Price, born in Perryville, Texas, served with the U.S. Marines from 1944–1946, and began singing for KRBC in Abilene, Texas during 1948. He joined the Big D Jamboree in Dallas in 1949. He relocated to Nashville in the early 1950s, rooming for a brief time with Hank Williams. When Williams died, Price managed his band, the Drifting Cowboys, and had minor success. He was the first artist to have a success with the song "Release Me" (1954), a top five popular music hit for Engelbert Humperdinck in 1967.
In 1953, Price formed his band, the Cherokee Cowboys. Among its members during the late 1950s and early 1960s were; Roger Miller, Willie Nelson, Darrell McCall, Van Howard, Johnny Paycheck and Johnny Bush, Buddy Emmons, Pete Wade, Jan Kurtis, Shorty Lavender and Buddy Spicher. Miller wrote one of Ray Price's classics in 1958, "Invitation to the Blues", and sang harmony on the recording. Additionally, Nelson composed the Ray Price song "Night Life".
Price became one of the stalwarts of 1950s honky tonk music, with hit songs such as "Talk To Your Heart" (1952) and "Release Me". He later developed the famous "Ray Price Shuffle," a 4/4 arrangement of honky tonk music with a walking bassline, which can be heard on "Crazy Arms" (1956) and many of his other recordings from the late 1950s.
During the 1960s, Ray experimented increasingly with the so-called Nashville sound, singing slow ballads and utilizing lush arrangements of strings and backing singers. Examples include his 1967 rendition of "Danny Boy", and "For the Good Times" in 1970 which was Price's first country music chart No. 1 hit since "The Same Old Me" in 1959. Written by Kris Kristofferson, the song also scored No. 11 on the popular music chart and featured a mellower Price backed by sophisticated musical sounds, quite in contrast to the honky tonk sounds Price had pioneered two decades before. Price had three more No. 1 country music successes during the 1970s: "I Won't Mention It Again", "She's Got To Be A Saint", and "You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me." His final top ten hit was "Diamonds In The Stars" in early 1982. Price continued to have songs on the country music chart through 1989. Later, he sang gospel music and recorded such songs as "Amazing Grace", "What A Friend We Have In Jesus", "Farther Along" and "Rock of Ages."
In 2006, Price was living near Mount Pleasant, Texas and still performing in concerts throughout the country. In 2009, Price made two performances for the Fox News show Huckabee. The first was with the Cherokee Cowboys and host Mike Huckabee, and he performed "Crazy Arms" and "Heartaches By The Number". Weeks later he performed with the Cherokee Cowboys and Willie Nelson (again with Huckabee playing bass guitar). This time they performed duets of "Faded Love" and "Crazy."
Price worked on his latest album, Last of the Breed, with fellow country music singers Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard. This album was released on March 20, 2007 by the company Lost Highway Records. The two-disc set features 20 country classics as well as a pair of new compositions. The trio toured the U.S. from March 9 until March 25 starting in Arizona and finishing in Illinois. This was Price's third album with Nelson and first album with Haggard. After the tour, Haggard remarked, "I told Willie when it was over, 'That old man gave us a goddamn singing lesson.' He really did. He just sang so good. He sat there with the mic against his chest. And me and Willie are all over the microphone trying to find it, and he found it."
On November 6, 2012, Ray Price confirmed that he was fighting pancreatic cancer. Price told the San Antonio Express-News that he had been receiving chemotherapy for the past six months. An alternative to the chemo would have been surgery that involved removing the pancreas along with portions of the stomach and liver, which would have meant a long recovery and stay in a nursing home. Said Price, "That's not very much an option for me. God knows I want to live as long as I can but I don't want to live like that." The 87-year-old Country Music Hall of Famer also told the newspaper, "The doctor said that every man will get cancer if he lives to be old enough. I don't know why I got it – I ain't old!" Price retained a positive outlook and hoped to play as many as a hundred concert dates in 2013.
As of early February 2013, the cancer appeared to be in remission. Sometime in May 2013, Price was hospitalized with severe dehydration. On December 2, 2013, Price entered a Tyler, Texas, hospital in the final stages of pancreatic cancer, according to his son, then left on December 12 for home hospice care. Price died at his home in Mt. Pleasant, Texas, on December 16, 2013.
Born To Lose
Ray Price Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
All my life I've always been so blue born to lose and now I'm losing you
Born to lose it seems so hard to bear how I long to always have you near
You've grown tired and now you say we're through born to lose and now I'm losing you
Born to lose my every hope is gone it's so hard to face an empty dawn
You were all the happiness I knew born to lose and now I'm losing you
There's no use to dream of happiness all I see is only loneliness
The lyrics to Ray Price's song "Born to Lose" speak of a life filled with sadness and regret. The singer feels that every dream he has had has only brought him pain, and that he has lived his life in vain. The constant feeling of being blue is a central theme throughout the song. The singer laments that his every hope is gone and that it is hard to face an empty dawn. It is clear that he longs to have the person he loves near him, but they have grown tired and have decided to move on. The singer seems resigned to his fate, acknowledging that he was born to lose, and now he is losing the person he loves.
The song conveys a powerful sense of melancholy and desperation. The singer's words are filled with regret and a sense of helplessness. Born into a life of sorrow and failure, he feels as though his destiny is predetermined. The recurring theme of loneliness echoes throughout the song, highlighting the singer's sense of isolation and despair.
Overall, Ray Price's "Born to Lose" is a poignant and moving portrayal of a life filled with disappointment and pain. The song speaks to anyone who has experienced heartbreak and loss, and it captures the essence of what it feels like to be trapped in a never-ending cycle of sadness and regret.
Line by Line Meaning
Born to lose I've lived my life in vain every dream has only brought me pain
I was destined to fail and my life has been purposeless. Each time I had a dream, it eventually led to more pain and disappointment.
All my life I've always been so blue born to lose and now I'm losing you
I've always been sad and now that I'm losing you, the one person who brought me happiness, it's just making things worse.
Born to lose it seems so hard to bear how I long to always have you near
It's difficult to accept that my fate is to always lose, especially when all I want is to have you by my side.
You've grown tired and now you say we're through born to lose and now I'm losing you
You're tired of me and you're ending our relationship. This just confirms that I was meant to lose you, like everything else in my life.
Born to lose my every hope is gone it's so hard to face an empty dawn
Since I'm meant to fail, I have no more hope left. Waking up to another day with nothing to look forward to is unbearable.
You were all the happiness I knew born to lose and now I'm losing you
You were the only source of happiness in my life, and since I'm destined to lose, losing you is just another defeat for me.
There's no use to dream of happiness all I see is only loneliness
I've given up on hoping for happiness since every dream I've had only led to more sadness. All I can see now is the loneliness in my future.
All my life I've always been so blue born to lose and now I'm losing you
I've always been sad and now that I'm losing you, it's just confirming my fate to always lose and never have anything good or happy in my life.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Peermusic Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Ted Daffan
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
gardeeoh
A country legend sung by a true legend!!
Poon Don
There's something almost comforting about the fact that people have been feeling this way and relating to music like this across so many generations. I turned 30 in 2022, had an ex fiancee take off on me in the middle of the night with barely an explanation, and now music like this just fully resonates.
Who would've known wearing girl jeans, flat-ironing my hair, and listening to bands like The Used in high school would've eventually evolved me into becoming a Ray Price fan, but when you compare the lyrics and life experiences that led to both, it actually makes perfect sense. They both mean more to me now than ever, and might as well be the same genre if you take the age, instrumentals, and generational differences out of the equation.
Love this song, glad I was lucky enough to discover it during the worst year of my life
jeriw
You know it's up to the older generation to make sure NO ONE forgets an artist like Ray Price. My poor grandboys, they have to listen to him when they come over to my house and we're working in the garage. They're 14 and 12 so no matter what, I know they won't forget the music. I can remember that Ray Price was always being played in my house as a kid and it never left me. When my husband passed away, Ray has been there to remind me it was all "For The Good Times."
Ben Lujan
Amen!
LivelyTerry
I love this verson by Ray. Marty Robbins did a great version too...so many memories of these 2 great performers....
Uncle Dan's Vintage Vinyl!
This is a great version of this beautiful song. It sounds like it was sung without any hope even of anyone even hearing the song.
Ben Lujan
Excellent description, sir!
Francis Alan Wormald
GREAT SONGS BY GREAT PERFORMERS KEEP ME GOIN AT 80...BLESS EM ALL!!!
Steve Charlemagne
This and Hank Snow's cover version are the best out of many I've heard IMO aside the 1942 original.
Dennis Marthaler
Talk about hear and soul, Ray Price sings this song with the feeling only Ray Price can put in the songs that brings back so many memories!