"I Can't Love You Back" is the title of a song co-written by Bobby Bowman, Carson Chamberlain

Carson Chamberlain

Carson Chamberlain is an American songwriter, record producer and steel guitarist who works mainly in the field of country music....

, Jeff Hyde and Clint Daniels

Clint Daniels

Clint Allen Daniels is an American country music artist. Signed to Arista Nashville in 1998, Daniels released his self-titled debut album that year and charted two singles for Daniels on the Hot Country Songs charts. In 2003, Daniels signed to Epic Records, releasing a third single but no album...

, and recorded by American country

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 artist Easton Corbin

Easton Corbin

Easton Corbin is an American country music singer. He signed to Mercury Records Nashville in 2009 and released his self-titled debut album in March 2010, featuring the two Number One hits "A Little More Country Than That" and "Roll With It", as well as the top 15 hit "I Can't Love You...

. It was released in November 2010 as Corbin's third single and is included on his self-titled

Easton Corbin (album)

Upon its release, Easton Corbin received generally positive reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 75, based on 5 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable...

 debut album.

The music for this song is very similar to "Troubadour

Troubadour (song)

"Troubadour" is the title of a song written by Leslie Satcher and Monty Holmes, and recorded by American country singer George Strait. It was released in June 2008 as second single from his 2008 album Troubadour. The song was the 86th chart single of his career...

" by George Strait

George Strait

George Harvey Strait is an American country music singer, actor, and music producer. Strait is referred to as the "King of Country," and critics call Strait a living legend. He is known for his unique style of western swing music, bar-room ballads, honky-tonk style, and fresh yet traditional...

.

Content

The narrator goes through all the ways he wants to love his significant other except for the fact that she is not returning to him.

Music video

The music video for the song was directed by Shaun Silva

Shaun Silva

Shaun Silva is a music video director who works primarily in the country music field. He has directed a number of music videos for many country music artists, including many of Kenny Chesney's music videos. His other clients include: Jack Ingram, Sugarland, Luke Bryan, Brooks & Dunn, and Rascal...

 and premiered on Vevo

Vevo

Vevo is a music video website. It is a joint venture among Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and Abu Dhabi Media with EMI licensing its content to the group without taking an ownership stake. The service was launched officially on December 8, 2009...

 and GAC

Great American Country

Great American Country , is a Nashville, Tennessee-based country music cable television network.-History:The station launched December 31, 1995 and Garth Brooks' video "The Thunder Rolls" was the first video to air on GAC....

 in December 2010. The storyline of the video is told backwards, starting with the woman in the car, and finally making her way to the bedroom where Corbin does his performance. After sitting down for a second, she gets back up and leaves, however, this is only after she turns around and both of them look at each other's faces.

Reception

C.M. Wilcox of The 9513 gave the song a "thumbs down", saying that Corbin's "made his name by sounding like a natural; here, for the first time, he’s very obviously trying too hard." Kyle Ward of Roughstock gave a favorable review with 4.5/5 stars, saying that Corbin "pours out his heart and bears his emotions and grabs you with a convincingly heartbreaking performance." Ward also states that the production "appropriate; wistful during the verses and a louder, more emotional score during the chorus." Kevin John Coyne of Country Universe gave the song a B grade, saying that the song is beautiful but the only flaw is his "over-singing in the choruses."

Chart performance

"I Can't Love You Back" debuted at number 54 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

 chart for the chart week ending November 27, 2010. It also debuted at number 97 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week of March 26, 2011. It peaked at number 14 in May 2011, becoming his first single to miss the Top 10 of the country chart.
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Chart (2010-2011)	Peak position