Which Hank Williams song became a country standard after its 1949 release and describes a lonesome, troubled life?

Hank Williams’s song “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” became a country standard after its 1949 release.

Williams recorded the song for MGM Records during a prolific period in his career. Its spare, mournful lyric uses images such as a distant train, a whippoorwill, and a midnight moon to express loneliness. The recording was issued as the B-side of “My Bucket’s Got a Hole in It,” rather than as the main A-side.

The song’s title is sometimes confused with “Cold, Cold Heart” or “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” two other famous Williams compositions. Unlike those songs, its central idea is isolation rather than betrayal. Later recordings by artists including Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, and Elvis Presley helped establish it as one of the most widely recognized songs in the country repertoire.