knows I do
I hope it hurts, I'm happy to lose
And I hope you hurt, 'cause God knows I do

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