The Grateful Dead Perform "You Win Again"

I tell you what. Hank Williams was one helluva songwriter. This isn't news, of course, but it it's worth reminding. Maybe some people don't even think about him because they think they don't like country, or because they think Billie Eilish or Kendrick Lamar invented lyric writing. Or maybe he's so well known, so canonical, that he's considered boring. Or, most likely, they just don't care at all about songwriting. There's always that. But that's not you.

This song hinges on the line, "Just trusting you, was my great sin." I can tell you from reading a brief Hank bio that every great song he wrote, especially the ones about love gone wrong, are based directly on his astoundingly dysfunctional relationship with his wife, Audrey. Thank god he got the songs, right? Otherwise all he would have been left with was the ultimate marital shit show. But back to that trust thing. The biggest pain of a relationship is to have your trust betrayed. Yet, if you don't base your relationship on trust you've got less than nothing. There's the rub. There's the makings of tragedy.

Why did I pick this version? Well, I just have always liked it. Postscript musicological note. Kris Kristofferson wrote a clever response to this song called "Nobody Wins." That's probably closer to reality.