On a warm night in June, 1949, with his first number one record spilling out of radios across the country, a frail young man walked onto the stage of Nashville's Ryman Auditorium for his Grand Ole Opry debut. Behind him lay nearly a decade of struggle and rejection in pursuit of this goal; ahead, a little more than five years in the limelight. By 1953, literally worn out at twenty-nine, Hank Williams was gone. But he had given country music much of its standard repertoire, a new definition of stardom and a legend so enduring that he is still the model for countless singers and songwriters. Born in Mount Olive West, Alabama (near Georgiana) on September 17th, 1923, Hiriam was the second child of Lon and Lillie Williams.
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While [c] strolling thru a lovely [g7] garden
As day was drawing to a [c] close...[g7]
My [c] eyes be-[c7]-held a tragic [f] story
I [g7] saw a teardrop on a [c] rose.
It should have been a tear of gladness
But deep inside the sorrow shows
A trusting heart had just been broken
I saw a teardrop on a rose.
A sobbing tear that follows parting
Holds all the pain that sorrow knows
A false goodbye a life is shattered
There lies a story on a rose.
The tear will dry the rose will wither
When spring and winter comes and goes
I loved, I lost, my story ended
With just a teardrop on a rose.