His career cannot be measured only by the songs that carried his own name.
He helped create music that other performers would take into new eras.
Songs continued to find new audiences.
And younger generations encountered his songwriting without necessarily knowing the complicated man behind it.
## “The Ride” and the Legend of Hank Williams
Another of Coe’s best-known recordings was “The Ride.”
Released in the 1980s, the song imagined a mysterious encounter with the spirit of Hank Williams.
It was haunting, atmospheric, and unlike the typical country single.
The song became another example of Coe’s ability to build a story around a larger-than-life figure.
Hank Williams represented one of the foundational legends of country music.
Coe approached that legend through a strange, almost supernatural narrative.
The result became one of the songs most closely associated with his career.
For longtime fans, “The Ride” demonstrated why Coe could never be reduced simply to the label “outlaw.”
