Lost Highway is a country song written by the blind songwriter Leon Payne in 1948. Payne released his version in October 1948 on the Bullet label, and the tune is often described as hillbilly or early country. Payne reportedly wrote the song on the roadside in California while hitchhiking to visit his sick mother, a moment that gave the song its bleak, wanderer’s tale. Hank Williams with His Drifting Cowboys recorded a famous version produced by Fred Rose, released September 9, 1949 as the A-side to You’re Gonna Change (Or I’m Gonna Leave), and it later appeared on Williams’ 1949 album Lost Highway. The song has been widely covered by many artists and is regarded as a defining moment in country music history.
