Shaver was raised by his mother, Victory Watson Shaver, his father Virgil having left the family before Shaver was born. Until he was 12, he spent a great deal of time with his grandmother in Corsicana so that his mother could work in Waco. He sometimes accompanied his mother to her job at a local nightclub, where he began to be exposed to country music.
Shaver's mother remarried about the time that his grandmother died, so he and his older sister Patricia moved in with their mother and new stepfather. Shaver left school after the eighth grade to help his uncles pick cotton, but occasionally returned to school to play sports.
Shaver joined the U.S. Navy on his seventeenth birthday. Upon his discharge, he worked a series of dead-end jobs, including trying to be a rodeo cowboy. About this time, he met and married Brenda Joyce Tindell. They had one son, John Edwin, known as Eddy, who was born in 1962. The two divorced and remarried several times.
Shaver took a job at a lumber mill to make ends meet. One day his right hand (his dominant hand) became caught in the machinery, and he lost the better part of two fingers and contracted a serious infection. He eventually recovered, and taught himself to play the guitar without those missing fingers.
Shaver lost two fingers in a sawmill accident when he was young.
Shaver set out to hitchhike to Los Angeles, California. He could not get a ride west, so he went to the other side of the highway and headed east, accompanying a man who dropped him off just outside Memphis, Tennessee. The next ride brought him to Nashville, where he found a job as a songwriter for $50 per week.[2] His work came to the attention of Waylon Jennings, who filled most of his album Honky Tonk Heroes with Shaver's songs. Other artists, including Elvis Presley and Kris Kristofferson, began to record Shaver's music. This led to his own record deal.
The first few recording companies he signed with soon folded. He was never able to gain widespread recognition as a singer, although he never stopped recording his own music. On his records, he has been accompanied by other major rock and country music musicians like Willie Nelson, Nanci Griffith, Chuck Leavell and Dickey Betts (of the Allman Brothers), Charlie Daniels, Flaco Jiménez, and Al Kooper.
After losing his wife, Brenda, and his mother to cancer in 1999, Shaver lost his son and longtime guitarist Eddy, who died at age 38 of a heroin overdose on December 31, 2000. Folk country artist Todd Snider wrote and dedicated his song Waco Moon to Eddy. Shaver nearly died himself the following year when he had a heart attack on stage during an Independence Day show at Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, Texas. After successful heart surgery, Shaver came back to release Freedom's Child in 2002.
In 1999, Shaver performed at the Grand Ole Opry. In November 2005, he performed on the CMT Outlaws 2005. In 2006, Shaver was inducted in the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame. He later served as spiritual advisor to Texas independent gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman. For his efforts, the Americana Music Convention awarded him their Lifetime Achievement Award in Songwriting. He currently lives in Waco, Texas.
Bob Dylan mentioned Shaver in his song "I Feel a Change Comin' On" (Bob Dylan and Robert Hunter) on the album, Together Through Life (2009) - "I'm listening to Billy Joe Shaver, And I'm reading James Joyce". Shaver is also the "hero" of the song, "Wish I Could Write Like Billy Joe" on the album "Stormy Love" by Bugs Henderson.
Shaver sang the themes to the Adult Swim Television show, Squidbillies. The opening themes, collectively called "Warrior Man", are only a stanza long and end with a sotto voce spoken word portion.
Shaver's debut album, Old Five and Dimers Like Me (1973), contained many songs noted for being performed by other artists such as David Allan Coe and Waylon Jennings. When I Get My Wings (1976) included "Aint No God In Mexico" (also a hit for Waylon Jennings). Gypsy Boy (1977) included "Honky Tonk Heroes" and "You Asked Me To".
Shaver is also remembered for his hit "Live Forever", co-written by his son Eddy, Robert Duvall performs it in the movie Crazy Heart and it is included in the soundtrack. The song was also performed by The Highwaymen and Joe Ely. Shaver also wrote numerous songs for artists such as Patty Loveless and Willie Nelson.
Shaver continued to release records throughout the 1980s and 1990s; the most notable was the critically acclaimed Tramp On Your Street, released in 1993, which prominently featured the guitar playing of Eddy Shaver.
Shaver's 2007 album country gospel style Everybody's Brother was Grammy-nominated. Many of the songs are duets with artists such as Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson and Tanya Tucker. Musicians playing on the album included Randy Scruggs, Laura Cash and Marty Stuart.
On May 22, 2014, Rolling Stone premiered the single-duet with Willie Nelson "Hard To Be An Outlaw". The album, Long In The Tooth was released on August 5, 2014 by Lightning Rod Records. After a 41-year career, Long in the Tooth became Billy Joe Shaver's first album to chart in Billboard's Top Country Albums, entering the chart at 19. The album also entered the Billboard 200, peaking at 157.
Comedian Norm Macdonald, an avid Shaver fan, occasionally praised his songwriting on his podcast Norm Macdonald Live. In 2018, Shaver appeared as a guest on Macdonald's Netflix program Norm Macdonald Has a Show.
Drinkin' Back
Billy Joe Shaver Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Yeah, it′s me, I'm drunk again
Like I′ve been ever since she went away
Now I'm just drinkin' back the part
Oh, that used to be my heart
′Cause after all, I just drank it away
I′m drinkin' back the memory
So, Mr. Bartender, please let me stay
I′ve already drank back about a year ago this Monday
She'll be mine Tuesday
If I can drink back yesterday
A little girl I drank away got hung up in yesterday
I didn′t know time could move by this fast
Now, yesterday seems far away
Life just moved up another day
So I'm just thinkin′ Lord and drinkin' back the past
Yeah, I'm drinkin′ back the memory
Of a sweet little woman
So, Mr. Bartender, please let me stay
I′ve already drank back about a year ago this Monday
She'll be mine Tuesday
If I can drink back yesterday
She′ll be mine Tuesday
If I can drink back yesterday
The song "Drinkin' Back" by Billy Joe Shaver is a poignant ode to heartbreak and coping with the pain of lost love. Through the lyrics, the singer reveals that he has been drunk since his lover left him and he's focusing on drinking back the memories of better times when she was with him. The lines "Now I'm just drinkin' back the part/Oh, that used to be my heart/Cause after all, I just drank it away" express how alcohol has become a source of solace for him, even though it's ultimately causing more harm than good.
The verse "I′ve already drank back about a year ago this Monday/She'll be mine Tuesday/If I can drink back yesterday" also reflects on the sense of desperation the singer feels, as he's trying to numb the pain of losing his lover by drinking away the past. He believes that if he can somehow undo his mistakes and relive the good times, he might be able to win her back. However, the sad reality is that he's just spiraling deeper into his addiction and that's not going to help his cause.
The chorus "Yeah, I'm drinkin’ back the memory/Of a sweet little woman/So, Mr. Bartender, please let me stay" portrays the sad portrayal of a broken person trying to forget the world, but not being able to. The singer wants to stay at the bar because he doesn't want to face his reality or the fact that his lover is gone. Ultimately, the lyrics of the song depict how people drown themselves in alcohol and try to change their past, but the past is written, and all we can do is reflect and hope to move forward while accepting our mistakes.
Line by Line Meaning
Hello barroom, my old friend
Addressing the barroom, where the singer comes often to drink and drown his sorrows.
Yeah, it's me, I'm drunk again
Acknowledging his constant state of alcohol inebriation due to his broken heart.
Like I've been ever since she went away
Revealing that the reason behind his drinking binges is his lover leaving him.
Now I'm just drinkin' back the part
Drinking alcohol to try to forget the painful part of his heart that was taken away with his lover's departure.
Oh, that used to be my heart
Referring to his ex-lover as the person that used to have his heart.
'Cause after all, I just drank it away
Admitting that his constant drinking made him lose his lover and ultimately drove him insane.
I'm drinkin' back the memory
Using drinking to revisit fond memories of his ex-lover.
Of a sweet little woman
Describing his lover as someone he fondly remembers.
So, Mr. Bartender, please let me stay
Appealing to the bartender to let him stay and continue drinking in the bar.
I've already drank back about a year ago this Monday
Revealing he has been drinking for a year and is trying to relive the time he spent with his lover.
She'll be mine Tuesday
Looking forward to the day he can finally have his lover with him once again.
If I can drink back yesterday
Hoping that he can drink enough to forget the past and move on towards a future with his lover.
A little girl I drank away got hung up in yesterday
Acknowledging that his drinking habit is responsible for him losing his lover, and how he is still stuck in the past.
I didn't know time could move by this fast
Realizing how time seemingly flies by when one is in a constant state of loneliness and regret.
Now, yesterday seems far away
Noting how far away yesterday seems due to the passage of time and his constant drinking.
Life just moved up another day
Noticing how time passes by quickly, and how life carries on despite his sorrow.
So I'm just thinkin' Lord and drinkin' back the past
Reflecting on his life and using alcohol to try and forget the past.
Writer(s): Billy Joe Shaver
Contributed by Ella F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.