Williams began his career following in his famed father's footsteps, covering his father's songs and imitating his father's style. Williams' first television appearance was in a 1964 episode of ABC's The Jimmy Dean Show, in which at age fourteen he sang several songs associated with his father. Later that year, he was a guest star on Shindig!.
Williams' style evolved slowly as he struggled to find his own voice and place within country music. This was interrupted by a near-fatal fall off the side of Ajax Peak in Montana on August 8, 1975. After an extended recovery, he challenged the country music establishment with a blend of country, rock, and blues. As a multi-instrumentalist, Williams' repertoire of skills includes guitar, bass guitar, upright bass, steel guitar, banjo, dobro, piano, keyboards, saxophone, harmonica, fiddle, and drums.
From 1989 through October 2011, his song "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight", refashioned as "All My Rowdy Friends Are Here on Monday Night", had been used to open broadcasts of Monday Night Football until it was pulled after Williams made controversial comments comparing President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler. The song returned to open the show in 2017.
On August 12, 2020, Williams was selected to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Williams' early career was guided, some say outright dominated, by his mother Audrey Williams, who many claim was the driving force that led his father to musical superstardom during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Audrey, in many ways, wished for young Hank to be nothing more than a "Hank Williams, Sr. impersonator", sometimes going as far as to have clothes designed for him that were identical to his father's stage clothes and vocal stylings very similar to those of his father.
Although Williams' recordings earned him numerous country hits throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, he became disillusioned with his role as a 'Hank Williams clone' and severed ties with his mother in order to pursue his own musical direction and tastes. After recording the soundtrack to Your Cheatin' Heart, a biography of his father, Williams, Jr. hit the charts with one of his own compositions, "Standing in the Shadows". The song signalled a move to rock and roll and other influences as he stepped from the shadow of his father.
Also during this time, Williams had his first two No. 1 songs: "All For the Love of Sunshine" (1970, featured on the soundtrack to Kelly's Heroes) and "Eleven Roses" (1972).
By the mid-1970s, Williams had finally found the musical direction that would, eventually, make him a superstar. Williams' unique blend of traditional country with southern rock and blues earned him a devoted following, although some mainstream country radio stations wouldn't touch his new songs in this blatantly untraditional sound.
While recording a series of hit songs, Williams began abusing drugs, including alcohol and eventually tried to commit suicide in 1974. Moving to Alabama, Williams began playing music with Southern rock musicians Toy Caldwell, Marshall Tucker Band and Charlie Daniels, and others.
His last major success was "There's a Tear in My Beer", a duet with his father created using electronic dubbing techniques. The song itself was written by his father, presumably, sometime between 1950 and 1953 and was recorded with Hank Williams playing just his guitar. The music video for the song combined existing television footage of Hank Williams performing and the dubbing techniques transferred the image of Hank Jr. onto the screen, so it appeared as if he were actually playing with his father. The video was an overwhelming success, both critically and commercially. It was named Video Of The Year by both the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country music. Hank Williams, Jr. would go on to win a Grammy award in 1990 for Best Country Vocal Collaboration.
Despite his slumping album sales, Hank Williams Jr. continued to be a popular concert draw during the early 1990s and continued to record, with several of his recordings during this time still managing to achieve gold status, selling 500,000 copies.
He is probably best known today as the performer of the theme song for Monday Night Football, based on "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight". The opening theme became a classic, as much a part of the show as the football itself. In 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1994, Williams' opening themes for Monday Night Football would earn him four Emmy awards.
Williams opened for Super Bowl XL on February 5, 2006, on ABC and was in the stands as a Pittsburgh Steelers fan.
On April 10, 2006, CMT honored Williams with the Johnny Cash Visionary Award, presenting it to him at the 2006 CMT Music Awards.
On November 11, 2008, Williams was honored as a BMI Icon at the 56th annual BMI Country Awards. The artists and songwriters named BMI Icons have had "a unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers".
In 2011, Williams was named one of "Seven Living Legends" of his native Shreveport, Louisiana, by Danny Fox (1954–2014) of KWKH radio. Others named were Bob Griffin of KSLA and KTBS-TV and James Burton. Two others cited, Claude King and Frank Page, both died in 2013.
In 2015, Hank Williams Jr. was Inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame.
Both Sides of Goodbye
Hank Williams Jr. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Your not the first to walk away and leave someone in pain.
I know how much its hurting you, hurting me this way.
Believe me I've been in your shoes and I know you can't stay.
I've been on both sides of goodbye. I know there ain't no easy side. I've loved and I've been loved but not at the same time. I've been on both sides of goodbye.
Don't feel so bad for doing what you've got to do.
You can't make your heart love me if it don't want to.
So close that door and don't look back, believe me girl I know.
I've been on both sides of goodbye and I know there ain't no easy ride. I've loved and I've been loved but not at the same time. I've been on both sides of goodbye.
I've loved and I've been loved but not at the same time I've been on both sides of goodbye,
Goodbye!
The lyrics of Hank Williams Jr.'s "Both Sides of Goodbye" depict a break-up between two people who have been in love but can no longer commit to each other. The singer advises his partner not to blame herself for leaving because he has been in her position before and understands that it's not easy to say goodbye. The song speaks to the idea that love is not always a two-way street, and sometimes one person has to walk away for the sake of both parties.
The message of the song reflects the realities of many relationships with its honesty and emotional insight. It acknowledges that love can be painful, and that sometimes one person has to let go in order for both to move on. The phrase "both sides of goodbye" implies that breaking up is not just a matter of one person leaving and the other staying, but rather a complex emotional experience that affects both parties in different ways.
Overall, the song is a moving depiction of the pain and resilience that come with letting go of a relationship that no longer works, and a reminder that sometimes saying goodbye is the only way to move forward.
Line by Line Meaning
When you pack your clothes tonight don't pack up all the blame.
Don't take all the blame as leaving someone is not always your fault.
Your not the first to walk away and leave someone in pain.
You are not alone in walking away and causing someone else pain.
I know how much its hurting you, hurting me this way.
I understand it is hurting me and you to take this decision.
Believe me I've been in your shoes and I know you can't stay.
Trust me, I have been in your position, and I understand that you cannot stay.
I've been on both sides of goodbye. I know there ain't no easy side.
I have experienced breakups from both sides, and it is never easy.
I've loved and I've been loved but not at the same time.
I have both loved and been loved but never at the same time.
Don't feel so bad for doing what you've got to do.
Don't blame yourself for doing what is necessary.
You can't make your heart love me if it don't want to.
You can't force yourself to love someone if you don't feel it.
When love just don't work both ways and someones got to go.
When love doesn't work both ways, it is better for someone to leave.
So close that door and don't look back, believe me girl I know.
Close that door and don't look back, trust me, I've been there before.
I've loved and I've been loved but not at the same time.
I have both loved and been loved but never at the same time.
I've been on both sides of goodbye and I know there ain't no easy ride.
I have experienced breakups from both sides, and it is never an easy ride.
Goodbye!
Farewell!
Lyrics © HARLAN HOWARD SONGS, INC., Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: LEAP, WILLIAMS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind