Winnipegger September 18th, 2009 09:24AM  
Simply a song about a late-night pilgrimage to Hank Williams' grave site, as shown in the video to this song. Whether it's about an actual incident in Jackson's life or not we do not know, but it could well have happened.

I doubt that Jackson actually saw Williams' ghost; the idea is that Williams still "haunts" Montgomery because of the heavy influence and presence he had there both during his life and after his death.

There are many nods to Williams throughout the lyrics:

~"on my way...for a big New Years' Eve show" - Williams died on New Year's Eve, 1952-53

~"drunken man in a cowboy suit" and "Wearing shiny boots, a Nudie suit and haunting haunted eyes" - an apt description of Hank Williams the man

~"hear that whippoorwill/See the stars light up the purple sky/Feel that lonesome chill" - an homage to "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry", one of William's biggest hits, which has among it's lyrics "Hear that lonesome whipporwill/he sounds too blue to fly...", "The silence of a fallen star/lights up a purple sky..."

~Another homage to "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" is found in the verse following: "Off somewhere a midnight train is slowly passing by/I could hear that whistle moaning/I'm so lonesome I could cry"