Say something deeply personal about "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry"

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"I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry", written by Hank Williams. I'm sure you all have a lot to say about it. Just talk about it.

― Adam A. (Keiko), Friday, 21 February 2003 23:21 (twenty-two years ago)

(Tracer Hand, I think it is, to the thread.)

― Rockist Scientist, Friday, 21 February 2003 23:25 (twenty-two years ago)

It means absolutely nothing to me. I've never liked Hank Williams. Sorry.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 21 February 2003 23:29 (twenty-two years ago)

It means absolutely nothing to me.

Oh, Vienna.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 21 February 2003 23:36 (twenty-two years ago)

guess what bassline I got in my head now?

sadly, I've only heard the Cowboy Junkies version, and I don't think I could ever say anything deeply personal about the Cowboy Junkies.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 21 February 2003 23:40 (twenty-two years ago)

It sounded different when Al Green covered it.

I guess technically that wasn't "deeply personal".

― Chris P (Chris P), Friday, 21 February 2003 23:41 (twenty-two years ago)

Have YOU ever heard a robin weap? Nah. And the trains don't run by here any more. But it's poetry, innit?

not a personal bit, but apparently Hank intended it to be a recitation (by his Luke the Drifter persona), and was afraid it sounded to "self conciously arty" -- Colin Escott's words, not Hank's -- but was convinced to record it, anyway.

― pauls00, Friday, 21 February 2003 23:55 (twenty-two years ago)

i had a really bad breakup one time, the worst one of my life actually; i was living by myself in an apartment off times square. i felt like the loneliest person on earth. i played a lot of songs on guitar that winter to keep myself from losing my mind. country songs worked. i remember doing "my window faces the south" "i fall to pieces" "crazy" "please release me" "crazy arms" "san antonio rose" "up the lazy river" "your cheatin heart" and of course "so lonesome i could cry" which i would always slooow down to the most funereal waltz that ever was. no way i'd ever play them for anybody else though, not because i was embarrassed or thought i was no good at it, but because just having another person to refract the songs and words through would have made me simply break down

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Saturday, 22 February 2003 00:05 (twenty-two years ago)

1. contributions to the thread don't actually have to be "deeply personal"
2. I'd like Alex to qualify his position (Hank wasn't the only person to sing the song)
3. Yes! The Al Green cover is brilliant! I've been listening to it more than the original lately. The first time I heard it I was absolutely frightened. The vocal overdubs overlapping, the mood of the arrangement, strings, etc. are shiversome. The mood of the original recording isn't particularly sad, strangely, but Hank's performance, the tone in his voice and the tune of the song itself are enough to make it overwhelming in its sadness.

― Adam A. (Keiko), Saturday, 22 February 2003 00:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Right on, Tracer

― Adam A. (Keiko), Saturday, 22 February 2003 00:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Hank Williams is great, but he doesn't really tear my heart out. That requires a woman. Patsy Cline, for instance.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Saturday, 22 February 2003 01:03 (twenty-two years ago)

counter-intuitively, one of the best periods of my life involved lots of listening to the Cassandra Wilson cd with her version of the song.

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Saturday, 22 February 2003 07:45 (twenty-two years ago)

Jimmie Dale Gilmore's version (from Spinning Around the Sun) is perfection also. is there actually a bad version of this? I haven't heard it, and don't doubt there is--anyone know of one?

― M Matos (M Matos), Saturday, 22 February 2003 07:46 (twenty-two years ago)

is there actually a bad version of this?

Somewhere there must be, but I haven't heard it either. It's such a loaded song that I think few dare to approach it.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Saturday, 22 February 2003 07:51 (twenty-two years ago)

I disagree, Kenan--it's one of the most widely covered country songs ever, a LOT of people have done it. If you mean that few try to alter it significantly, though, I'm with you on that, at least from the versions I've heard.

― M Matos (M Matos), Saturday, 22 February 2003 07:53 (twenty-two years ago)

hey Kenan you and I are the only people alive tonight on ILM! part-ay!

― M Matos (M Matos), Saturday, 22 February 2003 07:54 (twenty-two years ago)

It's Friday night, and we're the only losers who didn't go out. But you know what that means? We're the REAL rock critics!

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Saturday, 22 February 2003 08:02 (twenty-two years ago)

This place is dead. Where is Blount? Where are all the drunks?

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Saturday, 22 February 2003 08:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Out proving that they're not afraid of crowded bars.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Saturday, 22 February 2003 08:13 (twenty-two years ago)

my excuse is that my hours are all fucked up (I slept from 7pm to 1am).

― M Matos (M Matos), Saturday, 22 February 2003 08:24 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm not drunk. But I'm here. Everyone on this thread is OTM. Also I'm slightly lonesome, but not so much so that I could cry. :-)

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 22 February 2003 08:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Crying, we can't do much about. But if you're just slightly lonesome, we're here for you. :)

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Saturday, 22 February 2003 08:28 (twenty-two years ago)

That's sweet.

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 22 February 2003 08:29 (twenty-two years ago)

As soon as i finish my post to the Uriah Heep thread everyone will have heaps to talk about.

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Saturday, 22 February 2003 08:51 (twenty-two years ago)

There's a Uriah Heep thread?

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Saturday, 22 February 2003 09:00 (twenty-two years ago)

There's a whole heap of them!

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 22 February 2003 09:04 (twenty-two years ago)

Well shoot me dead and call me stupid.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Saturday, 22 February 2003 09:07 (twenty-two years ago)

Alternate Southernisms:

"Well knock me down and kick me like a mule!"
"Well beat me up and tell me I'm adopted!"
"Well strip me naked and laugh at my tan lines!"

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Saturday, 22 February 2003 09:09 (twenty-two years ago)

"I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" is a great song, but doesn't have a deep emotional impact on me. "Long Gone Lonesome Blues," on the other hand, I often find to be chilling. Or helps me wallow in sadness. Which is always a good thing, naturally.

― wl (wl), Saturday, 22 February 2003 10:53 (twenty-two years ago)

I have versions by (besides the Hank and of course Al) Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Jerry Lee Lewis, Glen Campbell, Charlie Rich and Little Richard. Not a poor one amongst them. I'd really like to hear Jimmy Dale Gilmore's version, because I love his voice.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 22 February 2003 12:46 (twenty-two years ago)

Say something deeply personal about "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry"

Never heard it.

― Lynskey (Lynskey), Saturday, 22 February 2003 23:44 (twenty-two years ago)

nor i.

― piscesboy, Sunday, 23 February 2003 14:28 (twenty-two years ago)

If there is a sadder HW song it must be "The Singing Waterfall"

― Aaron A., Monday, 24 February 2003 04:59 (twenty-two years ago)

I wonder what the Little Richard version sounds like! I have a fairly recent version by Stephan Eicher, but that's the only one - it uses something by Bach in the arrangement, too, but I can't remember what.

― tom (other one), Monday, 24 February 2003 05:04 (twenty-two years ago)

Aaron, I haven't heard Williams's own version of "The Singing Waterfall." He wrote it for Molly O'Day; that's the record I'm familiar with. She specialized in tragic ballads, a lot of them a little maudlin (viz. "Don't Sell Daddy Anymore Whiskey," "Teardrops Falling in the Snow")--but some pretty devastating, like "Tramp on the Street."

This is the moment in the thread where I shout that anyone who loves Hank Williams will also adore Molly O'Day. She's a lot more "country" than Hank--the arrangements have a lot of banjo and fiddler--and probably his equal as a singer.

― Amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 24 February 2003 06:21 (twenty-two years ago)

W/r/t the "maudlin" aspect of Ms. O'Day's songs, I shouldn't be so absolute about it. My favorite of her songs is "Don't Forget the Family Prayer"!

― Amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 24 February 2003 06:59 (twenty-two years ago)

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