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.
Why Should I Be Lonely?
Lefty Frizzell Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Everything seems to make me feel blue here
I'm down hearted now I'm lonesome somehow cause you are proving untrue
Why sould I be so lonely why should I be so sad
Though another is taking from me the best pal that I've ever had
She's taking the sunshine with her leaving the clouds for me
But why should I be so lonesome when there's nobody lonesome for me
[ fiddle ]
They bring to my mind a sweet happy time when your love was only for me
But why should I be so lonely...
Lefty Frizzell's song "Why Should I Be Lonely?" is a classic country ballad that explores themes of heartbreak and loneliness. The lyrics describe the singer's sadness and despair after his lover leaves him for someone else. The opening lines of the song, "Oh the moon lights so bright makes me lonely tonight / Everything seems to make me feel blue here," set the mood for the rest of the song. The singer is alone and heartbroken, and everything around him seems to compound his sadness.
The chorus of the song asks the question, "Why should I be so lonely why should I be so sad?" The singer questions why he should feel this way when he's lost his best friend to another. He acknowledges that she's taken the sunshine with her and left him only with clouds, but he can't understand why he should feel so alone when there's nobody who cares about him. The verses of the song continue the theme of lost love and the memories it brings back. The violet flowers call to mind the sweet time when his lover was only for him, and he can't help but feel lonely without her.
Overall, "Why Should I Be Lonely?" is a powerful and emotional song that speaks to anyone who has experienced heartbreak and loneliness. Lefty Frizzell's expressive vocals and the haunting fiddle accompaniment create a melancholy atmosphere that perfectly captures the pain of lost love.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh the moon lights so bright makes me lonely tonight
The bright moonlight intensifies my loneliness tonight
Everything seems to make me feel blue here
Everything around me is only adding to my sadness
I'm down hearted now I'm lonesome somehow cause you are proving untrue
My heart is heavy and I feel alone because you have shown yourself to be unfaithful
Why sould I be so lonely why should I be so sad
I wonder why I have to be so lonely and sad
Though another is taking from me the best pal that I've ever had
My closest friend is being taken away from me by someone else
She's taking the sunshine with her leaving the clouds for me
She is taking all the happiness she brought to my life, leaving me with only sorrow
But why should I be so lonesome when there's nobody lonesome for me
But why should I feel lonely when nobody else seems to miss me
Oh the violets so blue are calling for roses so sweet make me lonely
The sight of blue violets is invoking memories of when you used to express your love for me with sweet roses and causing me to feel lonely
Contributed by Alyssa H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
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on IF YOU
“dance, drink beer and wine“, was censored out and replaced with either “dance to the music fine” or “do the town up fine”, etc. Early TV was very strict.