I was very young when I saw the movie "Your Cheatin'
Heart”. It came out in 1964, and
depicted the life of Hank Williams Sr. My
parents owned the movie soundtrack. However, this created a confusion
which my young mind could not get straight.
On the album cover, there is a picture of the actor who portrayed
Williams in the movie, so I assumed Hank looked like George Hamilton. The
songs on the soundtrack were sung by Hank Williams Jr., who actually did sound much
like his father. So the identity of Hank Williams was a blur for
me.
This is no condemnation of my parents, but in hindsight, a 6
year old kid probably had no business listening to Hank Sr. or Hank Jr.
sing “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”. It is terribly troubling - maybe the
saddest of all sad songs, not so much just in the words, but in the tone.
But it was immensely popular, perhaps because it speaks of one of the most common
of all human conditions - loneliness.
In this song, Hank's loneliness is apparently due to being
separated from the woman he loves (“…and as I wonder where you
are..."). It would seem that men, by design, or if you are a
Darwinist, by instinct, seek to quiet loneliness with a mate. My own
years of loneliness were the worse from the day I first began to crave a spouse
until the day The Lord gave me one. Loneliness would come and go,
depending on the current status of that quest.
I think The Lord held off on my search for a mate until He
was able to teach me a vital lesson. Contrary to what may seem logical, loneliness
is not meant to be satisfied by a spouse. We are not ordinary creatures seeking
to satisfy an instinctual craving to propagate our species. We may find a
mate, but that will not necessarily bring an end to our loneliness.
We were created to have our loneliness satisfied by God
Himself. It was only after I had just about decided I could live alone,
and could trust God to make me content in that state, that He brought along my
wife. And she, no, He, dealt a blow to
loneliness.
Hank Williams
I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
Hear that lonesome
whippoorwill
He sounds too blue to
fly
The midnight train is whining low
I'm so lonesome I
could cry
I've never seen a
night so long
When time goes
crawling by
The moon just went
behind the clouds
To hide its face and
cry
Did you ever see a
robin weep
When leaves began to
die?
Like me he's lost the
will to live
I'm so lonesome I
could cry
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
1 comment:
i do believe that are are those who feel just that lonely. What do we do as believers? Hopefully Christ is manifested through us and "Hope" is seen.
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