"Your Cheatin' Heart" was recorded at Hank Williams' final studio session on September 23, 1952, six days after his 29th (and last) birthday. He never lived to see it debut on Billboard's country chart in February of 1953. In 1977, a national organization of CB truck drivers voted "Your Cheatin' Heart" their favorite record of all time. It has been recorded by over 75 different folks. Folks all the way from Fats Domino to Frankie Avalon.
It's also the name of a film about Hank Williams directed by Gene Nelson in 1964. The film became a staple on the drive-ins around the South. It cost $1 million to make and grossed over $10 million. It premiered November 4, 1964, at the Paramount Theater in Hank's hometown of Montgomery, AL with Gov. George Wallace proclaiming it Hank Williams Week in Alabama and Roy Acuff, Johnny Cash, and Tex Ritter putting on a two-hour concert for the premiere.
Many a man has driven many a drunken mile crying tears that he would never allow any one else to see while this song blared out of the little tinny radio on his 1954 Chevy BelAire.
Your cheatin' heart will make you weep.
You'll cry and cry and try to sleep.
But sleep won't come the whole night through.
Your cheatin' heart will tell on you.
When tears come down, like falling rain,
You'll toss around and call my name.
You're gonna walk that floor, the way I do.
Your cheatin' heart will tell on you.