Frizzell was born in Corsicana, Texas, but moved with his family shortly after his birth to El Dorado, Arkansas, where they remained until the early 1940s. Frizzell began playing the guitar as a very young boy and by age 12, he was appearing regularly on a children's show at a local radio station KELD.
The family moved back to Texas when Frizzell was still a teenager, and his music career got a boost when he won a talent contest in Dallas.
In his late teens, he was performing at fairgrounds and other venues, developing a unique, soulful voice. Like his father, he got work in the oilfields, but his growing popularity as a singer soon gave him regular work on the Honky Tonk nightclub circuit. At age 19, he had a half-hour show on a small Texas radio station, getting a big break when a record producer heard him sing. Signed to Columbia Records, he immediately had a string of hits that broke into country music's top ten; several of them reached # 1. In 1950 , he was invited to perform at the Grand Ole Opry; the following year he appeared on the prestigious Louisiana Hayride radio program that broadcast from Shreveport, Louisiana and then began touring with country music's biggest star of the era, Hank Williams. A prolific songwriter, Frizzell had four songs in the country top ten at the same time in 1951 — a feat that would not be repeated on any chart until The Beatles accomplished it on the pop charts, with five songs in 1964.
By the end of the 1950s, rock and roll was dominating the North American music scene, but although no one would ever mistake Frizzell's music for anything but country, his 1959 hit, " Long Black Veil," gained wide acceptance with a variety of music fans in addition to country, and was the first recording of this "standard." A few years later, Frizzell recorded " Saginaw, Michigan," which took the #1 spot on the country music charts and broke into the pop charts as well. The song earned him a Grammy Award nomination.
In the early 1970s, Frizzell changed record labels and moved to Bakersfield, California, where he recorded several more country music hits and became the first country singer to perform at the Hollywood Bowl. By then, however, his problems with alcoholism were already taking their toll. Mood swings and outbreaks of irrational anger became a trademark, and his constant failure to meet recording commitments strained his relationship with his recording company. In 1972, Lefty Frizzell was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and his song "If You've Got the Money, I've Got the Time" earned him a Grammy Hall of Fame Award. Unfortunately, success and money only added to Frizzell's alcohol addiction, and on July 19, 1975, he suffered a massive stroke and died at age 47. He was buried on "Music Row" at Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens in Goodlettsville, Tennessee.
Long Black Veil
Lefty Frizzell Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
There was someone killed 'neath the town hall light
There were few at the scene, but they all agreed
That the slayer who ran looked a lot like me
The judge said, "Son what is your alibi?
If you were somewhere else then you won't have to die"
I spoke not a word though it meant my life
She walks these hills in a long black veil
She visits my grave when the night winds wail
Nobody knows, nobody sees
Nobody knows but me
The scaffold is high, and eternity nears
She stood in the crowd and shed not a tear
But sometimes at night when the cold wind mourns
In a long black veil she cries over my bones
She walks these hills in a long black veil
She visits my grave when the night winds wail
Nobody knows, nobody sees
Nobody knows but me, nobody knows but me, nobody knows but me
The Long Black Veil is a haunting ballad written by Marijohn Wilkin and Danny Dill, and originally performed by Lefty Frizzell in 1959. The lyrics tell the story of a man who is falsely accused of murder, and chooses to remain silent about his whereabouts during the time of the crime, despite the fact that it could save his life. The reason he remains silent is because he had been with his best friend's wife, and to reveal his alibi would mean confessing to an affair.
The woman in question wears a long black veil when she visits the man's grave, and nobody knows the truth about what really happened, except for the two of them. In the end, the man is hanged for a crime he didn't commit, and the woman mourns him in secret.
The lyrics are filled with imagery that adds to the haunting nature of the song. The mention of the "cold dark night", the "long black veil", and the "cold wind mourns" all contribute to the sense of tragedy and loss that pervades the song. The fact that the man is willing to die rather than reveal the truth suggests a certain moral code or honor, even if it ultimately leads to his downfall. The woman, by contrast, is more mysterious and enigmatic, and we are left to wonder about the depths of her feelings for the man and the nature of their relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
Ten years ago, on a cold dark night
The incident happened a decade back, on a somber evening
There was someone killed 'neath the town hall light
There was a murder that took place in public in the presence of only a few
There were few at the scene, but they all agreed
Though there weren't many witnesses, all confirmed the same account
That the slayer who ran looked a lot like me
The murderer who fled the scene resembled me to a significant extent
The judge said, "Son what is your alibi?
The judge asked me about my alibi
If you were somewhere else then you won't have to die"
The judge implies that if I could prove I was not present there, I would not have to face death
I spoke not a word though it meant my life
I didn't utter a word, knowing it could cost me my life
For I had been in the arms of my best friend's wife
I couldn't reveal my true whereabouts as I was being physically intimate with my best friend's spouse
She walks these hills in a long black veil
The woman walks in hills shrouded in a black veil that covers her face and conceals her identity
She visits my grave when the night winds wail
At times when it's windy at night, she comes to my grave to mourn
Nobody knows, nobody sees
No one knows about her visits, and none has seen her
Nobody knows but me
I'm the only one who knows about her secretive actions
The scaffold is high, and eternity nears
The hanging rope is high, and I'm on the brink of eternal departure
She stood in the crowd and shed not a tear
She was in the crowd, but she didn't show any emotion or cry
But sometimes at night when the cold wind mourns
However, there are times at night when the cold, wailing wind stirs her emotions
In a long black veil she cries over my bones
She weeps over my remains, shrouded in a long, black veil
Nobody knows but me
As before, I am the only one who knows about her mourning
Nobody knows but me, nobody knows but me, nobody knows but me
This line is repeated thrice, emphasizing that it's a secret between her and me only
Lyrics © DistroKid, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Danny Dill, Marijohn Wilkin
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@816taylor
@@kimberlyvoss321
While I've never been a hard core country music fan, I am a fan of music of all kinds so I've heard this any times before. The thing with country music is, if you listen to the lyrics, they do speak to the average person (back in the day). Read the lyrics to "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry"
" Hear that lonesome whippoorwill
He sounds too blue to fly
The midnight train is whining low. I'm so lonesome I could cry
I've never seen a night so long. When time goes crawling by, The moon just went behind the clouds. To hide its face and cry
Did you ever see a robin weep. When leaves begin to die? Like me, he's lost the will to live. I'm so lonesome I could cry
The silence of a falling star
Lights up a purple sky
And as I wonder where you are, I'm so lonesome I could cry
There isn't one human being alive that hasn't been lonely, so that kind of lyrical writing isn't found often. Ignore that's it's got a country twang, and focus on the lyrics. Lime the long black veil lyrics. It's wasn't until the mid 1980s that country music could be seen on pop charts. Garth Brooks, Shinya Twain, Alan Jackason, and more were able to move across country and pop.
As a consequence, country music lost is storytelling ability. As a side note, the bajo has been co-opted by country music, but it was actually an instrument that the slaves brought with them....
@SteveRyan1965
Who else is listening to this in 2023?
@user-bt6tl7xr5c
I’m listening to it and it’s 2024!
@chinditone
No disrespect to other artists - but this is simply the greatest country song ever sang. The voice and guitar lifts you out of your skin!!!. Lefty could make stones weep!!!
@markclifford1857
Hello 👋 Anna. How are you doing? Hope you are fine. I’m Mark Clifford and am from Denver Colorado. Where are you from? You seem like a real country girl
@da324
@@markclifford1857 You're 10 years and 9 months to late.
@jimamccracken5783
I so agree.
@jaywilson4719
@@markclifford1857 dont simp
@deborahstothart7200
Agree 100 percent
@dianegravlin7961
WOW….I AGREE…I wish there was Country Music today..like this.. The country singers today need to do the "classic's" I sure miss them.
@IStoleYourPotatoes
Thanks for giving credit to the songwriters. I find it impossible to convince anyone Johnny Cash didn't write it and perform it first! Lefty didn't write it but he damn sure did it first and it blows Johnny Cash's version away, love Cash as I do. Roy Acuff, Lefty Frizzell and Hank Williams, the voices of real country music that influenced everyone.