"Just Waitin" is a song written by

Hank Williams Hank Williams (born Hiram Williams; September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he reco ...

and released as the A-side of "Men with Broken Hearts" in 1951 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 ...

. It was released under the pseudonym " Luke the Drifter."

Background

Many of the singles Williams wanted to release were somber recitations that contained dark subject matter unsuitable for the

honky tonks A honky-tonk (also called honkatonk, honkey-tonk, or tonk) is both a bar that provides country music for the entertainment of its patrons and the style of music played in such establishments. It can also refer to the type of piano (tack piano) ...

that stocked his releases on their jukeboxes. The Luke the Drifter

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let the juke operators know which singles were what amounted to moralistic sermons. However, not all the Luke the Drifter songs were necessarily maudlin, such as "Just Waitin'," a talking blues that Hank adapted from an idea from a musician named Bob Gazzawy from

Happy, Texas Happy is a town in Randall and Swisher Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 678 at the 2010 census. The Randall County portion of Happy is part of the Amarillo, Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area. Toponymy Happy derives i ...

. The whimsical song ponders the futility of human expectations and contains humorous, cynical wordplay like, "The congregation's waitin' for the preacher, preacher just waitin' for the groom, the groom's just waitin' for the June bride, and bride's just waitin' for June." Williams biographer Colin Escott takes a dim view of the song, stating that it "promised more than it delivered...It was a good premise, but a bad song." Williams recorded it on December 21, 1950 in at Castle Studio in

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- the same session that produced " Cold, Cold Heart" - with Fred Rose producing. He was backed by

Jerry Rivers Jerry Rivers (August 25, 1928 – October 4, 1996) was an American fiddle player. Biography Jerry Rivers was born in Miami, Florida. He played fiddle with the Drifting Cowboys, a band who will be forever associated with their "frontman", the leg ...

(fiddle), Don Helms (steel guitar), Sammy Pruett (electric guitar), Chet Atkins (rhythm guitar), Ernie Newton or Howard Watts (bass). MGM released "Just Waitin'" again with Williams' unreleased version of " Roly Poly" as the B-side in 1958.

References

{{Reflist 1951 singles Hank Williams songs