Born during the Great Depression and raised by his grandparents, Nelson wrote his first song at age seven and joined his first band at ten. During high school, he toured locally with the Bohemian Polka as their lead singer and guitar player. After graduating from high school in 1950, he joined the U.S. Air Force but was later discharged due to back problems. After his return, Nelson attended Baylor University for two years but dropped out because he was succeeding in music. During this time, he worked as a disc jockey in Texas radio stations and a singer in honky-tonks. Nelson moved to Vancouver, Washington, where he wrote "Family Bible" and recorded the song "Lumberjack" in 1956. He also worked as a disc jockey at various radio stations in Vancouver and nearby Portland, Oregon. In 1958, he moved to Houston, Texas, after signing a contract with D Records. He sang at the Esquire Ballroom weekly and he worked as a disk jockey. During that time, he wrote songs that would become country standards, including "Funny How Time Slips Away", "Hello Walls", "Pretty Paper", and "Crazy". In 1960 he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and later signed a publishing contract with Pamper Music which allowed him to join Ray Price's band as a bassist. In 1962, he recorded his first album, ...And Then I Wrote. Due to this success, Nelson signed in 1964 with RCA Victor and joined the Grand Ole Opry the following year. After mid-chart hits in the late 1960s and the early 1970s, Nelson retired in 1972 and moved to Austin, Texas. The ongoing music scene of Austin motivated Nelson to return from retirement, performing frequently at the Armadillo World Headquarters.
In 1973, after signing with Atlantic Records, Nelson turned to outlaw country, including albums such as Shotgun Willie and Phases and Stages. In 1975, he switched to Columbia Records, where he recorded the critically acclaimed album Red Headed Stranger. The same year, he recorded another outlaw country album, Wanted! The Outlaws, along with Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter, and Tompall Glaser. During the mid-1980s, while creating hit albums like Honeysuckle Rose and recording hit songs like "On the Road Again", "To All the Girls I've Loved Before", and "Pancho and Lefty", he joined the country supergroup The Highwaymen, along with fellow singers Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson.
In 1990, Nelson's assets were seized by the Internal Revenue Service, which claimed that he owed $32 million. The difficulty of paying his outstanding debt was aggravated by weak investments he had made during the 1980s. In 1992, Nelson released The IRS Tapes: Who'll Buy My Memories?; the profits of the double album—destined to the IRS—and the auction of Nelson's assets cleared his debt. During the 1990s and 2000s, Nelson continued touring extensively, and released albums every year. Reviews ranged from positive to mixed. He explored genres such as reggae, blues, jazz, and folk.
Nelson made his first movie appearance in the 1979 film The Electric Horseman, followed by other appearances in movies and on television. Nelson is a major liberal activist and the co-chair of the advisory board of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), which is in favor of marijuana legalization. On the environmental front, Nelson owns the bio-diesel brand Willie Nelson Biodiesel, which is made from vegetable oil. Nelson is also the honorary chairman of the advisory board of the Texas Music Project, the official music charity of the state of Texas.
Nelson uses a variety of music styles to create his own distinctive blend of country music, a hybrid of jazz, pop, blues, rock and folk. His "unique sound", which uses a "relaxed, behind-the-beat singing style and gut-string guitar" and his "nasal voice and jazzy, off-center phrasing", has been responsible for his wide appeal, and has made him a "vital icon in country music", influencing the "new country, new traditionalist, and alternative country movements of the 1980s and 1990s".
In 1969, the Baldwin company gave Nelson an amplifier and guitar with their "Prismatone" pickup. During a show in Helotes, Texas, Nelson left the guitar on the floor of the stage, and it was later stepped on by a drunk man. He sent it to be repaired in Nashville by Shot Jackson, who told Nelson that the damage was too great. Jackson offered him a Martin N-20 Classical guitar, and, at Nelson's request, moved the pickup to the Martin. Nelson purchased the guitar unseen for $750 and named it after Roy Rogers' horse "Trigger". The next year Nelson rescued the guitar from his burning ranch.
Constant strumming with a guitar pick over the decades has worn a large sweeping hole into the guitar's body near the sound hole—the N-20 has no pick-guard since classical guitars are meant to be played fingerstyle instead of with picks. Its soundboard has been signed by over a hundred of Nelson's friends and associates, ranging from fellow musicians to lawyers and football coaches. The first signature on the guitar was Leon Russell's, who asked Nelson initially to sign his guitar. When Nelson was about to sign it with a marker, Russell requested him to scratch it instead, explaining that the guitar would be more valuable in the future. Interested in the concept, Nelson requested Russell to also sign his guitar. In 1991, during his process with the IRS, Nelson was worried that Trigger could be auctioned off, stating: "When Trigger goes, I'll quit". He asked his daughter, Lana, to take the guitar from the studio before any IRS agent arrived there, and then deliver it to him in Maui. Nelson then concealed the guitar in his manager's house until his debt was paid off in 1993.
Nelson is widely recognized as an American icon. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1993, and he received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1998. In 2011, Nelson was inducted to the National Agricultural Hall of Fame, for his labor in Farm Aid and other fund raisers to benefit farmers. In 2015 Nelson won the Gershwin Prize, the lifetime award of the Library of Congress. In 2018 The Texas Institute of Letters inducted him among its members for his songwriting. He was included by Rolling Stone on its 100 Greatest Singers and 100 Greatest Guitarists lists.
A Couple More Years
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I've had more chances to fly and more places to fall.
And it ain't that I'm wiser,
It's only that I've spent more time with my back to the wall.
And I've picked up a couple more years on you, baby.. that's all.
I've walked a couple more roads than you, baby,that's all.
And I'm tired of runnin' while you're only learning to crawl.
But I've been to somewhere, and found it was nowhere at all.
And I've picked up a couple of years on you baby, that's all.
Now sayin' goodbye, girl don't never come easy at all.
But you've got to fly 'cause you're hearin' those young eagles call.
And someday when you're older, you'll smile at a man strong and tall.
And you'll say I've got a couple more years on you, baby, that's all.
I've got a couple more years on you baby, that's all.
You'll say I've had more chances to fly and more places to fall.
It ain't that I'm wiser,
It's only that I've spent more time with my back to the wall.
And I've picked up a couple more years on you baby, that's all.
In Willie Nelson's song "A Couple More Years," the singer is speaking to his significant other, explaining that he has more life experience and has had more opportunities to make mistakes and learn from them. He clarifies that this doesn't necessarily mean he is wiser than her, just that he has spent more time with his "back to the wall," indicating that he has had more difficult times in his life.
The singer also acknowledges that he's been down different roads than his partner, and while she is just beginning to learn how to navigate life's challenges, he is growing weary of constantly running away from them. However, while he may have traveled to different places and had different experiences, he has also learned that sometimes those experiences end up leading to nowhere at all.
Despite the inevitability of saying goodbye, the singer encourages his partner to pursue her dreams and spread her wings, knowing that one day she will look back on their time together fondly and realize that he had a couple more years of experience than her, and that's all.
Overall, the lyrics of "A Couple More Years" express a message of acceptance and understanding, acknowledging that differences in age and experience don't necessarily indicate superiority, but rather unique perspectives and life paths.
Line by Line Meaning
I've got a couple more years on you, baby,that's all.
I am only a few years older than you, that's it.
I've had more chances to fly and more places to fall.
I have experienced many ups and downs in life.
And it ain't that I'm wiser,
It's only that I've spent more time with my back to the wall.
My increased knowledge is not due to wisdom but from facing more challenges.
And I've picked up a couple more years on you, baby.. that's all.
I am still only a few years older than you.
I've walked a couple more roads than you, baby,that's all.
I have experienced more diverse situations than you.
And I'm tired of runnin' while you're only learning to crawl.
I am tired of constantly having to make progress while you are just starting out.
And you're headin somewhere,
But I've been to somewhere, and found it was nowhere at all.
You are making progress in your journey, but I have already gone down that same path and realized it led nowhere.
Now sayin' goodbye, girl don't never come easy at all.
Ending our relationship will be difficult.
But you've got to fly 'cause you're hearin' those young eagles call.
You have potential and need to embrace it while you are young.
And someday when you're older, you'll smile at a man strong and tall.
One day you will look back and feel proud of your accomplishments.
And you'll say I've got a couple more years on you, baby, that's all.
You will realize that my slight age advantage was not the determining factor in my greater experience.
You'll say I've had more chances to fly and more places to fall.
You will acknowledge that I have experienced more in life.
And I've picked up a couple more years on you baby, that's all.
My age advantage is only slight and does not define my experiences.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: DENNIS LOCORRIERE, SHEL SILVERSTEIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@herbertstrunkiii876
This is THE most underrated song for both Ray Charles and Willie Nelson. Their talents blended perfectly.
@dwaterson21
Id have to give the "Most Underrated Willie Nelson Song" distinction to "The Great Divide" but this is my favorite from him. It's incredible.
@koldaussie
It also puts me into tears at times. Ah, Granddad Whyatt, I miss you, you damned best Grazier in Australia at your prime... well my opinion, none of them were as cool and had good access to Japanese markets in the 80's. Us grandkids loved you tonnes. You won't be chasing the devil's herd across the sky wherever you be, you'll be teaching them how to do it properly so the damned cattle don't escape in the first place.
@soposh5673
lol
@BradyAlley
Ah yes, the "UNDERRATED" song with 100 million views lol
@kellyjodesigns
Incredible!!
@alexshmurak96
This is just great! Black and white in harmony. Nothing better. We are brothers and sisters in this country.
@sunderwood9321
As long as I’ve been alive,we have been and are! My grandma will sit your butt down quick if you’re misbehaving when your parents aren’t around just like your grandma did to me! Don’t let them tell one of your aunts ❤
@user-bk4kc9mr4q
Yes, indeed, we are.❤
@nicrob80
This has absolutely nothing to do with black and white. This is about 2 amazing artists collaborating to make an awesome song! Why does everyone have to make it about race.. who gives a crap what color they are