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 Dreamer's Holiday
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
An' take off on the breeze,
Let your worries flutter by,
An' do the things you please,
In a land where dollar bills,
Are fallin' off the trees,
On a dreamer's holiday!
There's a dish of scrambled stars,
An' for lunchin' you'll be munchin'
Rainbow candy bars,
You'll be livin' a la mode,
On Jupiter and Mars,
On a dreamer's holiday!
Make it a long vacation,
Time, there is plenty of,
You need no reservation,
Just bring along the one you love!
Help yourself to happiness,
An' sprinkle it with mirth,
Close your eyes an' concentrate,
An' dream for all you're worth,
You will feel terrific,
When you get back down to earth,
From a dreamer's holiday!
You, climb aboard a butterfly,
An' take off on the breeze,
Let your worries flutter by,
An' do the things you please,
In a land where dollar bills,
Are fallin' off the trees,
On a dreamer's holiday!
Every day for breakfast,
There's a dish of scrambled stars,
And for lunchin' you'll be munchin'
Rainbow candy bars,
You'll be livin' a la mode,
On Jupiter and Mars,
On a dreamer's holiday!
Come on, we're gonna make it a long vacation,
Time, there is plenty of,
You need no reservation,
Just bring along the one you love!
Help yourself to happiness,
An' sprinkle it with mirth,
Close your eyes an' concentrate,
An' dream for all you're worth,
You will feel terrific,
When you get back down to earth,
From a dreamer's holiday!
The lyrics of Willie Nelson's "A Dreamer's Holiday" convey the idea of escaping from reality and experiencing a world filled with wonder and joy. The song takes the listeners on a journey where they can enjoy the simple things in life, without any worries or stress. The singer invites the listeners to climb aboard a butterfly and fly away to a land where dollar bills fall off from the trees, where they can have breakfast of scrambled stars and rainbow candy bars for lunch. "A Dreamer's Holiday" offers the chance to enjoy life to the fullest, free from the constraints of reality.
The lyrics suggest that everyone should take a break and make it a long vacation. The song encourages the listeners to take time for themselves and the ones they love. The singer emphasizes the importance of happiness and mirth and urges the listener to concentrate on their dreams. The final lines, "You will feel terrific when you get back down to earth from a dreamer's holiday," bring the listeners back to reality while carrying some of the magic of the dream world along with them.
Overall, "A Dreamer's Holiday" seems to be about the value of taking a break from the stresses of daily life and enjoying the simple things. It speaks to the human desire for escape, happiness, and wonder.
Line by Line Meaning
Climb aboard a butterfly,
Imagine yourself flying like a butterfly in the air to leave all your worries behind.
An' take off on the breeze,
Drift in the wind and start discovering what life has to offer.
Let your worries flutter by,
Forget your worries and feel free from all life's burdens.
An' do the things you please,
Take control of your life and do what you like without any restrictions.
In a land where dollar bills,
Just imagine being in a place where there are a lot of opportunities for you to succeed and be prosperous.
Are fallin' off the trees,
A place where money is not a problem, and you can get everything you want without breaking a sweat.
On a dreamer's holiday!
All these wonderful things can only happen in a dream world, but how magnificent it is to dream of these things on your holiday!
Every day for breakfast,
Every day is a new beginning full of surprises waiting for you to explore and discover.
There's a dish of scrambled stars,
Every day is a radiant and shiny experience full of possibilities and opportunities.
An' for lunchin' you'll be munchin'
For lunch, you can have anything you desire and savor every moment without any guilt or worries.
Rainbow candy bars,
The dessert is as sweet and colorful as a rainbow, satisfying and ultimately fulfilling.
You'll be livin' a la mode,
You will be living in the most fashionable and stylish way, enjoying all that life has to offer.
On Jupiter and Mars,
You can enjoy life on different planets, making the most out of your imagination and fulfilling your wildest fantasies.
On a dreamer's holiday!
This can only happen in a dreamer's holiday where everything is possible, and you can see everything with a new perspective.
Make it a long vacation,
Extend this feeling of freedom and happiness for as long as possible.
Time, there is plenty of,
In this imaginative world you can live in, time is not a problem, and you can enjoy every moment to the fullest.
You need no reservation,
You don't have to worry about a deadline, just let yourself go with the flow and forget about time.
Just bring along the one you love!
Share this great experience with someone special, and enjoy every moment with them.
Help yourself to happiness,
You are the only one responsible for your own happiness, so take control and do everything you can to make yourself happy.
An' sprinkle it with mirth,
Add some laughter and joy to your life to brighten everything around you,
Close your eyes an' concentrate,
Focus on your dreams and make them a reality in your heart and soul.
An' dream for all you're worth,
Dream big, dream as high as the sky and as deep as the ocean, dreams can inspire you and make you a better person.
You will feel terrific,
When you embrace your dreams and make them a reality in your life, you feel incredible and unstoppable.
When you get back down to earth,
When you return to reality, you can look back and see how much you have learned and how much you have accomplished.
From a dreamer's holiday!
Even though it was just a dream, it has given you the inspiration and motivation to change your life and reach for the impossible!
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., SHAPIRO BERNSTEIN & CO. INC.
Written by: KIM GANNON, MABEL WAYNE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind