I wanted to post the Hank version anyway but I remember this version from a few years ago and I had to include that one as well. We are combining them today.
The Hillbilly Shakespeare Hank Williams wrote this song. When Williams moved to MGM Records in 1947 the hits started to come but this wasn’t one of them. It’s hard to believe this was not a hit. It’s a strong spiritual song that will stay with me until I die. The song started to get more popular after its initial release in 1948 and eventually, Williams would close shows with it.
Williams based the song on Albert E. Brumley Jr‘s song He Set Me Free. It’s close in melody but Hank made it a standard. Williams’s version is more universal. For me, it’s one of the best songs ever written. Williams wrote I Saw the Light on the way back from a dance in Fort Deposit, Alabama. Hank was out of it and sleeping in the car. His mother Lily said ‘Hank, wake up, we’re nearly home. I just saw the light.” He wrote the song right after she said that.
The The released their Hanky Panky album in 1995. The entire album featured Hank Williams cover songs. It was at first meant to be an EP of various artists doing the covers but then they decided just to go with the album by just them. They didn’t want to just copy the songs…they wanted to get the spirit of them in their own way. The album peaked at #28 on the UK album charts in 1995.
The song peaked at #31 in the UK.
Here is another song off of the Hanky Panky album…Your Cheating Heart.
I Saw The Light
I wandered so aimless, life filled with sinI wouldn’t let my dear Savior inThen Jesus came like a stranger in the nightPraise the Lord, I saw the light
I saw the light, I saw the lightNo more darkness, no more nightNow I’m so happy, no sorrow in sightPraise the Lord, I saw the light
Just like a blind man, I wandered alongWorries and fears I claimed for my ownThen like the blind man that God gave back his sightPraise the Lord, I saw the light
I saw the light, I saw the lightNo more darkness, no more nightNow I’m so happy, no sorrow in sightPraise the Lord, I saw the light
I was a fool to wander and strayFor straight is the gate and narrow’s the wayNow I have traded the wrong for the rightPraise the Lord, I saw the light
I saw the light, I saw the lightNo more darkness, no more nightNow I’m so happy, no sorrow in sightPraise the Lord, I saw the light
…
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Great song…I discovered this one and “House of Gold” around the same time.
I need to listen to them more…I love what they did to this song.
A New Jersey bar band that I used to see named Kinderhook Creek played this song all the time. They later opened for The Flying Burrito Brothers, Conway Twitty, Pure Prairie League, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, The Outlaws, Richie Havens, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Commander Cody, Poco and others in larger venues.
That is really cool that they opened for all of those bands.
Looks like they are still playing…I’m not sure how old this page is. https://ronkowitz.blogspot.com/2019/11/kinderhook-creek-is-rocking-and.html
That is them and I used to go and see them all the time.
I always wonder if any of the bands I’ve seen locally ever hit it. My friend moved to Seattle in the early 90s and called me about a blonde left handed guitar player in a band named Nirvana that was really good…a year or so later they were huge.
“I Saw the Light” is a great tune. I love Hank Williams’ recording and also really like the rendition by the The The. They give it a neat rock vibe!
It’s such a cool song…it hits me really hard. They did what they said….they didn’t copy it but kept the spirit of it.
That’s a new cover for me! As you said, it’s a Standard and just an incredible song.
It really is….I never knew about the other song that inspired him. Hank Williams was probably the first rock star to me.
He was a Rock Star for sure. I had read about that connection as well, though the song credit is still just Hank. I looked at this song before, his version was not the first one released, I’m not sure why that happen but it’s good cover song trivia!
Oh yea! I have read about him not being the first version as well. I’m shocked that it wasn’t an automatic hit…I really am. It’s not like he was not known…he had Move it On Over and another one before this one.
With Country and Gospel being so close back then I imagine it was a natural fit.
The The doing Hank Williams is one of the odder covers I’d expect but he (Matt of The The) is an interesting musician & this seems to work maybe. Also seems like a song Johnny Cash would have liked
I haven’t listened to the complete album yet but I am…I love their take on his songs I’ve heard Dave…they give them imagination and just don’t copy them.
Hanky Panky still gets pulled out at my pad (Maybe today because of you). Yeah Hank is the real deal. Like Waylon sings ‘”Are you sure Hank done it this way?”. Man did he inspire a bunch of great music.
I listened to the album yesterday when I wrote this. I found that bookmark that I made when you sent me a link. I love their take on his songs…they didn’t just copy him…but retained the feel.
It was a sneaky record. A friend recommended it to me, figured I’d like it. He was right. I get vertigo watching that video. There are a lot of songs in my pile that mention Hank. They are all good ones.
What I liked is they were not lazy on this CB…they thought it out and didn’t just play the chords.
Yea man….I don’t do heights…don’t even like ladders.
I agree. great creative ideas on it. Might give it a spin today. Im stuck on the Hunter guy though.
Stay of the ladder Max.
Hanky Panky! What a great title for an album Max. Don’t hate me for saying this but Hanky Panky could have been a followup to Unskinny Bop! ( sorry I had to of there)
LOL…that was a Poison song right?
Yeah I had to go there hahaha
You wouldn’t be you if you didn’t!
Haha. Thanks man.
Odd that it wasn’t a huge hit at the time. It was a song that was heard from my early childhood through to when you start to find your own musical path. Part of that background musical marinade I grew up in, ‘I Saw The Light,’ ‘Smile’ ‘You Are My Sunshine,’ ‘Down By The Riverside.’ It is so pure and simple in a songwriting way, it just flows so right. The The do it their way and they do it very well too.
I like that I didn’t know if it was it until the verse kicked in…they were innovative on this one.
You (and the charts) may not think it was a hit, but my “Hank Williams 40 Greatest Hits” album includes it. I just read that “Your Cheatin’ Heart” was not only released posthumously, but was a B-side. That would definitely qualify as what WLS in Chicago used to call a “TSW” or “two-sided winner” (like the Beatles “Day Tripper/We can Work it Out”).
Oh it’s a hit to me! I adore that song…I don’t understand why it didn’t at least chart but that doesn’t matter…it grew to be known as one of his best.
Yes a double A side…I love those.
Johnny Cash sang this in an episode of “Columbo.” (Johnny was the bad guy.)
Oh I saw that one a couple of years ago. Thats the one where he is in the airplane I believe.
That’s the one!
Johnny a villain???
Yes he was….and a good one though!
Oh I bet, but still 🙁 I don’t like it when the good go bad, even in cinema. In a game I play with my kids, they call it alignment and you can be aligned with good or evil or be neutral.
It is odd when actors that play usually good or bad go the opposite way.
Remember Robin Williams in Insomnia? That one really threw me for a loop.
Oh yes! And One Hour Photo also.
Oh right! Totally forgot about that one. Why, Robin, why? Maybe he was trying to tell the world that he wasn’t as happy as everyone thought he was 🙁
He was a great actor…I think that gets overlooked with him…I certainly did for a long time.
He was, on an episode of Columbo called “Swan Song.” Season 3, Episode 7: “A gospel singer wants to be rid of his zealous wife. But a murder made to look like an airplane accident does not fool the wily Lt. Columbo.” It’s a pretty good episode…
I see Columbo and I know it will be good. Thanks, John.
I saw the light is a song that will energize any crowd. Hank’s version is ingrained in my musical psyche. I love it when bands decide to do an encomium of the greats. From the 2 numbers you include here, The The did it up right <3
That is what I told other people…they were not lazy and just copy what Hank did…they did it in a new way which still contained the feel.