Hank Thompson (September 3, 1925 – November 6, 2007) was a country-western … Read Full Bio ↴Hank Thompson (September 3, 1925 – November 6, 2007) was a country-western music entertainer whose career spanned six decades, and who has sold over 60 million records worldwide.

Thompson's musical style, characterized as Honky Tonk Swing, is a mixture of big-band instrumentation, fiddle and steel guitar that supports his distinctive, gravelly baritone vocals on songs he often writes himself. His backing band, The Brazos Valley Boys, was voted the No.1 Country Western Band for 14 years in a row by Billboard Magazine.

He decided to pursue his musical talent after serving in the U.S. Navy in World War II as a radioman and studying electrical engineering at the university level. His first single was "Whoa Sailor" in 1946. The year 1952 brought his first #1 disc, "The Wild Side of Life", which contained the memorable line "I didn't know God made honky-tonk angels" (which inspired the Kitty Wells response, "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels"). Other hits followed in quick succession in the 1950s and 1960s. Although not as prominent in later decades, he has remained an active and respected performer in the field, finding new audiences as a result of the resurgence of a harder-edged sound in country music.

Hank Thompson was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1989 and was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1997. He was born 3 September 1925 in Waco, Texas, and passed away at home in Keller, Texas, on 6 November 2007, just four days after cancelling his final tour.

Yesterday's Girl
Hank Thompson Lyrics

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You told her lies as her starry eyes
Looked up in admiration
You painted schemes and lovely dreams
With all your temptation

You spoke of things like wedding rings
And promised her the world
For no cause at all you let her fall

And now she's yesterday's girl

You think it's smart to lure the heart
Of a girl whose lips you kissed
Is it just a game to add her name
To your broken-hearted list?

You've loved some long
You've loved some wrong
You promised each the world
Each game to be just a memory
And another yesterday's girl

Don't you sometimes feel that love
Is real the greatest thing in life?
Not one romance you gave the chance
To be your cherished wife

You cheat and lie you make them cry
And promise each the world
And one by one they each
Become another yesterday's girl

When autumn falls and you recall
The things that might have been
Then you'll pause and see your cause

The greed that's deep within

When you're old and love grows cold
I'll bet you'd give the world
To just relive and take and give
The love of a yesterday's girl

Overall Meaning

The song "Yesterday's Girl" by Hank Thompson is a ballad that speaks about the betrayal and deceit of a woman by a man. The woman is infatuated with the man, who pays her with lies and empty promises. He talks of marriage, commitment, and gives her false hopes, but ultimately abandons her. She becomes nothing more than a memory, a forgotten relic of a love that was never real. The song touches on themes of love, deceit, and heartbreak, while also highlighting the fact that actions have consequences.

The lyrics of the song reveal a pattern of behavior that many men exhibit towards women. They take advantage of their emotions, and give them false promises they cannot keep. When they tire of the woman, they discard them without a thought, leaving them to pick up the pieces of their shattered hearts. The song also speaks to the dangers of greed and how it can lead one to use others as pawns in a game of lust and deception.

Overall, the song is a cautionary tale, reminding the listener to cherish and value the love that they have. It encourages people to be honest about their intentions, and to not use others as steppingstones in their quest for self-gratification.

Line by Line Meaning

You told her lies as her starry eyes
You deceived her while she was staring at you with admiration

Looked up in admiration
She was admiring you while you were lying to her

You painted schemes and lovely dreams
You described a beautiful future with her, which was not true

With all your temptation
You tempted her with your false promises and dreams

You spoke of things like wedding rings
You talked about getting married to her when you had no intention of doing so

And promised her the world
You gave her false hope and promised her things that were impossible

For no cause at all you let her fall
You left her for no apparent reason after giving her false hope

And now she's yesterday's girl
She is now a thing of the past after you broke her heart

You think it's smart to lure the heart
You consider it intelligent to fool someone's emotions

Of a girl whose lips you kissed
You played with a girl's feelings with whom you had been intimate earlier

Is it just a game to add her name
Is it just entertainment to put her on your list of broken-hearted girls?

To your broken-hearted list?
Or a sense of accomplishment to mark her as another victim of your deceit?

You've loved some long
You had some long-lasting relationships

You've loved some wrong
You fell in love with the wrong people

You promised each the world
You promised each of them a bright future that you had no intention of providing

Each game to be just a memory
But you treated each of your relationships as nothing more than a passing memory

And another yesterday's girl
And each of them became another victim of your deceit

Don't you sometimes feel that love
Have you ever felt that true love is the most important thing in life?

Is real the greatest thing in life?
Do you think the power of genuine love is the most fulfilling experience?

Not one romance you gave the chance
You never gave any of the relationships you had a chance to succeed

To be your cherished wife
You never considered any of them worthy enough to be your life partner

You cheat and lie you make them cry
You deceive and betray them, causing them pain and anguish

And one by one they each become another yesterday's girl
And one by one, they become just another victim of your deception and fall out of your life

When autumn falls and you recall
When you are old and remember your past

The things that might have been
The things that you could have had but lost because of your mistakes

Then you'll pause and see your cause
You will stop and realize that your actions were the cause of your misfortunes

The greed that's deep within
Your inability to control your desires and greed led to your downfall

When you're old and love grows cold
When you are older, and the warmth of love dissipates

I'll bet you'd give the world
You will go to great lengths then to have the love of your life

To just relive and take and give
To relive your past mistakes and correct them

The love of a yesterday's girl
The love that you lost, but you wish you could have again

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: HANK THOMPSON, BILLY GRAY

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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