Help Me Understand
Hank Williams Lyrics

A little girl prayed at the close of the day,
At the end of the day, a young girl prayed because her father had gone far away from their family.

Cause her daddy had gone far away,
The little girl's dad had left their family behind, causing her sadness.

On her little face was a look of despair,
The young girl wore a sad and hopeless expression on her face.

I stood there and listened, and I heard this prayer
The artist witnessed the little girl's prayer and stopped to listen.

My mommy says daddy has brought us to shame
The girl's mother has told her that her father's actions have brought shame upon their family.

And I'm never no more to mention his name
The mother has forbidden the little girl from ever mentioning her father's name again.

Lord take me and lead me and hold to my hand
The girl is asking for divine guidance and help in her situation.

Oh heavenly father help me understand
The girl is asking the Lord for understanding and clarity in her current situation.

You know friends I wonder
The artist begins to ponder and question their audience.

Just how many homes are broken tonight
The artist questions how many families are broken right now.

And just how many tears are shed
The singer wonders how many people are crying due to broken homes.

By some little word of anger
The artist suggests that small words of anger could be the cause of broken families and homes.

That never should have been said
The singer suggests that the angry words that caused these broken families should never have been said in the first place.

I'd like to tell you a story
The singer begins to recount a story to the audience.

Of a family I once knew.
The story is of a family the singer was familiar with.

We'll call them Mary and William
The artist gives names to the family in the story.

And their little daughter sue
The family in the story had a daughter named Sue.

Now Mary was just a plain mother
The mother character in the story was just an ordinary and regular person.

And bill was just a usual dad
The father character in the story was also just an average and common person.

And they had their little family quarrels
The family in the story had their fair share of arguments and disagreements.

(like everybody else)
This line is a parenthetical explanation that suggests all families have arguments.

But neither one really got mad
Despite their quarrels, neither parent would get too angry or stay angry with each other.

Then one day something happened
At some point, an event occurred which would change the family dynamic in the story.

It was nothing of course
The event that occurred was seemingly insignificant or trivial.

But one word led to another
But this one event would cause a chain reaction leading to a fight between the parents.

And the last word led to a divorce
The fight between the parents eventually ended in a divorce.

Now here were two grown up people
Now, the parents in the story are adult individuals.

Who failed to use common sense
The artist suggests that the parents' actions and decisions were not intelligent or wise.

They strengthened their own selfish pride
The parents prioritized their own selfish desires and pride over the well-being of their daughter.

At little Sue's expense
The singer highlights that the daughter, Sue, was the one who suffered from the parents’ decisions.

You know she didn't ask to be brought to
The singer emphasizes that Sue had no say or choice in her own existence.

This world
The ‘world’ is used as a metaphor for life; Sue never asked to be born.

To drift from pillar to post
The artist implies that Sue's life was disrupted and made unstable by her parents' decisions.

But a divorce never stops to consider
Divorce doesn't take into account the harm caused to the innocent children involved.

The ones it hurts the most
The children are the ones who hurt the most from a divorce.

There'd be a lot more honest loving
The artist suggests that if only there was more genuine love in the world...

In this wicked ole world today
...this evil and unfair world may not be so wicked after all.

If just a few parted parents
If a few divorcing parents...

Could hear little sue say
...could hear Sue's voice and pleas for help to understand their decisions...

Take me and lead me and hold to my hand
...maybe more parents would search on divine guidance to help their children.

Oh heavenly father, help me understand
Children who are victims of broken families search for comfort in the infinite and in their spiritual life.