Song #85: Hank Williams III - "Cocaine Blues"

Song #85: Hank Williams III - "Cocaine Blues" (1999)

Risin' Outlaw

"Come on, you gotta listen unto me; lay off that whiskey and let that cocaine be!"

Just like with Dolla, get used to seeing Hank Williams III (and, pretty soon, his grandfather) on this list. Hank Williams' music came in at a crucial time in my life and that time was eighth grade. After the horrid events of seventh grade (which were, admittedly, my own fault), eighth grade was the redemption year and the realization year, where I was about to go into high school and, because my neighborhood is separated by boundary lines, a good majority of my graduating class would be split up between two different high schools. My closest friends would be going to a whole other high school, while I was going to the school that didn't have many people I knew; I was nervous beyond belief.

Williams and his grandson Hank Williams III have a plethora of songs detailing nervousness, uncertainty, recklessness, friendship, and, to add to the extremes, depression and alcohol-dependency. Their songs, particular Williams III's carefree, rockabilly music, were relatable vices I desperately needed, and many of their songs stuck with me enough to appear on this list. One of which was a tune from III's first album, Risin' Outlaw, by the name of "Cocaine Blues," which serves as a cover of Johnny Cash's song of the same name. To date, this is the only cover that I find better than the original version (despite having heard Cash's version before III's) in my opinion.

The song tells the story of a man named Willy Lee who, while under the influence of the white devil, kills his wife and proceeds to run from the feds until being apprehended, tried, and locked up in the Folsom State Prison for ninety-nine years. Rather than Cash's more clean-cut, deeper voice handling the lyrics of the song, III's voice felt more suited in my mind to a story of this magnitude, with his identifiable southern twang and raspy tendencies. Not to mention, the song is also just an exhilarating romp detailing a murder and the consequences our narrator endures (and rightfully deserves).

As far as southern romps go, you can't get much better than "Cocaine Blues," regardless of whether you're listening to it by the legendary Johnny Cash or the immensely underrated Hank Williams III.

Give "Cocaine Blues" a listen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPocWt4V5Bo