About The Song
Conway Twitty and Earl Thomas Conley were both literally on the move while “This Time I’ve Hurt Her More Than She Loves Me” developed as Twitty’s 20th number one single and Conley’s first as a composer. Just prior to their big moment, Earl was working out of Huntsville, Alabama, while Conway had long been established in Norman, Oklahoma. Both became residents of Nashville within a year of each other.
Conley earned his first Top 20 record in 1975 when Mel Street recorded his song “Smokey Mountain Memories” on the small GRT label. Even before that, Earl had started working on “This Time I’ve Hurt Her More Than She Loves Me,” written about the marriage of his future producer Nelson Larkin.
Larkin’s wife Mary had gotten the idea for the song and passed it along to Conley. He worked on it for a couple of years, finally deciding it was “written wrong” and, after his move to Nashville, took another shot at it. This time the song came out just right.
Earl recorded a demo on “This Time I’ve Hurt Her More Than She Loves Me,” called a “spec track.” At this point, Conley still wasn’t real comfortable in the studio, so he took his song over to Conway Twitty’s office.
Twitty, still living in Oklahoma, heard the song on a trip to Nashville where L. E. White of Twitty Bird Publishing had set it aside. Conway listened to Earl’s demo over and over that day. He told White how much he loved the song, but he was particularly enamored with Conley’s singing voice on the demo. Twitty was so impressed that he personally made some calls and tried to help get Earl a recording deal. Nothing much came of it, however.
Meanwhile, Conway cut “This Time I’ve Hurt Her More Than She Loves Me,” with L. E. White and Carol Lee Cooper providing background vocals. It debuted on Billboard’s country chart December 6, 1975 and made its #1 landing January 31, 1976, marking Twitty’s first chart-topper since moving to his new Music City home. It also provided writer Earl Thomas Conley a means of support for a couple of years.
Conway’s early support of Earl’s singing talent was well-founded as Conley eventually got his performing career in full swing by 1981. He amassed 26 Top Ten records (including 16 consecutive solo #1 placements) during his ten-year career as a hitmaker. Earl became one of the most successful country artists of the 1980s, even eclipsing his friend Conway Twitty for chart dominance during that decade.
Video
Lyric
She wore that fallin’ out of love look
I even swore upon the good book
Still the last lie I told her
Was the one she couldn’t believe
No more crying on her shoulder
She won’t even let me hold her
And this time I’ve hurt her more
Than she loves me
I’ve been too busy drinking
She’s been too busy thinking
‘Bout the kind of love she needs
And the man she never sees
But lord she’s already stood more
Than I was ever good for
And this time I’ve hurt her more
Than she loves me
I’ve been too busy drinking
She’s been too busy thinking
‘Bout the kind of love she needs
And the man she never sees
But lord she’s already stood more
Than I was ever good for
And this time I’ve hurt her more
Than she loves me
Lord this time I’ve hurt her more
Than she loves me