During his historic Aloha from Hawaii concert on January 14, 1973, Elvis Presley stopped after “Blue Suede Shoes” and introduced his next song with an unusually personal comment.
He told the audience it was “probably the saddest song I’ve ever heard.”
The song was “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” written and recorded by country legend Hank Williams in 1949.
Williams recorded the song on August 30, 1949, and MGM released it later that year as the B-side of “My Bucket’s Got a Hole in It.” Despite not being promoted as the main side of the record, it eventually became one of Williams’ most enduring songs.
Its power comes from how simply it describes loneliness. Instead of complicated storytelling, Williams used images of a lonely bird, a crying robin, a midnight train and an empty night sky.
Decades later, the Grand Ole Opry would describe it as one of country music’s most enduring classics and one of the saddest songs ever written.
Elvis Presley – “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”
Elvis performed it at the Honolulu International Center Arena during Aloha from Hawaii Via Satellite. His official music site confirms that the recording heard on the album came directly from the January 14 concert.
What makes the performance stand out is that Elvis did not try to overpower the song. After the huge production numbers surrounding it, he slows everything down and lets the sadness sit in his voice.
The choice also made sense musically. Elvis had grown up loving country and gospel music, and Hank Williams belonged to the generation of Southern singers who influenced him before fame ever arrived.
Williams’ song continued growing in stature long after both men recorded it. CMT later ranked it No. 29 among the 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music, and generations of performers including Johnny Cash, Al Green and B.J. Thomas recorded their own versions.
But Elvis gave the song perhaps its simplest endorsement.
He stood before a worldwide audience, called it the saddest song he had ever heard and then sang it like he meant every word.