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.
You're Stronger Than Me
Ray Price Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
At least you just let the past be
If the love that we knew don't bother you
Darling, you're stronger than me
For if still loving you means I'm weak
I guess I'm weak
For I still fall apart when you speak
If the love that we knew don't bother you
Darling, you're stronger than me.
If you can't help falling with some other one
With no thoughts of what used to be
If it's easy to say that it's better this way
Darling, you're stronger than me.
For if still loving you means I'm weak
I guess I'm weak
For I still fall apart when you speak
Or when we meet.
If the love that we knew don't bother you
Darling, you're stronger than me...
The lyrics to Ray Price's song "You're Stronger Than Me" depict a painful and emotional break-up where one person is trying to cope with the end of a relationship while the other seems to have moved on without any emotional attachment. The singer describes their struggle to let go of their deep and genuine love for their partner, but they feel weak and vulnerable in the face of their ex's indifference. They almost seem envious of their partner's ability to walk away as if nothing had happened, as they continue to feel intense agony and heartbreak.
The lyrics further describe how the singer is unable to control their emotions and finds themselves falling apart every time they see or speak with their ex. They understand that their attachment is a weakness, but they are unable to shake off their love for their ex, and this makes them feel even more helpless. The refrain "if the love that we knew don't bother you, darling, you're stronger than me" suggests that moving on is a sign of strength and resilience, but for the singer, it seems like an impossible feat.
Overall, the song portrays the complexity of emotions that accompany a break-up, and how each person's experience can be vastly different. The singer is struggling to come to terms with the end of their relationship, while their ex has seemingly moved on with ease.
Line by Line Meaning
If you are sincere when you say you don't care
If you truly mean that you don't care about our past relationship
At least you just let the past be
Then at least you're not dwelling on the past and letting it control you
If the love that we knew don't bother you
If our love doesn't affect you emotionally
Darling, you're stronger than me
Then you're stronger than I am because I still feel the emotions of our past love
For if still loving you means I'm weak
If loving you still makes me feel vulnerable and powerless
I guess I'm weak
Then I have to accept that I am weak in this regard
For I still fall apart when you speak
Because hearing your voice still triggers my emotions
Or when we meet.
Or even when we see each other in person
If you can't help falling with some other one
If you easily fall in love with someone else
With no thoughts of what used to be
Without thinking about our past together
If it's easy to say that it's better this way
If it's easy for you to accept that our relationship is over
Darling, you're stronger than me.
Then you're stronger than I am because I'm still struggling to accept our breakup
Writer(s): Jimmy Key, Hank Cochran Copyright: Sony/ATV Tree Publishing
Contributed by Aubrey A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.