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.
Sounds Like Justice
Hank Williams Jr. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It was on the news for the world to see
They caught with his hands on a neighbors child
Now he said he never done it before
So they put him away for a just a little while
Morning found him in his cell
Somebody sent him straight to hell
Down on his knees begging for his life
Sounds like justice to me
Mom and pops had a corner store
It had been there 30 years or more
And it had been robbed about a hundred times
Punk walked in like he owned the place
Said, give me the money as he slapped his face
He didn't know pops had a .45
Dude never made it to the door
Pops said, I learned in the Army
How to point and squeeze
And it sounds like justice to me
Sounds like justice, justice, justice
The song "Sounds Like Justice" by Hank Williams Jr. talks about two different situations where justice is served, in his opinion. The first story is about a man who was caught with his hands on a neighbor's child and is sent to prison for a little while. However, he is found dead in his cell the next morning. The second story is about a punk who tries to rob a corner store owned by Mom and Pops. Pops, who had served in the Army, uses his .45 to take down the robber before he manages to escape with the money. Williams implies that in both cases, justice was served the way it should have been.
The song is a commentary on the idea of justice and how people take matters into their own hands to uphold it. Williams Jr. connects with his audience, who may identify with these themes since many people believe that the justice system does not always work correctly. Williams Jr.'s message is that sometimes, when the justice system fails, people have to take matters into their own hands, and that is what justice sounds like in his opinion.
Line by Line Meaning
He lived right across the street
The person in question was a neighbor of Hank Williams Jr.
It was on the news for the world to see
The crime committed by this person was reported on news channels
They caught with his hands on a neighbors child
The person was caught red-handed while abusing a child from the neighborhood
Now he said he never done it before
The person tried to deny the crime he was caught doing
As he cried before the judge in court
The person showed remorse while being presented before the judge in court
So they put him away for just a little while
The person was sentenced to jail time for his crime
Morning found him in his cell
The next morning, the person was in his cell
Somebody sent him straight to hell
The person was probably killed in prison by other inmates
Down on his knees begging for his life
The person realized the gravity of his situation and was begging for mercy
Sounds like justice to me
Hank Williams Jr. believes that the person got what he deserved for his crime
Mom and pops had a corner store
Hank Williams Jr. talks about his parents' corner store
It had been there 30 years or more
The store had been around for a long time
And it had been robbed about a hundred times
The store was robbed frequently
Punk walked in like he owned the place
A young person entered the store with a sense of entitlement
Said, give me the money as he slapped his face
The robber insulted Hank Williams Jr.'s father while asking for money
He didn't know pops had a .45
The robber did not know that Hank Williams Jr.'s father had a gun
Dude never made it to the door
The robber was shot by Hank Williams Jr.'s father before he could leave the store
Pops said, I learned in the Army
Hank Williams Jr.'s father learned how to fight in the army
How to point and squeeze
He learned how to handle a gun and shoot accurately
And it sounds like justice to me
Hank Williams Jr. believes that his father was justified in using force to protect his family and business
Sounds like justice, justice, justice
The chorus repeats the idea that justice was served in both situations
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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