In the winter of 1952, Hank Williams stopped by a small café in Montgomery, Alabama, to rest during a tour. Sitting by a window-side wooden table, he pulled out his worn leather notebook and jotted down a few lines of lyrics.
A sudden downpour forced Hank to leave quickly to catch his bus. In the rush, he left the notebook behind. A waitress found it but had no idea who it belonged to — only that its pages held lyrics to songs never before released.
Years later, the notebook ended up in the hands of a country music collector. Some pages were yellowed and faded, but one nearly complete song stood out, titled “Heaven Ain’t That Far.” While many believe it’s Hank’s work, there has never been official confirmation.
His son, Hank Williams Jr., once saw it and said:
“If it’s really my father’s, then it’s been waiting 70 years to be sung.”
Today, the notebook remains locked away in a private collection in Alabama. Whether those words were truly Hank’s may never be known. But for fans, that mystery is part of the beauty of his legacy.