“I’d like to sing a song that’s probably the saddest song I ever heard,” said Elvis Presley to the audience in his show, Aloha from Hawaii, in 1973. The song in question was Hank Williams’s “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”. Released in 1949 as the B-side to “My Bucket’s Got a Hole in It”, the record reached number four in the country charts and typified the sadness at the heart of much of Williams’s music — a sadness that has resonated with countless singers down the years.
Inspiration for Williams’s songs came from a variety of sources. Sometimes he overheard a conversation; sometimes the songs were based on his own experiences, not least his turbulent relationship with his wife, Audrey, whom he divorced twice and finally separated from in 1952. Others were written simply by lifting, borrowing or copying words or a title that already existed or he had heard. “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” was one such, its title apparently taken from an MGM schedule of forthcoming film releases.
Born in Alabama in 1923, Williams showed a singing talent from a young age and was encouraged by his mother to develop his songwriting skills by sending him to a gospel school and choir. By the age of 11 he was performing on the streets, singing requests and playing guitar and fiddle, both skills he learnt and honed from older local musicians.
At 24 he wrote and recorded his first single “Never Again (Will I Knock On Your Door)”, which launched a career in which Williams released a string of hits before dying from a heart attack in the back seat of a car on the way to a show at the age of 29.
In the 2015 biopic I Saw the Lightstarring Tom Hiddleston, Williams was shown as a man with a natural talent whose life was afflicted by alcoholism, marital problems and continual back pain. It was no surprise to hear “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” played over the film’s closing credits.
The song has been recorded by countless artists with varying degrees of success. As is often the case, it’s a challenge to surpass the original, though some have come close. What distinguishes Williams’s version is that he makes it easy for listeners to relate to his feelings, sung in his plaintive voice and accompanied by his Drifting Cowboys on lead, rhythm and steel guitar, bass and fiddle. It is the saddest — and also the simplest — of songs. The lyrics are heartbreaking: “Did you ever see a robin weep/ When leaves begin to die/ That means he’s lost the will to live/I’m so lonesome I could cry.”
The Everly Brothers (1963), despite their perfect harmonies, somehow lose sight of the loneliness of the original, while B.J. Thomas had a hit with it in 1966.
Billie Jo Spears’s interpretation (1972) mines the song’s melody, bringing real gravitas to it. Glen Campbell made a version in 1973 which excels because his voice matches the song. Elvis’s mellow voice on the live Hawaii recording from the 1970s again reflects its sadness, though it is made more epic by the presence of his large stage band and backing singers. Al Green produced a soulful version in 1973 that works well.
Alt-country band Cowboy Junkies tried their hand in 1988, slowing it down and stripping it back, but losing the emotional essence of it. Johnny Cash recorded a version in 1960 in his inimitable style. He recorded it again accompanied by Nick Cave in 2002 on The Man Comes Around, his album from the American Recordings series. Made near the end of his life, Cash’s 2002 recording has a sense of inevitability and sadness that’s missing from his earlier version.
The Holmes Brothers (2004) stamped their identity on it in a soulful, bluesy, rhythm and country version. Danish rock band Volbeat and the US trio SQURL(featuring film-maker Jim Jarmusch) flipped it on its head with metal and rock interpretations (2008 and 2014 respectively).
But perhaps the best version is by Jerry Lee Lewis (1969), one of the original rock and roll stars whose own background was similar to Williams’s, influenced by country, gospel and church hymns. It’s the closest in sentiment and sadness to Williams’s original.
What are your memories of ‘I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry’? Whose version is the best? Let us know in the comments section below.
‘The Life of a Song Volume 2: The fascinating stories behind 50 more of the world’s best-loved songs’, edited by David Cheal and Jan Dalley, is published by Brewer’s.
Music credits: NFM; Nashville Catalog; Collecting Records OMP; Rhino/Warner Records; Cayo Records; Virgin EMI; RCA/Legacy; Fat Possum; Big Buzz Productions; RCA Records Label; Curb Records; Roy Orbison P&D; 2015 bigboy; Mascot Records; Alligator Records; Spectrum
Picture credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
