Analysis of Lovesick Blues

Take a look below at Williams' lyrics for “Lovesick Blues," released in 1949. It became Hank's biggest hit, which held top spot on the charts for 16 weeks.

LYRICS TO “LOVESICK BLUES”

I got a feelin' called the blu-ues, oh, Lawd
Since my baby said goodbye
And I don't know what I'll do-oo-oo
All I do is sit and sigh-igh, oh, Lawd
That last long day she said goodbye
Well Lawd I thought I would cry
She'll do me, she'll do you, she's got that kind of lovin'
Lawd, I love to hear her when she calls me
Sweet dad-ad-ad-dy, such a beautiful dream
I hate to think it all o-o-ver
I've lost my heart it seems
I've grown so used to you some how
Well, I'm nobody's sugar daddy now
And I'm lo-on-lonesome
I got the Lovesick Blu-ues.

Well, I'm in love, I'm in love, with a beautiful gal
That's what's the matter with me
Well, I'm in love, I'm in love, with a beautiful gal
But she don't care about me
Lawd, I tried and I tried, to keep her satisfied
But she just wouldn't stay
So now that she is lea-eav-in'
This is all I can say.

I got a feelin' called the blu-ues, oh, Lawd
Since my baby said goodbye
And I don't know what I'll do-oo-oo
All I do is sit and sigh-igh, oh, Lawd
That last long day she said goodbye
Well Lawd I thought I would cry
She'll do me, she'll do you, she's got that kind of lovin'
Lawd, I love to hear her when she calls me
Sweet dad-ad-ad-dy, such a beautiful dream
I hate to think it all o-o-ver
I've lost my heart it seems
I've grown so used to you some how
Well, I'm nobody's sugar daddy now
And I'm lo-on-lonesome
I got the Lovesick Blu-ues.

Brief Analysis of the Lyrics

Note above the highlighted passages in yellow. It is as though Hank resigns himself to these feelings without doing anything constructive or positive to change his situation. In other words, there is no happy ending, and that the end result of all his good intentions is heartache without hope that things may change. Not all of his songs are so fatalistic without hope. However, this is a pretty good example of the sad side of Hank and old style country, in which the topic is often sadness at the expense of shedding a tear in one's beer. Someone once remarked that country is the white man's blues. In Hank's case, this seems valid. Note that modern country has basically crossed over into pop, lost the twang in the voice and the twang from the steel laptop guitar. Also, the lyrics are more poppish in the sense that they are less sad and less resigned to the idea that things generally go bad no matter how hard you try.

View the Video clip of Hank singing "Lovesick Blues." Ignore the fact that the sound is out of sync with the video. That is how this clip survived. In addition to the lyrics, note
Other things to note in the clip

Note the use of twang, a type of southern accent that comes out in the voice and also duplicated in the timbre of some early country instruments, such as the lap top steel guitar, which has that "twangy" sound.
Note the vocal technique of yodeling, a technique most commonly associated with people living in the Swiss alpine regions. The Swiss yodeled to communicate with others on distant mountain peaks. Early country singers used it originally as a gimmick in their music, but somehow it caught on.
Instrumentation: Note the use of acoustic guitar, fiddle, and bass fiddle. These are common to the region, including the Appalachian Mountain region. So it is no wonder that Hank Williams adopted the same format, as did Elvis Presley in his early career.

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