About The Song
Learn To Let It Go is a country ballad written by Rory Bourke and Mike Reid. The song offers gentle advice on releasing past heartbreak to make room for new love, framed as a conversation between a grieving young man and a wise older stranger. Don Williams, known for his warm baritone and understated delivery, chose the track to open his seventeenth studio album, fitting seamlessly into his catalog of reflective material during his time with RCA Records.
One Good Well was released on April 28, 1989, through RCA Records and spans 35 minutes and 36 seconds across eleven tracks. Produced by Williams himself alongside Garth Fundis, the project continued the clean acoustic approach that had defined much of his output in the late 1980s. Learn To Let It Go serves as the opening track, setting a thoughtful tone for the album that also includes the singles One Good Well, I’ve Been Loved by the Best, Just as Long as I Have You, and Maybe That’s All It Takes.
By 1989 Don Williams had already amassed more than a dozen number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart and earned the nickname the Gentle Giant. Born in 1939 in Floydada, Texas, he maintained a steady presence in country music by selecting songs that emphasized quiet resilience rather than trends. The album One Good Well reached number 54 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, reflecting his consistent but more modest commercial standing at that stage of his career.
Learn To Let It Go remained an album cut rather than a single and did not appear on any Billboard singles chart. It opened the record without fanfare yet provided a strong foundation for the collection of ballads that followed. The choice aligned with Williams’ preference for material that explored everyday emotions and personal growth over high-energy production.
The lyrics unfold by the river where a young man sits with his head in his hands, tears carrying the weight of a lost love he cannot fully understand. An old man approaches along the dirt road, offering soft-spoken wisdom drawn from his own life. He shares how he once lost a great beauty to another but later found the mother of his child, turning pain into unexpected blessing. The chorus repeats the simple instruction to learn to let it go when love lets you down, so as not to miss the better one waiting ahead.
Williams’ straightforward vocal delivery lets the story breathe, supported by the album’s gentle session work that highlights acoustic guitar and understated instrumentation. The track sits comfortably among the other thoughtful cuts, reinforcing the record’s theme of acceptance and moving forward. Its placement as the first song invites listeners into the reflective mood that carries throughout the project.
Bourke and Reid’s composition added another layer to Williams’ reputation for choosing songs with quiet emotional depth. He continued recording and performing into the 1990s and beyond before health issues slowed his schedule. Williams passed away in 2017 at age 78. Learn To Let It Go remains a subtle highlight from One Good Well, illustrating how he turned straightforward wisdom about heartbreak into a lasting country reflection.
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Lyric
There’s a young man, sits by the river
Got his head held down in his hands
There’s a lost love in every teardrop
And reasons that he just don’t understand
There’s a dirt road that runs by the river
Comes an old man, stepping high
With a soft voice and kind intentions
He said, son you know you’re too young to cry
Some things were meant to just roll by
You’ve got to learn to let it go
When love lets you down
Learn to let it go
So you don’t miss the one waitin’ to be found
With a love that’s gonna bring you around
Only love is gonna bring you around
He said, now I know it’s hard to imagine
That one day you wont feel so bad
I know you’re gonna take comfort
And this experience that I had
There was a young girl, a raving beauty
I loved her with a love deep and wide
But when I lost her to another
That’s when I found the momma of my child
God bless the momma of my child
You’ve got to learn to let it go
When love lets you down
Learn to let it go
So you don’t miss the one waiting to be found
With a love that’s gonna bring you around
Only love is gonna bring you around
You’ve got to learn to let it go
When love lets you down
Learn to let it go
So you don’t miss the one waiting to be found
With a love that’s gonna bring you around
Only love is gonna bring you around
You’ve got to learn to let it go
You’ve got to learn to let it go
You’ve got to learn to let it go
You’ve got to learn to let it go
You’ve got to learn to let it go
You’ve got to learn to let it go
You’ve got to learn to let it go
You’ve got to learn to let it go