About The Song
“Have I Told You Lately That I Love You” in Hank Williams’s catalog should be handled carefully, because the title is widely known across multiple eras and is often confused with later songs of similar name. In this case, the country-pop standard associated with Hank Williams is the older song written by Scotty Wiseman, not the later Van Morrison composition. Wiseman’s song dates to the 1940s and quickly entered the shared repertoire of country, western swing, and early pop crossover recording culture. Hank’s version belongs to that first wave, when songs moved rapidly between artists, labels, and radio markets.
Hank Williams recorded the song during his MGM period, when his release strategy was still largely single-centered rather than album-centered in the modern sense. That distinction matters for factual blog writing: many titles from Hank’s era were introduced through 78-rpm singles, regional airplay, and touring performance, then later collected on compilation LPs after the initial commercial cycle. So if readers ask “which original album,” the precise answer is often that there was no single definitive first LP launch for the track in the way contemporary listeners expect. Its early life was broadcast and singles circulation first, catalog packaging later.
The song’s construction explains why it traveled so well. Its message is plain and direct, built around repeated reassurance in everyday language rather than elaborate metaphor. That made it easy to record in different styles without breaking the lyric identity: close-harmony country versions, smoother pop interpretations, and later revival recordings could all preserve the core text. Hank’s performance approach—clear diction, controlled vibrato, and minimal ornament—fit this design perfectly. He did not need to transform the song’s meaning; he needed to deliver it with credibility, and that is exactly what made his version durable in country memory.
One useful side story is how this title became a “repertoire connector” between Nashville country and mainstream vocal pop in the postwar period. The same song could be cut by honky-tonk-adjacent artists and by cleaner pop acts aimed at broader radio formats. That crossover behavior was common in the late 1940s and early 1950s, before genre walls hardened into later marketing categories. When discussing Hank’s recording, you can place it inside that fluid marketplace: strong song, multiple recordings, and audience overlap across formats. This gives the article historical depth without forcing dramatic claims.
On Billboard context, it is best to avoid unverified precision for a specific Hank chart peak unless you are checking the exact archival entry for his version and release date. Hank Williams’s chart legacy is firmly anchored by other major hits, while this song is more often remembered as part of a broader standard repertoire that succeeded through many artists over time. For accurate editorial practice, frame it as a notable Hank-era recording of an already mobile song rather than a singular chart-defining moment. That phrasing is both responsible and historically aligned with how the track actually circulated.
For attribution clarity in your blog, separate three layers: Scotty Wiseman as songwriter source, Hank Williams as a key country interpreter, and later generations as amplifiers that kept the song active in catalogs and nostalgia programming. That structure prevents the common mistake of collapsing authorship and popularity into one name. It also helps readers understand why titles like this can feel “owned” by several artists at once. In music-history terms, this is not a contradiction—it is a normal outcome of mid-century American song distribution, where composition, recording, and long-term memory followed different paths.
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Lyric
Have I told you lately that I love you?
Have I told you there?s no one else above you?
Fill my heart with gladness
Take away all my sadness
Ease my troubles, that?s what you do
For the morning sun and all its glory
Greets the day with hope and comfort too
You fill my life with laughter
Somehow make it better
Ease my troubles that?s what you do
There?s a love divine
And it?s yours and it?s mine
Like the sun
And at the end of the day
We should give thanks and pray
To the one, oh, to the one
Have I told you lately that I love you?
Have I told you there?s no one else above you?
You fill my heart with gladness
Take away all my sadness
Ease my troubles, that?s what you do
There?s a love divine
And it?s yours and it?s mine
Like the sun
And at the end of the day
We should give thanks and pray
To the one, oh, to the one
Have I told you lately that I love you?
Have I told you there?s no one else above you?
You fill my heart with gladness
Take away all my sadness
Ease my troubles, that?s what you do
Take away all my sadness
Ease my troubles, that?s what you do
Oh, take away all my sadness
Ease my troubles, that?s what you do
Oh, baby, baby, baby
Have I told you lately that I love you?
C’mon baby move with me
Baby, baby, baby
Baby, baby, baby