Hank Williams was far more complicated than most fans were aware.
Riddled with pain from a spina bifida birth defect in combination with the unruly climate of growing up in an era filled with depression and world wars, it’s really no surprise that the man carried a lot of weight. So while his brain may have been filled with lyrics and musical tunes that would take the country music scene by storm, it was also riddled with confusion about the future and deep consideration of complex issues.
Because of this, for every love song and creative ballad, Hank found himself knees deep in a more complex song, making half of his catalog very different from the average “Hank” that listeners had become used to.
According to Hank’s biography, these sad and dreary explorative tracks left Hank’s producer Fred Rose with doubts about their possible success:
“Jukebox operators had huge standing orders for Hank Williams records and, if the recitations were issued under Hank’s name, the operators would complain.
Virtually all of the operators serviced bars, and the last thing they needed was for someone to punch up a Hank Williams record and get a sermon.”
But the doubts didn’t keep Hank from writing the songs. In combination with his difficult past, his early beginnings in music were inspired largely by his church upbringing and he often considered his decisions through the scope of religious standards, and the conclusions poured out in songs.
So Hank and Fred settled on a pseudonym instead, an alter ego of sorts that they could release the far-reaching tracks under. They named this side of Hank “Luke the Drifter,” and this B-side allowed him to explore the darkest corners of his subconscious without completely isolating himself from country music connoisseurs.
These songs were collected and released on the Luke The Drifter album, and the Luke songs contain all sorts of reflections and moral lessons.
The album opens with “Pictures From Life’s Other Side,” upon first title glance, you assume this one might include references to Heaven, but it was actually an ironic reference to those stuck in dark states of addiction and mental health.
It shows snapshots (or pictures) of two characters in the pit of despair. One man gambles away all of his belongings including his mother’s wedding ring, and a woman considers suicide after being socially outcasted for having her child out of wedlock.
Both characters die by the end of the song…
And that’s just the opening track…
Another song from the album titled “Be Careful Of The Stones That You Throw,” finds Luke warning listeners about a nuance of the golden rule:
“Unless you’ve made no mistakes in your life, be careful of stones that you throw.”
Most Luke tracks switch from singing to lilting storytelling, and this one is no exception. Luke zooms in on one particular instance of “throwing stones,” and the narration portion features a mother who is put out by an unladylike girl who lives up the street. She tells Luke that she’s banished the girl from speaking to her only child, but quickly after the same unladylike girl saves the woman’s child from a fatal hit and run, falling victim herself.
Luke wraps the song with the chorus, warning about the accusations a tongue can make without really knowing the entire truth.
In the fourth and middle track on the album, Luke shares “Too Many Parties And Too Many Pals,” a courtroom scene where a ‘lady of the night’ finds herself being condemned of crimes like partying, smoking and drinking.
But instead of “throwing stones” (if you reference back to Luke’s previous lesson), the judge instead questions if men were not to blame for teaching women those types of misguided habits.
He even compares the young lady’s potential to that of her mother’s, who was a well-known saint.
All of the music on the album is very hymn-like and simple, but it simultaneously explores some of the deepest and darkest themes ever mentioned in country music.
It’s hard to hear these songs without trying to understand the inner turmoil of Hank Williams.
In his short life he likely questioned all his own personal hardships, his past, and his alcohol and drug use. And while he pondered on the black and white sides of morals and ethics, he used the lens of Luke the Drifter to reveal that the human condition is instead quite often a gray area.
There was no attempt to hide Hank’s secondary personality. He would jokingly refer to Luke tracks like “Beyond The Sunset” and “The Funeral” on his radio show saying:
“Here’s one by one of my closest relatives Luke the Drifter,” or “Now my half-brother will take it away with a song.”
His B-side was well known, but it’s hymn-like qualities would never have been accepted as mainstream country hits even in the 1950s.
For every rule Hank broke, and for every tongue lashing he likely received for his bad habits and sinful tendencies, a song was born from Luke the Drifter to explore and self-reflect.
While Luke traveled about “preaching the gospel” to sinners like Hank, Hank used his music to question what those standards were really all about.
