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I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry (WORD)
I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry (PDF)

A slightly jazzy version with a nice key change at the end - plus lots of one-finger chords! Thanks to Chris Hill for bringing this song to BUG!

"I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" has been covered by a wide range of musicians. During his Aloha from Hawaii TV-special, Elvis Presley introduced it by saying, "I'd like to sing a song that's... probably the saddest song I've ever heard." The song was released as the B-side to the blues "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It" because up-tempo numbers were deemed more appropriate for the jukebox trade than melancholy ballads. The single reached No. 4 on the country chart in 1949. Rolling Stone ranked it No. 111 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, the oldest song on the list, and No. 3 on its 100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time. Music journalist Chet Flippo and Kentucky historian W. Lynn Nickell have each claimed that 19-year-old Kentuckian Paul Gilley wrote the lyrics, then sold the song to Williams along with the rights, allowing Williams to take credit for it. Gilley also wrote the lyrics to "Cold, Cold Heart" and other songs before drowning at the age of 27. However, Williams said he wrote the song originally intending that the words be spoken, rather than sung, as he had done on several of his Luke the Drifter recordings.(Wikipedia)