Welcome back to Country Music 4 Ever! Today is part five of my "Story Behind the Song" series with a bit of a mystery which I'll explain in a bit. Today's song is "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" by Hank Williams.

"I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" was published on Halloween of 1949 and was released in November of that same year. However, it is unclear who wrote the song. It was reported that songwriter, Paul Gilley wrote the lyrics and was paid upfront for the song and the rights, but he was never credited for his work. It is also thought that Hank Williams wrote the song. In 2014, Mac Wiseman said in an interview that he and Bill Monroe were with Hank when he wrote the song and both Mac and Bill contributed lines to the song.

However, in 1981, music journalist, Chet Flippo wrote that Paul Gilley met Hank Williams at a bus station in Nashville to sell him more songs after the success of "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry." It was also revealed that Paul had been paid between $50 and $400 per song written for Hank including "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry."

We may never know for sure which story is true. Maybe they are both partly true, but the song was written so long ago that we may never find out. Regardless, Hank brought something to this song that not many people could. He didn't just sing the lyrics, he made sure you felt the pain of every single line. Hank actually wanted to record the song with spoken word verses, but I think we can all agree having the lyrics sung with a steel guitar and fiddle in the background really adds to the raw emotion of the song.

Hank will always be one of the most loved country singers of all time for his incredible storytelling and emotion he put in his music. Whether he wrote "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" or not, he gave the song a life of its own that still lives on to this day.

Thanks for reading. I'll be back soon with part six of this series which is a classic from the man in black.