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Nothing cheers me up like doing a song, so, I did one. This is one of the most beloved songs in Country music. It's all because of Willie Nelson, and, he didn't even write it. But, he did for this song what Ray Charles did for Georgia On My Mind and what Etta James did for Fool That I Am; meaning that: he defined it; he perfected it; he took it to the stratosphere. The song is:
Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain.

Both the words and music to Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain were written by Fred Rose in 1947, and it was Roy Acuff who first recorded it. However, even though it is one of the saddest songs ever written (considering the words) Roy Acuff performed it to an upbeat tempo and with a rather happy voice. It was a complete disconnect; a contradiction; and it didn't affect people emotionally. But, in 1975, Willie Nelson did something about it; he fixed it. He slowed it way down; he stretched the chords; he broke some of the notes, and the result was that it made the song very solemn and reflective and melancholy. And people loved it. His performance of it is mesmerizing. It's hypnotic. It takes over your whole being and drives everything else out of your mind. It affects me that way.

But now, just for fun, I have recorded my own version of it. I found some sheet music which was written for guitar. And, in playing it, I did add some guitar sound to the piano because nothing tugs at the heart strings like the guitar strings. But, I didn't make it all guitar because I'm a piano player. And I ended up rewriting at least half of it, and that's become the norm for me, lately.

So, here is my version of Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain. You won't hear this anywhere else because it only exists in my head. I didn't even put it down on paper. Posted by Ralph Cinque at 12:28 AM