For those who like the idea of marriage, George Jones and Tammy Wynette’s 1976 album, Golden Ring, will sound like a bittersweet testament to the challenges of making it work. For those who don’t, it will sound like two crazy people who just can’t seem to get enough of ruining each others’ lives. Wherever you stand, the album is both a celebration and a cautionary tale: Yes, you can have the joy—but you’ll have to take the misery, too. Did Jones and Wynette have to have been married to make these songs sound as sad, funny, and agonizingly genuine as they do? Maybe not. But they probably did have to be divorced—which, by the time of Golden Ring’s release, they were. So if the first-love romance of pop music always sounded like a fairy tale to you, here are stories of regret (“Tattletale Eyes,” “Did You Ever?”); rationalization (“Even the Bad Times Are Good,” “Cryin’ Time”); and of being angry enough to threaten walking out—but of being just a little too comfortable to actually do it (“If You Don’t, Somebody Else Will”). And if you think they’re unhappy being together, just wait ’til you hear how unhappy they are apart (“I’ve Seen Better Days”). As for the title track, the hardest part of falling in love is realizing people do it every day.