Walkin' After Midnight

"Walkin' After Midnight" is a song written by Alan Block and Don Hecht. In 1957, Patsy Cline released it as a single. That year Cline auditioned for The Arthur Godfrey Show, and was later accepted. However, Cline was supposed to sing her song "A Poor Man's Roses", but the show insisted she sing "Walkin' after Midnight" instead.

[edit] Background

The song was originally written for pop/jazz vocalist Kay Starr. However, Starr's recording company, Capitol did not want Starr to record the song, so instead the song was left unused until 1957. Don Hecht thought Cline's voice was best suited for the song but she didn't want to record it, claiming the song sounded too pop-oriented. However, despite Cline disliking the song, she recorded it anyway and performed it on The Arthur Godfrey Show in 1957.

[edit] Single release

That night, Cline won the competition and this led to the song becoming a big hit for Cline that year and "Walkin' after Midnight" went to number two on the Country charts and number twelve on the Pop charts. The song was released on the Decca label (Cline later signed on with Decca in 1960) that year and her first album Patsy Cline was released. Cline was never able to follow up "Walkin' after Midnight" due to problems with her record company at the time, Four Star. However, in the early 1960s, Cline became a huge country/pop crossover star with big hits like " I Fall to Pieces", "Crazy", and "She's Got You", proving she could become successful again.

Other notable artists who have recorded this song include Otis Williams and His Charms, Cowboy Junkies, Taylor Horn, Fairground Attraction, Loretta Lynn, The Oak Ridge Boys, Garth Brooks, Rubber Rodeo, and Madeleine Peyroux. Other artists, such as Bryan Adams and Dwight Yoakam, have been known to include it in their live sets. The song was performed by American Idol season five contestant Kellie Pickler on the fifth season's highlights album.

[edit] In popular culture

"Walkin' after Midnight" has been featured three times on the 2000s ABC-TV series Lost, specifically in the episodes "What Kate Did", "Two for the Road" and "Left Behind". This has led some fans to speculate the song may have some importance in the show's mysterious mythology.^{[citation needed]}

In the King of the Hill episode "Dances with Dogs" Hank Hill dances with his pet bloodhound to this song.

In the 2006 children's film Open Season, one of the lead characters sings the first verse of "Walkin' after Midnight".