Hank was 29 when he died in 1953 of drug and alcohol-related problems. His father fell off a truck and severely injured his head putting him the hospital for 8 years and beyond. During the depression, his mom Lilly struggled to support him and his sister working in a cannery, as a night nurse, and by running boarding houses in various towns. She also persevered to get the disability payment due her for her husband's death pension.
Comment:
Besides those challenges, Hank was born with spina bifida occulta which gave him chronic pain. He was often given morphine to ease that pain – addiction developed easily. That, mixed with his copious drinking, caused him head injuries and other injuries in fights. Alcohol caused him the loss of his 15-minute daily show at WSFA, and gigs, including those at the Grand Ol Opry. He met his idol Roy Acuff backstage at the Grand Ol' Opry - who later warned him of the dangers of alcohol, saying: "You've got a million-dollar talent, son, but a ten-cent brain". Sad that blocking the pain prevents us from being able to source it and to eradicate that source.
Billie could never sing a song after this one it made her so sad. Lyris were the poem written by Abe Meeropol whose parents were electrocuted in the McCarthy era as Communists in 1953.
Comment:
(from Wikipedia): "...In the late 1930s, Pellison says, Meeropol "was very disturbed at the continuation of racism in America, and seeing a photograph of a lynching sort of put him over the edge...."
Who likes to be confrronted by the truth.
"...Meeropol once said the photograph "haunted" him "for days." So he wrote a poem about it, which was then printed in a teachers union publication. An amateur composer, Meeropol also set his words to music. He played it for a New York club owner — who ultimately gave it to Billie Holiday...."