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"Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way"
One of A-side labels of the U.S. vinyl single
Single by Waylon Jennings
from the album Dreaming My Dreams
B-side	"Bob Wills Is Still the King"
Released	August 1975
Recorded	September 2, 1974
Genre	Outlaw country
Length	3:02
Label	RCA Nashville
Songwriter(s)	Waylon Jennings
Producer(s)	Waylon Jennings Jack Clement
Waylon Jennings singles chronology
"Dreaming My Dreams with You" (1975) "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way" (1975) "Can't You See" (1976)

"Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Waylon Jennings. It was released in August 1975 as the first single from the album Dreaming My Dreams. The song was Jennings' third number one on the country chart as a solo artist, and it remained at number one for one week and spent a total of sixteen weeks on the country charts. The song was one of many major hits for Jennings, and became an anthem of the outlaw country movement, as well as the wider genre.

The B-side to "Are You Sure ..." was "Bob Wills is Still the King", a tribute to the music of Wills. Although it never charted on its own, "Bob Wills ... " gained airplay and continues to be a staple at classic country radio stations.

Content

Jennings, one of the driving forces of the outlaw country movement, released Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way at the height of the movement's success. The song, penned by Jennings on the back of an envelope, captured the singer's frustration with the direction country music had taken over the previous two decades, largely as a result of the control country record labels held over their artists, and the resultant "Nashville sound".

The song pays homage to the influence of country music legend Hank Williams Sr. on the genre, and criticizes the glitz that had come to characterize top-selling country artists in the 1970s, through references to "rhinestone suits" and "new shiny cars"; as well as the stagnant, uninspired sound that resulted from the commercially-focused Nashville producers: "Lord it's the same old tune, fiddle and guitar; Where do we take it from here?"

The song's lyrics also refer to the recording industry's treatment of artists, which included relentless touring schedules leading to singers such as Jennings relying heavily on amphetamines and other drugs: "Ten years on the road making one night stands, speeding my young life away". The end of each verse rhetorically calls into question whether Hank Williams made music this way: "Tell me one more time, just so's I'll understand: are you sure Hank done it this way? Did ol' Hank really do it this way?"

At a concert in 1975, in the introduction to the song, Jennings remarked: "I wrote this song in ten minutes; took me ten years to think it up, though", referencing his decade-long struggle to fight for artistic control and challenge the Nashville establishment.

Rolling Stone labelled it the "closest things outlaw country has to a mission statement".

Chart performance

Waylon Jennings

Alabama

Cover versions

Country band Alabama covered the song in 2010 for the Waylon Jennings tribute album, The Music Inside: A Collaboration Dedicated to Waylon Jennings, Volume One, which was released on February 8, 2011. Alabama's version was released as a single on December 13, 2010, via The Valory Music Co.

• Pat Green and Cory Morrow covered the song on the album Songs We Wish We'd Written in 2001.
• Clint Black covered the song on his 1999 album D'lectrified, inserting Jennings' name in place of Williams'. Black's version adds an extended instrumental section, and features Jennings as a guest vocalist.
• Chequered Past, featuring singer/actor Michael Des Barres, covered this song on their 1984 eponymous album.
• Robert Earl Keen contributed a cover of the song to Lonesome, On'ry and Mean: A Tribute to Waylon Jennings.
• Morrissey performed a cover of the song at a concert in 2015 in Visalia. It later became the B-Side to his 2018 single "My Love, I'd Do Anything for You".
• Jack Ingram performed a cover of the song on the 2003 album Live at Billy Bob's Texas.
• Uncle Tupelo released a cover of the song on the 2003 reissue of the album Anodyne.
• Hank Williams Jr. released a cover of this song on his 1981 album Rowdy and added/changed lyrics.
• The Mavericks cover it on their 2019 album “The Mavericks Play the Hits”.
• Charley Crockett closed his set with this song at Farm Aid 2024.

In popular culture

• The song is included on "The Highwaymen Live" movie from 1990.
• The song was also included on the soundtrack for the 2009 film Crazy Heart.
• The song appears on Rebel Radio, the country music themed station, in Grand Theft Auto V. The song was also used in a promotional trailer showcasing the character Trevor Philips.

References

1. Saving Country Music (September 2, 2024). "50 Years Ago: Waylon Jennings Records the Ultimate Country Protest Song". Saving Country Music. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
2. Pitchfork Staff (August 22, 2016). "The 200 Best Songs of the 1970s". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 13, 2022. Like the best outlaw country, "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?" looks backwards and forwards simultaneously...
3. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 174.
4. Ronnie D. Lankford Jr. "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way - Waylon Jennings | Song Info". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
5. https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/the-200-greatest-country-songs-of-all-time-60414/waylon-jennings-are-you-sure-hank-done-it-this-way-60582/
6. "Waylon Jennings Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
7. "Waylon Jennings Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
8. "Alabama Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
9. Kanoniuk, Lachlan (21 October 2016). "Cakes, Brexit, and country music: We chat with Morrissey". FasterLouder. Archived from the original on October 23, 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2016.

• 1975 singles
• 2010 singles
• 1975 songs
• Waylon Jennings songs
• Hank Williams Jr. songs
• Clint Black songs
• Pat Green songs
• Jack Ingram songs
• Alabama (American band) songs
• The Mavericks songs
• Songs written by Waylon Jennings
• RCA Records singles
• Songs about Hank Williams