Ray Price – A Way to Survive

About The Song

“A Way to Survive” surfaced as a tender country ballad in Ray Price’s rendition, released as a single on March 14, 1966, via Columbia Records. It appeared as the B-side to “I’m Not Crazy Yet,” which itself peaked at No. 28 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. The track later anchored his album Touch My Heart, issued in January 1967, a collection of 11 songs produced by Don Law and Frank Jones that blended Price’s evolving countrypolitan polish with heartfelt introspection. The album charted modestly, reflecting the era’s shifting tastes, but it highlighted Price’s ability to convey quiet resilience amid sorrow. Recorded on February 16, 1966, in Nashville, the song runs about 3:00, featuring Price’s signature baritone over a gentle shuffle rhythm, steel guitar weeps, and subtle strings that added emotional layers without overwhelming the melody.
Penned by Hank Cochran and Moneen Carpenter, the song originated as a 1964 release by The Capricorns, a lesser-known act that first brought it to light on a small label. Cochran, a Nashville songwriting powerhouse behind classics like “I Fall to Pieces” for Patsy Cline, collaborated with Carpenter—a frequent co-writer known for infusing personal touches into heartbreak tales. In interviews, Cochran often described his process as drawing from real-life lows, turning fleeting conversations in smoky bars into enduring narratives. For this piece, he aimed to explore survival through memory, flipping the typical advice to “move on” into a defiant embrace of the past. Price, who had a knack for selecting songs that mirrored relational complexities, elevated it with his delivery, making it a staple in his live sets where audiences connected to its raw honesty.
Chart performance saw it climb to No. 7 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs, charting for several weeks and adding to Price’s string of mid-1960s successes amid his stylistic shift. Though not a crossover hit, it resonated with fans navigating personal heartaches during a turbulent decade.
Gene Watson included a faithful take on his 1997 album A Way to Survive, while Teea Goans revived it in 2010, noting in liner notes how Cochran’s words captured her own post-breakup struggles. A poignant aside from Cochran’s circle: he once shared at a Nashville writers’ night that the song stemmed from watching a friend obsess over an ex’s photo album after a divorce, turning that vulnerability into lyrics that helped the man finally heal—ironically, by embracing the pain first.

Video

Lyric

I look at your picture too often
It helps keep your memory alive
It’s not healthy they say to relive yesterday
But for me it’s the way to survive

I must cling to what’s gone if I’ve to go on
I can’t face the future I’ve tried
Perhaps for the rest looking back isn’t best
But for me it’s the way to survive

When my heart aches I read all your letters
And the words make our love seem alive
They say I can’t last if I live in the past
But for me it’s the way to survive

I must cling to what’s gone if I’ve to go on
I can’t face the future I’ve tried
Perhaps for the rest looking back isn’t best
But for me it’s the way to survive