On This Day in 1941, Ernest Tubb Changed Country Music History with a Song He Wrote While His Wife Was Away

On this day (May 28) in 1941, Ernest Tubb released “Walking the Floor Over You” as a single. It was a hit for Tubb and would go on to be a country music standard. More than that, it is one of the most important songs in the history of country music and cemented Tubb as a massively influential figure in the genre.

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Six years before Hank Williams released his debut single, “Never Again (Will I Knock on Your Door),” Tubb released “Walking the Floor Over You.” More than a country hit, the song launched the honky tonk genre. It created the blueprint that countless artists would follow in the decades to come. In hindsight, that blueprint seems simple: an electric guitar playing lead over an acoustic guitar playing rhythm. At the time, though, it was groundbreaking.

“Walking the Floor Over You” was a hit for Tubb. However, Billboard hadn’t yet instituted a country chart. As a result, the song appeared on the pop-leaning Hot 100, peaking at No. 23. It would have likely charted much higher on a country-specific survey. Tubb would re-record the song several times throughout his career. More than 30 years after he initially released the song, he recorded it as a duet with Merle Haggard. Their collaboration peaked at No. 31 on the Billboard country chart in 1979.

Tubb was far from the only artist to record the song after its initial release. It has been recorded by countless artists, including Mississippi John Hurt, Pat Boone, Bing Crosby, Merle Haggard, Charley Crockett, Asleep at the Wheel, Alan Jackson, and many others.

Ernest Tubb Wrote “Walking the Floor Over You” While His Wife Was Away

In “Walking the Floor Over You,” Ernest Tubb sings from the perspective of a man who is impatiently waiting for his lover to come home. Many have interpreted it as a heartbreak song detailing a breakup. However, that’s not the case. You left me and you went away / You said you’d be back in just a day, he sings in the opening verse.

According to an essay on the song in the Library of Congress, Mrs. Tubb was just away seeing family, and he missed her. She was a native of San Antonio, Texas, and her family still lived there. At the time, the Tubb family lived in Fort Worth. After losing a son in a fatal car accident, the Texas Troubadour was worried for his wife and kids when they didn’t return as soon as she said they would. His concern inspired him to write “Walking the Floor Over You,” which he finished in a matter of minutes.

“I thought there was something about ‘Walking the Floor,’ it had a little bouncy thing,” Tubb said. “I thought it was catchy and I thought it would sell.”

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