I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
"I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" is a song written and recorded by American country music singer-songwriter Hank Williams in 1949. Williams wrote the song originally intending that the words be spoken, rather than sung,[2] as he had done on several of his Luke the Drifter recordings. The song about loneliness was largely inspired by his troubled relationship with wife Audrey Sheppard. With evocative lyrics, such as the opening lines "Hear that lonesome whip-poor-will/He sounds too blue to fly," the song has been covered by a wide range of musicians. During his Aloha from Hawaii TV-special, Elvis Presley introduced it by saying, "I'd like to sing a song that's...probably the saddest song I've ever heard."
Hank Williams version
According to Colin Escott's 2004 book Hank Williams: A Biography, Williams was inspired to write the song when he found it on a schedule of upcoming MGM releases. The song was recorded on August 30, 1949 at Herzog Studio in Cincinnati, Ohio. Williams is backed by members of the Pleasant Valley Boys - Zeke Turner (lead guitar), Jerry Byrd (steel guitar), and Louis Innis (rhythm guitar) - as well as Tommy Jackson (fiddle) and Ernie Newton (bass). As Escott observes, the plaintive despair in Williams' voice on the recording is echoed by the backing of the musicians:
- "Zeke Turner underpinned 'I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry' with recurring figures on the bass strings of the electric guitar. A few weeks earlier, Turner had led the backing on the Delmore Brothers' recording of 'Blues Stay Away From Me' using very similar licks...Jerry Byrd played a solo of unusual simplicity, paraphrashing the melody to haunting effect, subtly adjusting tone and volume. Hank sang with unshakable conviction."
Remarkably, the song was released as the B-side to the blues "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It" because up-tempo numbers were deemed more appropriate for the jukebox trade than melancholy ballads. The single reached #4 on the country chart in 1949.[4] The song has become closely identified with Williams' legend and musical legacy and has been widely praised. In the 2003 documentary The Road to Nashville, singer k.d. lang states, "I think 'I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry' is one of the most classic American songs ever written, truly. Beautiful song." In his autobiography, Bob Dylan recalls, "Even at a young age, I identified with him. I didn't have to experience anything that Hank did to know what he was singing about. I'd never heard a robin weep, but could imagine it and it made me sad." In its online biography of the singer, Rolling Stone notes, "In tracks like 'I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry' Williams expressed intense, personal emotions with country's traditional plainspoken directness, a then-revolutionary approach that has come to define the genre through the works of subsequent artists from George Jones and Willie Nelson to Gram Parsons and Dwight Yoakam." Rolling Stone ranked it #111 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, the oldest song on the list, and #3 on its 100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time.
Cover versions
Chart performance
Hank Williams version
Williams' version ranked #29 in CMT's 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music in 2003.
B. J. Thomas version
Charlie McCoy version
Leon Russell version (credited to Hank Wilson)
Year |
Chart |
Position |
1973 |
United States Billboard Hot 100 |
78 |
Terry Bradshaw version
Jerry Lee Lewis version
References
External links
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B-Sides |
- "Not Anymore"
- "High Upon A Mountain"
- "Since I've Found My Baby"
- "It Doesn't Take Very Long"
- "Stop Teasin' Me"
- "Straight From My Heart"
- "Be Mine Tonight"
- "Your Hand, Your Heart, Your Love"
- "The House of Bamboo"
- "Summer Love"
- "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry"
- "We Have A Date (Andy's Theme)"
- "Dreamsville"
- "Don't Go to Strangers" (A-side)
- "How Wonderful to Know"
- "Help Me" (A-side)
- "I Want to Be Wanted"
- "Summertime"
- "So Rare"
- "Madrigal"
- "Emily"
- "Red Roses for a Blue Lady"
- "Loved One"
- "I'll Remember You"
- "The Summer of Our Love"
- "The Many Faces of Love"
- "The Face I Love"
- "I Want to Be Free"
- "When I Look in Your Eyes"
- "You Are Where Everything Is"
- "Ave Maria"
- "Our Last Goodbye"
- "You Are"
- "What Am I Living For" (A-side)
- "Long Time Blues"
- "Whistling Away the Dark"
- "Something"
- "What's The Matter Girl" (A-side)
- "Home For Thee"
- "I'll Never Be The Same"
- "My Love"
- "They Long to Be Close to You "
- "A Mi Esposa Con Amor"
- "I Love My Friend"
- "One More Time"
- "Quits"
- "Goin' Through The Motions"
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