I believe the song I Saw the Light is a song about a sinner who gave up his former ways. I saw the light explains that his eyes are open and he knew that his past was wrong or immoral. They might even be a deeper meaning but who knows no these days
I don't know if the writer of that song ever really changed his ways. Hank Williams was maybe the only musician to get fired by the Grand Ole Opry for bein' too drunk (which is saying something, in that crowd), and he just kept spiraling down in every way except his talent. He was also a morphine addict.
He died at age 30, drinking whiskey in his car after getting shot-up with morphine by a doctor.
This is not to say he was a bad guy (and he had a painful birth defect which partially explained his addictions). He was probably an authentic genius in his own way, as a songwriter and performer -- his list of classic tunes is impressive -- but his story was never really one of reformation or redemption. Maybe he yearned for that, as evidenced in "I Saw the Light".
He's pretty much the unofficial "Columbo" country musician, since he also wrote the recently-discussed "I'm So Lonesome I Could Die".
I knew it was a worship song about finding Jesus and being saved just never thought it would be a worship song thast would be song by about 100 people so was surprised. Fantastic tho and the words are really good.
I don't know if any of you have seen the movie of Hank Williams' life. At the end of the film, after Williams is killed in a car crash on his way to a performance, Red Buttons comes on stage to tell the crowd that Williams was killed on his way to the show. A man in the audience stands up and begins to sing I Saw The Light and one by one, the rest of the audience stands and joins in. It brings a tear to my eye every time I see it.
I've always thought the use of "I Saw the Light" was a clever use of this Gospel song as Johnny Cash indicates at the end that he probably would have confessed to his misdeeds, but his hypocritical blackmailing wife/partner doesn't seem to realize that the heart of her religion is the fact that people can change--thus her "hold" on him causes her death. Not sure ole Hank was a-thinking about St. Paul's conversion on the way to Damascus when he composed the song, but he may have been.