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| "You Win Again" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single byHank Williams With His Drifting Cowboys | ||||
| A-side | "Settin' the Woods on Fire" | |||
| Published | September 3, 1952 (1952-09-03)Acuff-Rose Publications[1] | |||
| Released | September 1952 (1952-09) | |||
| Recorded | July 11, 1952 (1952-07-11)[2] | |||
| Studio | Castle Studio, Nashville | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 2:36 | |||
| Label | MGM 11318 | |||
| Songwriter | Hank Williams | |||
| Producer | Fred Rose | |||
| Hank Williams With His Drifting Cowboys singles chronology | ||||
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"You Win Again" is a 1952 song byHank Williams. In style, the song is ablues ballad and deals with the singer's despair with his partner. The song has been widely covered, including chart successes byTommy Edwards andCharley Pride.
Hank Williams recorded "You Win Again" on July 11, 1952—one day after his divorce fromAudrey Williams was finalized. Like "Cold, Cold Heart," the song was likely inspired by his tumultuous relationship with his ex-wife, as biographerColin Escott observes:
It might have been no more than coincidence, but, in the absence of hard evidence to the contrary, the songs cut that day after Hank's divorce seem like pages torn from his diary...Its theme of betrayal had grown old years before Hank tackled it, but, drawing from his bottomless well of resentment, he gave it a freshness bordering on topicality.[3]
In Williams' original draft, the song had been titled "I Lose Again" but was reversed at producerFred Rose's insistence.[3] The song's memorable opening line, "The news is out all over town," begins the story of an utterly defeated narrator who cannot bring himself to leave his love despite her infidelities. It was recorded atCastle Studio inNashville withJerry Rivers (fiddle),Don Helms (steel guitar), andHarold Bradley (rhythm guitar), while it is speculated thatChet Atkins played lead guitar andErnie Newton played bass.[4]
"You Win Again" was released as theB-side to "Settin' the Woods on Fire", primarily because up-tempo, danceable numbers were preferable as A-sides for radio play and for the valuable jukebox trade. Nonetheless, "You Win Again" peaked at number ten on the Most Played in C&W Juke Boxes chart, where it remained for a single week.[5]
