“Your Cheatin’ Heart” became so associated with Hank after his death that even the largely fictionalized 1964 movie biography about the singer/songwriter’s career (starring George Hamilton as Hank) was given the song’s title. While this act of Hollywood may have helped immortalize “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” it also probably cheapened it. The movie failed to even scratch the surface of the entertainer’s talent and pain, and failed to really note what drove the singer to his early grave. Without a knowledge of Hank’s anguish, the full impact of “Your Cheatin’ Heart’s” lyrics can never be appreciated.
More than 60 years after it was written, “Your Cheatin’ Heart” is timeless. It would be difficult to find an American of any race or background who doesn’t know at least a few of the song’s words. Millions can sing every line. In its simple lyrics and tune is the essence of what every songwriter wants to create, but the price of this genius was simply too high.
In his creative darkness, Hank Williams could see and poetically describe the most mystical of human emotions, but he was never able to discover a way to push back the darkest of nights and find the light. As it turned out, it was Hank’s heart, not Audrey’s, that really paid.
