"Why Should We Try Anymore" is a song written by

Hank Williams Hiram "Hank" Williams (September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. An early pioneer of country music, he is regarded as one of the most significant and influential musicians of the 20th century. W ...

and released as a single on

MGM Records MGM Records was a record label founded by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack recordings (later LP albums) of their musical films. It transitioned into a pop music label that continued into the ...

in 1950.

Background

"Why Should We Try Anymore" was a wintry variation on Williams' previous single " Why Don't You Love Me," and its four verses, based loosely on "I'm Not Coming Home Any More," limned a bleak picture of a marriage gone sour." As was often the case with Hank's singles, the pessimistic ballad did not fare as well on the singles chart as his up-tempo singles, peaking at #9. In fact, the B-side, a cover of Leon Payne's " They'll Never Take Her Love from Me," outperformed the A-side, rising to #5. The A-side was recorded in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

at Castle Studio with Fred Rose producing on January 9, 1950 and featured Jerry Rivers (fiddle), Don Helms (steel guitar), Bob McNett (lead guitar), Jack Shook (rhythm guitar), and Ernie Newton (bass).

Cover versions

* Ferlin Husky cut a version of the song. * Hank Williams, Jr. and Lois Johnson recorded the song as a duet. *

Waylon Jennings Waylon Arnold Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He is considered one of the pioneers of the Outlaw country, outlaw movement in country music. Jennings started playing ...

recorded the tune for his 1992 Williams tribute LP. *The song appears on the 1995

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

box set ''A Classic and Unreleased Collection''.

References

{{Reflist 1950 songs Hank Williams songs Songs written by Hank Williams Song recordings produced by Fred Rose (songwriter) MGM Records singles Breakup songs Songs about divorce