Great Lyricists

He wrote over 700 songs before he died prior to even reaching age 30.  He did not finish high yet had an extraordinary talent to write song lyrics.  For example:

"the silence of a falling star lights up a purple sky and as I wonder where you are, I'm so lonesome I could cry" (from "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry")

when tears come down like falling rain, you'll toss around, you'll call my name you'll walk the floors the way I do, your cheatin' heart will tell on you...." (from Your Cheatin' Heart")

"like a bird whose lost its mate in flight, I'm alone and oh so blue tonight
like a piece of driftwood on the sea, may you never be alone like me" (from "May You Never Be Alone Like Me")

He performed at the Grand Ole Opry.  Hollywood made a movie about him starring George Hamilton called "Your Cheatin' Heart".   Long before "Bocephus" Hank Williams, Jr., there was Hank Williams Sr., the author of the melancholy lyrics above.  His friend, Ray Price, talked of Hank Sr's genius for writing simple yet descriptive lyrics that the listener could easily visualize and almost feel. 

Like his songs, Hank Williams lived a sad life but his lyrics remain to remind us of a time when words from the heart meant far more than the glitz and glamour of today's country music.