All My Rowdy Friends (Have Settled Down)

"All My Rowdy Friends (Have Settled Down)" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Hank Williams Jr.. It was released in September 1981 as the first single from the album The Pressure Is On. The song was Williams Jr.'s fifth number one on the country chart. The single stayed at number one for one week and spent a total of ten weeks on the country chart.[1]

"All My Rowdy Friends (Have Settled Down)"
Single by Hank Williams Jr.
from the album The Pressure Is On
B-side"Everytime I Hear That Song"
ReleasedSeptember 5, 1981
GenreCountry
Length3:57
LabelElektra/Curb
Songwriter(s)Hank Williams Jr.
Producer(s)Jimmy Bowen
Hank Williams Jr. singles chronology
"Dixie on My Mind"
(1981)		 "All My Rowdy Friends (Have Settled Down)"
(1981)		 "A Country Boy Can Survive"
(1982)

The phrase "all my rowdy friends" would later become a catch phrase of sorts for Williams, who would use the line in 1984 for "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight," in 1987 for "Born to Boogie" and "All My Rowdy Friends Are Here on Monday Night," and in 2011 for "Keep the Change."

Content

The song itself is told from the point of view of a disillusioned singer who, along with his friends, had lived a wild lifestyle but have since settled down and, in abandoning their high-living ways, want no part of their old lifestyle. Although admitting he himself has mellowed with age and can no longer take the physical toll of his past hard partying, the singer is depressed and wishes there were someone left to relive the old times. References are made to Williams' contemporaries in the outlaw movement, such as George Jones (whom Williams is glad is recovering from his addictions), Waylon Jennings (spending more time with Jessi Colter), Johnny Cash (not living like he did in 1968) and Kris Kristofferson (who moved to Hollywood to become an actor). Williams compares the situation to the song "Lost Highway" recorded by his father Hank Sr.

Charts
Chart (1981) Peak
position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[2] 1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks 1

References
  1. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 389.
  2. "Hank Williams, Jr. Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.


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