{"id":4322,"date":"2023-02-28T22:43:37","date_gmt":"2023-02-28T22:43:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/?p=4322"},"modified":"2023-02-28T22:43:37","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28T22:43:37","slug":"i-survived-my-dark-years-thanks-to-hank-williams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/?p=4322","title":{"rendered":"I survived my dark years thanks to Hank Williams"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

TERRY MOSHER<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

TOP OF THE TOWN<\/strong> \u2013 I turned on American Routes, as I usually do when I write, and went to its archives until I found October, 2010 and Hank Williams. American Routes is a weekly two-hour radio show from, New Orleans tracing the roots of American Music and hosted by Nick Spitzer, a folklorist and professor of anthropology and American Studies at Tulane University. Spitzer has a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Texas. I grew up with Hank Williams music as I battled through my dark years after losing my mother the same year we lost Williams, still considered the best country songwriter and singer even though his career was brief. Williams died Jan. 1, 1953 while en route to Canton, Ohio for a gig. It was a bad year for me as my mother \u2013Jesse Elaine Vandyke Mosher \u2013 died May 21 of the same year. She was just 48. Hank was only 29. \u00a0A year after my mother died, I was forced by my dad to go with him and his new bride to Ferndale, WA where Mobil Oil opened a new refinery on Cherry Pt. I say \u201cforce\u201d because I fought like the devil to stay in my hometown of Portville, NY and live with my married sister. I almost pulled it off, but my dad got with the older brother next to me and hatched a plan where my brother would go to Ferndale with the promise from my dad if he didn\u2019t like it he could go back and live with our sister. I didn\u2019t figure out this trickery until years later. My brother stayed in Ferndale about three weeks and then went back to Portville where he starred in four sports. I was all setup to star in three sports there (my two other brothers starred in sports at the local high school). The expectation by them was I would be better than they were. I agree. But it never happened. I went into a mental and emotional funk and never participated in any sports at Ferndale,basically raised myself, and did a poor job of it. I somehow survived, although there were times I did things that could have cost me my life. I had the sense to back off at the last moment on most of them, although driving my dad\u2019s car 140 miles an hour on back county roads was more Evel Knievel then was necessary. Trying to swim the raging Nooksack River or thinking about jumping off a cliff into Puget Sound were stunts close to suicide. Amid all this darkness, I clung to the songs of Williams, whose own heartbreak was recorded in most of his songs.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m so lonesome I could cry was a song he penned in response to troubles with his first wife, Audrey.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Hear that lonesome\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>whippoorwill<\/a>
\nHe sounds too blue to fly
\nThe midnight train is whining low<\/a>
\nI’m so lonesome I could cry<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I’ve never seen a night so long
\nWhen time goes crawling by<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The moon just went behind the clouds
\nTo hide its face and cry<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Did you ever see a robin weep
\nWhen leaves begin to die?<\/a>
\nLike me, he’s lost the will to live
\nI’m so lonesome I could cry<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The silence of a falling star<\/em><\/strong>
\nLights up a purple sky<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

And as I wonder where you are<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m so lonesome I could cry.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Then there is Cold, Cold Heart.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I tried so hard, my dear, to show that you’re my every dream<\/em><\/strong>
\nYet you’re afraid each thing I do is just some evil scheme
\nA memory from your lonesome past keeps us so far apart
\nWhy can’t I free your doubtful mind and melt your cold, cold heart?<\/p>\n

Another love before my time made your heart sad and blue
\nAnd so my heart is paying now for things I didn’t do
\nIn anger, unkind words are said that make the teardrops start
\nWhy can’t I free your doubtful mind and melt your cold, cold heart?<\/p>\n

You’ll never know how much it hurts to see you sit and cry
\nYou know you need and want my love, yet you’re afraid to try
\nWhy do you run and hide from life, to try it just ain’t smart
\nWhy can’t I free your doubtful mind and melt your cold, cold heart?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

There was a time when I believed that you belonged to me<\/em><\/strong>
\nBut now I know your heart is shackled to a memory
\nThe more I learn to care for you, the more we drift apart
\nWhy can’t I free your doubtful mind and melt your cold, cold heart<\/em><\/strong>?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There is this one, I saw the Light, which he composed while sitting in a taxi with Minnie Pearl.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I wandered so aimless life filled with sin<\/em><\/strong>
\nI wouldn’t let my dear savior in
\nThen Jesus came like a stranger in the night
\nPraise the Lord I saw the light
\n<\/em><\/strong>
\n
\nI saw the light I saw the light
\nNo more darkness no more night
\nNow I’m so happy no sorrow in sight
\nPraise the Lord I saw the light<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

[Verse 2]<\/em><\/strong>
\nJust like a blind man I wandered along
\nWorries and fears I claimed for my own
\n<\/em><\/strong>Then like the blind man that God gave back his sight
\nPraise the Lord I saw the light<\/a><\/p>\n

I saw the light I saw the light
\nNo more darkness no more night
\nNow I’m so happy no sorrow in sight
\nPraise the Lord I saw the light<\/p>\n

I was a fool to wander and a-stray
\nStraight is the gate and narrow the way<\/a>
\nNow I have traded the wrong for the right
\nPraise the Lord I saw the light<\/p>\n

I saw the light I saw the light
\nNo more darkness no more night
\nNow I’m so happy no sorrow in sight
\nPraise the Lord I saw the light<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

As Williams sang his new song in the backseat, he suddenly stopped, and said,\u201d That\u2019s the trouble, I can\u2019t see the light.\u201d\u00a0 His troubled life ended that day of Jan. 1 due to a combination of medicine and booze. His driver stopped the Cadillac he was driving when he realized Hank was not moving. The music world came to a screeching halt as one of the great ones was gone.<\/p>\n

Williams\u2019 music is still played 70 years after he died I don\u2019t refer to it much anymore. I can see the light now. I\u2019m at the end of the tunnel and as I get close to the end the light shines brighter.<\/p>\n

The truth is, however, I probably would not have survived my dark years if not for Williams. His cry packed into his songs gave me a chance to unburden myself of my problems.<\/p>\n

I have come a long way and while the early journey was rocky and often dark, I end the journey knowing I have recovered most of myself. I\u2019m still not the young boy who lost his mother too soon, but I have gotten better.<\/p>\n

Thanks to Hank.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s it for today. Stay safe.<\/p>\n

Be well pal.<\/p>\n

Be careful out there.<\/p>\n

Have a great day.<\/p>\n

You are loved.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TERRY MOSHER   TOP OF THE TOWN \u2013 I turned on American Routes, as I usually do when I write,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-column","category-mosher"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4322"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4322\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4323,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4322\/revisions\/4323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}