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Waylon Jennings Pushed Back Against the Status Quo in 1975 Hit Track “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way”
Clad in black and bearded, outlaw country music artist and now a legendary icon in the genre, Waylon Jennings asked, “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way.”
Written by Jennings and released in August 1975 as the first single from his album Dreaming My Dreams under RCA Nashville, this track was the singer’s fourth number-one country hit as a solo artist. It topped for a week and spent a total of 16 weeks on the country chart. It also grabbed a spot on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at 50.
Like many of Waylon Jennings’ songs, its success transcended its generation, becoming a widely covered song in the genre. Among its well-known renditions are Alabama’s, which they released in 2010 as a tribute to Waylon Jennings titled The Music Inside: A Collaboration Dedicated to Waylon Jennings, Volume One, Clint Black in 1999, who also used Jennings’ name in place of Williams, and Hank Williams Jr. in 1981.
In pop culture, it has appeared in the 1990 movie The Highwaymen Live, the 2009 film Crazy Heart, and Grand Theft Auto V’s country music-themed station, Revel Radio.
Meaning Behind the Song
“Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way” was, as Rolling Stone described it, “the closest thing outlaw country has to an official statement.” It was a pushback to the Nashville status quo, criticizing the era of “rhinestone suits and shiny cars,” a cry for freedom and change, and an homage to the legacy and influence left behind by the icon Hank Williams Sr.
In each verse, Jennings describes the state of country music during his time and then ends it with elevating levels of doubt. At first, it was just questioning, “But I don’t think Hank done it this way.” And then, in the second verse, he was pressing, and the once sliver of doubt was now growing, singing, “Are you sure Hank done it this way? Did ol’ Hank really do it this way?” In the final verse, it felt more like a statement than a question. He went, “I don’t think Hank done it this way.”
Jennings was undeniably a big Hank fan. He noted in his autobiography, “If I had an Outlaw hero, someone to set my standard and measure my progress, it was Hank Williams…he had touched me way back in Littlefield, through the strength of his songs and the soul of his voice.” Unfortunately, the two never made acquaintances. But Jennings did become friends with Hank Williams Jr., who gifted him a pair of Hank William boots that he often wore.
Listen to “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way, “Waylon Jennings’ call for change and tribute to Hank Williams, in the video below.