Locklin was one of country music's early honky tonk singers. He first recorded for Royalty, a small label in northeast Texas, but soon moved to 4 Star Records, a regional country music label, before signing a long contract with RCA Victor. He had an estimated 15 million record sales worldwide and his songs were recorded by many other artists, including Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Roy Rogers, Dwight Yoakam and Dean Martin. He regularly appeared on the Grand Ole Opry beginning in 1960, making his final appearance in 2007.
Locklin had 70 chart singles, including six No. 1s on Billboard's country chart. Locklin's biggest hits included "Send Me the Pillow That You Dream On", "Geisha Girl" and his signature "Please Help Me, I'm Falling", which went to number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 pop music chart. Billboard's 100th anniversary issue listed it as the second most successful country single of the rock and roll era. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA. Other hits for Locklin included "Happy Journey" (1961), "Happy Birthday To Me" (1962) and "The Country Hall Of Fame" (1968).
Born in McLellan in the Florida Panhandle, Locklin grew up working in the cotton fields to supplement his familyโs low income. He began playing the guitar at the age of nine after being seriously injured by a school bus.
His first marriage to Willa Jean Murphy ended in divorce. In 1970 he married Anita Crooks of Brewton, Alabama. He had a son and four daughters, 12 grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and a few close great nieces and nephews such as Sarah Locklin.
In the 1960s, Locklin built a ranch house called The Singing L in the field in McClellan where he had picked cotton as a boy. He was later made the honorary mayor of the town.
Locklin had a strong following in Europe, and in Ireland. His popularity was such that in 1963 he recorded an album called Irish Songs Country Style. He has a fan club in Langeli, Bjerkreim, Norway. The obituary in The Times described Locklin as "the last remaining link between country musicโs hillbilly roots and the lusher, modern pop sound of Nashville."
In 2006, Locklin appeared on the PBS special, Country Pop Legends in which he performed "Send Me the Pillow That You Dream On," and "Please Help Me I'm Falling". Until his death at the age of 91 in 2009, he was the oldest living member of the Grand Ole Opry. Hank had recently released his 65th album, By the Grace of God, a collection of gospel songs.
In 2007 he was inducted to the Florida Artists Hall of Fame.
He moved to Brewton Alabama, where he remained throughout his later years, and died there at home in the early morning on March 8, 2009.
Please Help Me I'm Falling
Hank Locklin Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In love with you
Close the door to temptation
Don't let me walk through
Turn away from me, darling
I'm begging you to
Please help me, I'm falling
I belong to another
Whose arms have grown cold
But I promised forever
To have and to hold
I can never be free, dear
But when I'm with you
I know that I'm losing
The will to be true
Please help me, I'm falling
And that would be sin
Close the door to temptation
Don't let me walk in
For I mustn't want you
But, darling, I do
Please help me, I'm falling
In love with you
In the first stanza of Hank Locklin's song "Please Help Me, I'm Falling," the singer is admitting the feeling of falling in love with someone, who he believes he shouldn't be with. He recognizes the temptation to be with this person and asks for their help in rejecting that temptation. The second stanza explains that the singer is currently in a committed relationship with someone else who has emotionally withdrawn, but he has made a vow to stay with them. However, he admits to losing his willpower to remain faithful when he is with the person he is falling for in the first stanza. The final stanza sums up the dilemma the singer is in โ he knows that he should not want this other person, but he cannot control his feelings for them. The singer is struggling with the conflict between his sense of duty to his current partner and the deep desire he has for someone else.
The song's lyrics are simple yet convey powerful emotions. Locklin's plaintive voice is well-suited to this kind of material, and he communicates the singer's anguish and internal conflict between duty and desire with great sensitivity. The song paints a picture of the universal human struggle between what one wants and what one knows is right. It is a sentiment that many listeners can relate to and reflects the complex nature of human emotions.
Line by Line Meaning
Please help me, I'm falling
I am in a vulnerable state and need your assistance to keep me from falling deeper into my feelings for you.
In love with you
I have strong romantic feelings for you.
Close the door to temptation
Prevent any circumstances that could potentially lead us to engage in a romantic relationship.
Don't let me walk through
Do not allow opportunities for me to give in to my desire for you.
Turn away from me, darling
Rejecting me is the best way to help me overcome my feelings for you.
I'm begging you to
I am pleading with you to help me resist my attraction to you.
I belong to another
I am already committed to someone else.
Whose arms have grown cold
My current partner is no longer affectionate towards me.
But I promised forever
I made a commitment to stay with my partner forever.
To have and to hold
I committed to be faithful and loyal to my partner.
I can never be free, dear
I am unable to be with you because of my current commitment.
But when I'm with you
When I am around you, I struggle to resist my feelings for you.
I know that I'm losing
I am aware that I am gradually giving in to my attraction to you.
The will to be true
My determination to remain loyal to my partner is gradually fading away.
And that would be sin
Getting involved with you romantically would be considered immoral or unethical.
For I mustn't want you
It goes against my commitment to my partner to have feelings for you.
But, darling, I do
Despite my best efforts, I cannot help but have strong feelings for you.
Lyrics ยฉ BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Royalty Network, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Don Robertson, Hal Blair
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Doug Gillock
I've played old country music for years people look at me and say I've never heard that before it's beautiful we need a lot more people to get in to the old true country music
Tru Keesey
So long as it has "God" in it.
Adoley
I agree with you, they're beautiful
bm phil
I played them in clubs and vfws. If you did anything newer than Eddy Arnold or Ray Price they'd run you off.....
Cristy Aquino
mmk mn
๐ฎ๐๐ข๐ข๐ข
christian schwender
I first heard this song when I was a teenager and sixty years later it still rises the same emotion.
Brian Lawrence
That goes for me at well.
my mess up life
im 14 rn
BrickPa
yeah. I was 14 when I first heard this song. I didn't appreciate its full meaning until some 40 years later.
Evelyn James
A great song heard in my teens .Now it's thought of with memories .
Still holds its charm when emotions were conveyed through lyrics .
The song still lives on.