Country music will probably always be known for being the best genre when it comes to storytelling and songwriting. Just ask some famous songwriters today, and they’ll tell you the following three country songs feature some of the greatest lyrics ever written. Let’s take a look!
“I’m so Lonesome I could Cry” by Hank Williams (1949)
“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.”
This is one of the greatest mid-century country classics ever written. “I’m So Lonesome I could Cry” has been praised by everyone from Willie Nelson to k.d. Lang to Bob dylan. That’s not super surprising, considering how many musicians have covered this honky-tonk classic from Hank Williams.
“‘I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry’,” said Willie nelson when asked what the greatest song ever written was, before referencing the above lyric. “It’s a Hank Williams song. One verse in particular I think is the greatest lines that I’ve ever heard.”
“I think ‘I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry’ is one of the most classic American songs ever written, truly,” said k.d. lang. “Gorgeous song.”
“Even at a young age, I identified with [Hank Williams],” Bob Dylan said in reference to “I’m So lonesome I Could Cry”. “I didn’t have to experience anything that Hank did to know what he was singing about. I’d never heard a robin weep, but could imagine it and it made me sad.”
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