Your Cheatin' Heart
Encyclopedia
"Your Cheatin' Heart" is a song written and recorded by the American
country music
singer and songwriter
Hank Williams in 1952, but released after his death in 1953.. It is often considered one of his greatest songs, and one of the great songs of country music. The song is a slow blues ballad
, telling an unfaithful lover of the guilt that she will feel for cheating on the singer.
The story goes that Williams was prompted to write the song when thinking about his first wife, Audrey Williams
, while driving around with his second, Billie Jean Jones
; she is supposed to have written down the lyrics for him in the passenger seat. Williams collaborated with Nashville
songwriter Fred Rose
to produce the song's final draft before recording the song in his last ever recording sessions, on September 23, 1952. It was released the following year, shortly after he died, by MGM Records
as catalog number
11416 and occupied the No. 1 slot in the US country music chart for six weeks. Rolling Stone
ranked it #213 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Many artists have recorded the song since Williams released it, including Nat King Cole
, Ray Charles
, Van Morrison
, Patsy Cline
, Elvis Presley
, Jon Foreman
, Louis Armstrong
, Fats Domino
, Glen Campbell
, Jerry Lee Lewis
, and LeAnn Rimes
; the biggest hit version of the song was done by Joni James
, reaching #2 on the Billboard pop chart in 1953; the Rat Pack
actor Joey Bishop
recorded an infamously bad version of it in the 1960s. Ray Charles had U.S.
and British chart success with the song in 1962. American folk singer Don McLean
recorded a version for his Chain Lightning album in 1978 which featured Elvis Presley
's backing singers, The Jordanaires
. McLean's version of the song received a Grammy award
in 1983. It would be covered yet again in a dream-like piano and slide guitar arrangement by Beck
in 2001.
The Joni James
version was recorded on January 7, 1953 and released by MGM Records
as catalog number 11426. (A friendly note from Joni's biographer: Joni's version was recorded January 1 and, in fact, during the session word came of Williams' death. His discoverer and mentor, Frank Walker, was at the session. Everyone was distraught but the decision was to complete the song and the session in homage to Williams. Joni was to meet with him in New York City the following week to go over new songs he had prepared for Joni. It was Williams who decided Joni should bring "Your Cheatin' Heart" into the pop sector.)
A recording by Frankie Laine
(Paul Weston
orch) was also made contemporaneously, on January 8, 1953 and released by Columbia Records
as catalog number 39938. Released after the James version, it reached the number 18 position on the charts.
Your Cheatin' Heart was also the title of the film of Hank Williams' life story made in 1964, with George Hamilton
playing Williams and Susan Oliver
as his wife, Audrey. The soundtrack was recorded by Hank Williams Jr.. It has also been used as the title of a BBC
television series.
The song ranked #5 in CMT
's 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music in 2003 and #1 in CMT
's 40 Greatest Done Me Wrong (Cheatin') Songs in 2004.
in 1996 features the song. In it, Williams' recording plays while a Coca-Cola
deliveryman grabs a Pepsi.
The song is mentioned, along with "Auld Lang Syne
", "Kathleen Mavourneen
" and "Magnificat
," in "Bone of Song" on Josh Ritter
's 2003 album Hello Starling
as one of the implied pillars of songwriting.
A small portion of the song is played in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
. Bumblebee uses it to keep Sam Witwicky from cheating on his girlfriend, Mikaela Banes
.
The title of the song is quoted in PC video game Quake Mission Pack 1: Scourge of Armagon, when the player reaches a difficult area to access, which could result in the player using cheats to get there.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
singer and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
Hank Williams in 1952, but released after his death in 1953.. It is often considered one of his greatest songs, and one of the great songs of country music. The song is a slow blues ballad
Blues ballad
The term blues ballad is used to refer to a specific form of popular music which fused Anglo-American and Afro-American styles from the late 19th century onwards...
, telling an unfaithful lover of the guilt that she will feel for cheating on the singer.
The story goes that Williams was prompted to write the song when thinking about his first wife, Audrey Williams
Audrey Williams
Audrey Mae Sheppard , better known as Audrey Williams, was an American musician and the first wife of country music icon Hank Williams, mother of Hank Williams, Jr...
, while driving around with his second, Billie Jean Jones
Billie Jean Jones
Billie Jean Jones was the second wife of country singer Hank Williams. She was introduced to Hank by her then boyfriend, Faron Young. They married in 1952 each having had a previous marriage that ended in divorce. After Williams' death from heart failure on New Year's Day 1953, she married country...
; she is supposed to have written down the lyrics for him in the passenger seat. Williams collaborated with Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
songwriter Fred Rose
Fred Rose (musician)
Fred Rose was an American Hall of Fame songwriter and music publishing executive.-Biography:Born in Evansville, Indiana, Fred Rose started playing piano and singing as a small boy. In his teens, he moved to Chicago, Illinois where he worked in bars busking for tips, and finally vaudeville...
to produce the song's final draft before recording the song in his last ever recording sessions, on September 23, 1952. It was released the following year, shortly after he died, by MGM Records
MGM Records
MGM Records was a record label started by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946, for the purpose of releasing soundtrack albums of their musical films. Later it became a pop label, lasting into the 1970s...
as catalog number
Catalog numbering systems for single records
This article presents the numbering systems used by various record companies for single records.- Capitol :...
11416 and occupied the No. 1 slot in the US country music chart for six weeks. Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
ranked it #213 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Many artists have recorded the song since Williams released it, including Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
, Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
, Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
, Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline , born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Gore, Virginia, was an American country music singer who enjoyed pop music crossover success during the era of the Nashville sound in the early 1960s...
, Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, Jon Foreman
Jon Foreman
Jonathan Mark Foreman is the lead singer, lead guitarist, main songwriter and co-founder of the alternative rock band Switchfoot. He started Switchfoot in 1996 with drummer Chad Butler and bassist Tim Foreman ....
, Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
, Fats Domino
Fats Domino
Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino, Jr. is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creole was his first language....
, Glen Campbell
Glen Campbell
Glen Travis Campbell is an American country music singer, guitarist, television host and occasional actor. He is best known for a series of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for hosting a variety show called The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television.During his 50 years in show...
, Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...
, and LeAnn Rimes
LeAnn Rimes
LeAnn Rimes is an American country/pop singer. She is known for her rich vocals and her rise to fame as an eight-year-old champion on the original Ed McMahon version of Star Search, followed by the release of the Patsy Cline-intended single "Blue" when Rimes was only age 13, resulting in her...
; the biggest hit version of the song was done by Joni James
Joni James
Joni James is an American singer of traditional pop music and jazz standards.-Biography:...
, reaching #2 on the Billboard pop chart in 1953; the Rat Pack
Rat Pack
The Rat Pack was a group of actors originally centered on Humphrey Bogart. In the mid-1960s it was the name used by the press and the general public to refer to a later variation of the group, after Bogart's death, that called itself "the summit" or "the clan," featuring Frank Sinatra, Dean...
actor Joey Bishop
Joey Bishop
Joey Bishop was an American entertainer who was perhaps best known for being a member of the "Rat Pack" with Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Dean Martin...
recorded an infamously bad version of it in the 1960s. Ray Charles had U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and British chart success with the song in 1962. American folk singer Don McLean
Don McLean
Donald "Don" McLean is an American singer-songwriter. He is most famous for the 1971 album American Pie, containing the renowned songs "American Pie" and "Vincent".-Musical roots:...
recorded a version for his Chain Lightning album in 1978 which featured Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
's backing singers, The Jordanaires
The Jordanaires
The Jordanaires are an American vocal quartet, which formed as a gospel group in 1948. They are best known for providing vocal background for Elvis Presley, in live appearances and recordings from 1956 to 1972...
. McLean's version of the song received a Grammy award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
in 1983. It would be covered yet again in a dream-like piano and slide guitar arrangement by Beck
Beck
Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...
in 2001.
The Joni James
Joni James
Joni James is an American singer of traditional pop music and jazz standards.-Biography:...
version was recorded on January 7, 1953 and released by MGM Records
MGM Records
MGM Records was a record label started by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946, for the purpose of releasing soundtrack albums of their musical films. Later it became a pop label, lasting into the 1970s...
as catalog number 11426. (A friendly note from Joni's biographer: Joni's version was recorded January 1 and, in fact, during the session word came of Williams' death. His discoverer and mentor, Frank Walker, was at the session. Everyone was distraught but the decision was to complete the song and the session in homage to Williams. Joni was to meet with him in New York City the following week to go over new songs he had prepared for Joni. It was Williams who decided Joni should bring "Your Cheatin' Heart" into the pop sector.)
A recording by Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...
(Paul Weston
Paul Weston
Paul Weston was an American pianist, arranger, composer and conductor. Weston was born Paul Wetstein in Springfield, Massachusetts...
orch) was also made contemporaneously, on January 8, 1953 and released by Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
as catalog number 39938. Released after the James version, it reached the number 18 position on the charts.
Your Cheatin' Heart was also the title of the film of Hank Williams' life story made in 1964, with George Hamilton
George Hamilton (actor)
George Stevens Hamilton is an American film and television actor.-Early life:Hamilton was the youngest son of bandleader George "Spike" Hamilton and his first wife, Ann Stevens . He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and lived in Blytheville, Arkansas...
playing Williams and Susan Oliver
Susan Oliver
Susan Oliver was an American actress, television director and aviator.-Early life and family:Susan Oliver was born Charlotte Gercke, the daughter of journalist George Gercke and astrology practitioner Ruth Hale Oliver, in New York City in 1932. Her parents divorced when she was still a child...
as his wife, Audrey. The soundtrack was recorded by Hank Williams Jr.. It has also been used as the title of a BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
television series.
The song ranked #5 in CMT
CMT
- Medicine :* California mastitis test* Certified Massage Therapist* Cervical motion tenderness, a sign of pelvic inflammatory disease* Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease* Chemically modified tetracyclines* Circus Movement Tachycardia...
's 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music in 2003 and #1 in CMT
CMT
- Medicine :* California mastitis test* Certified Massage Therapist* Cervical motion tenderness, a sign of pelvic inflammatory disease* Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease* Chemically modified tetracyclines* Circus Movement Tachycardia...
's 40 Greatest Done Me Wrong (Cheatin') Songs in 2004.
Cultural references
A Pepsi commercial that debuted during Super Bowl XXXSuper Bowl XXX
Super Bowl XXX was an American football game played on January 28, 1996 at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona to decide the National Football League champion following the 1995 regular season...
in 1996 features the song. In it, Williams' recording plays while a Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
deliveryman grabs a Pepsi.
The song is mentioned, along with "Auld Lang Syne
Auld Lang Syne
"Auld Lang Syne" is a Scots poem written by Robert Burns in 1788 and set to the tune of a traditional folk song . It is well known in many countries, especially in the English-speaking world; its traditional use being to celebrate the start of the New Year at the stroke of midnight...
", "Kathleen Mavourneen
Kathleen Mavourneen
"Kathleen Mavourneen" is a song, written in 1837, composed by Frederick Crouch with lyrics by Marion Crawford. It was popular during the American Civil War...
" and "Magnificat
Magnificat
The Magnificat — also known as the Song of Mary or the Canticle of Mary — is a canticle frequently sung liturgically in Christian church services. It is one of the eight most ancient Christian hymns and perhaps the earliest Marian hymn...
," in "Bone of Song" on Josh Ritter
Josh Ritter
Josh Ritter is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and author who performs and records with The Royal City Band. Ritter is known for his distinctive Americana style and narrative lyrics. In 2006 he was named one of the "100 Greatest Living Songwriters" by Paste magazine.- Early life :Josh...
's 2003 album Hello Starling
Hello Starling
Hello Starling is the third album by Josh Ritter, released on September 9, 2003.Hello Starling was reissued on January 17, 2010 as a two-disc Deluxe Edition. The Deluxe Edition includes the complete original studio album and a second bonus disc...
as one of the implied pillars of songwriting.
A small portion of the song is played in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a 2009 American science fiction-action film directed by Michael Bay and produced by Steven Spielberg. It is the sequel to the 2007 film Transformers and the second installment in the live-action Transformers series...
. Bumblebee uses it to keep Sam Witwicky from cheating on his girlfriend, Mikaela Banes
Mikaela Banes
Mikaela Banes is a fictional character from the Transformers universe. She is differentiated from "typical" women in her age group, having inherited mechanical skills from her father, Cal, a grease monkey and paroled car thief...
.
The title of the song is quoted in PC video game Quake Mission Pack 1: Scourge of Armagon, when the player reaches a difficult area to access, which could result in the player using cheats to get there.