“I Won’t Be Hanging Around” is a country heartbreak song recorded by Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys in 1957. It is credited to a group of professional songwriters, among them Wayne Walker, a Nashville writer known for country material of the era.
The lyric is a declaration of departure — a jilted lover announcing that, from now on, he will no longer wait around for affection that is not returned. That mix of wounded pride and resolve was a familiar register for Flatt and Scruggs, who paired such songs with their bright, banjo-driven sound.
The song returned to attention through the Earls of Leicester, the acclaimed band assembled by dobro master Jerry Douglas to revive and honor the Flatt and Scruggs repertoire.