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.
Living Proof
Hank Williams Jr. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
'Cause I can't stand the pain
Oh, the life I sing about now
And the one I live is the same
When I sing them old songs of daddy's
Seems like every one comes true
Lord, please help me
Why just the other night after the show
An old drunk came up to me
He says "You ain't as good as your daddy, boy
And you never will be"
Then a young girl in old blue jeans
Says, "I'm your biggest fan"
It's a good thing I was born Gemini
'Cause I'm living for more than one man
Remember Jimmie and Hank and Johnny
They were in the summer of life
When you called them away, Lord
I don't wanna pay that price
Don't let my son ever touch a guitar
May he never sing the blues
Let him be free
Don't make him be more living proof
I don't wanna be a legend
I just wanna be a man
But Lord, You know sometimes
I've needed a helpin' hand
And it ain't been so easy lately
I've had to go it all alone
But I've always had anything
I ever wanted, except a home
I'm gonna quit singin' all them sad songs
'Cause I can't stand the pain
Oh, the life I sang to you about
And the one I live is the same
Yes, I've sang those old songs of daddy's
And now it seems they all come true
Lord, please help me
Do I have to be the living proof
Lord, please help me
I don't wanna be the living proof
Hank Williams Jr.'s Living Proof is a song about the struggle of being a musician in the shadow of a famous father. The lyrics reveal the heartache and self-doubt that come with constantly being compared to a legendary figure. Hank Jr. sings about the pain of singing sad songs, knowing that the life he sings about is the same one he lives. He recounts an encounter with a drunk man who belittles him, telling him he will never be as good as his father, proving how hard it is to step out of his father's shadow. He also mentions a young fan who adores him, reminding him to keep singing for more than just himself.
The emotional climax of the song is when Hank Jr. pleads with the Lord to spare him from the same fate as his father’s colleagues like Jimmie, Hank, and Johnny who died young. He begs for his own son to be shielded from the hardships of a musician's life and never have to feel the same pain and struggle he has felt. Ultimately, the song is a cry for help and an expression of vulnerability as Hank Jr. seeks to carve out his own path without being solely defined by his father.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm gonna quit singin' all these sad songs
I am going to stop writing and singing depressing songs
'Cause I can't stand the pain
Because the emotional pain that these songs cause me is too much to bear
Oh, the life I sing about now
The lyrics of my songs describe the difficulties I am facing in my life at present
And the one I live is the same
The hardships I sing about are the same ones that I face in real life
When I sing them old songs of daddy's
Referring to songs written by his father, Hank Williams Sr.
Seems like every one comes true
The lyrics of his father's songs are prophetic, and everything comes true sooner or later
Lord, please help me
Asking God to help him through his struggles
Do I have to be the living proof
Asking whether he has to experience the same hardships as his father and sing about them
Why just the other night after the show
Describing an incident that happened recently
An old drunk came up to me
An intoxicated man approached him
He says "You ain't as good as your daddy, boy
The man insulted him by saying he is not as talented as his father
And you never will be"
The drunk man believes that he will never achieve his father's level of success
Then a young girl in old blue jeans
A young female fan approached him
Says, "I'm your biggest fan"
The fan expressed her admiration for him
It's a good thing I was born Gemini
Hank Williams Jr. is suggesting that he has multiple sides to his personality
'Cause I'm living for more than one man
He is living his life for himself, but also to honor his father's legacy
Remember Jimmie and Hank and Johnny
Referring to Jimmie Rodgers, his father Hank Williams Sr., and Johnny Cash
They were in the summer of life
When they were alive, they were at their peak and had the world at their feet
When you called them away, Lord
When God took them away from this world
I don't wanna pay that price
He does not want to experience the same fate as these legendary musicians
Don't let my son ever touch a guitar
He does not want his son to follow in his footsteps and become a musician
May he never sing the blues
He wishes that his son does not have to go through the kind of pain and suffering that he endured
Let him be free
He hopes that his son can live a life free of the troubles that he faced
Don't make him be more living proof
He does not want his son to experience the same hardships he has faced and become a living proof of its reality
I don't wanna be a legend
He does not aspire to be remembered as a legendary musician
I just wanna be a man
He wants to be remembered as a regular human being with imperfections and struggles
But Lord, You know sometimes
He acknowledges that God knows everything
I've needed a helpin' hand
He has needed help and support in his life, especially during tough times
And it ain't been so easy lately
He is currently facing difficulties and challenges in his life
I've had to go it all alone
He has had to face these challenges without any support or help from others
But I've always had anything
Despite the challenges, he has had material comforts in his life
I ever wanted, except a home
He has always had everything he wanted, except for a sense of belonging and a place that he can call his own
Yes, I've sang those old songs of daddy's
Reiterating that he has sung his father's songs
And now it seems they all come true
He has realized that the lyrics of his father's songs were prophetic and have all come true
Lord, please help me
Asking for divine intervention and guidance
Do I have to be the living proof
Asking whether he has to experience the same hardships as his father and sing about them
Lord, please help me
Asking for divine intervention and guidance
I don't wanna be the living proof
He does not want to bear the same hardships and pain as his father and become a living proof of their reality
Lyrics © BOCEPHUS MUSIC INC
Written by: HANK JR. WILLIAMS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind