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.
Across The Borderline
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And it's just across the borderline
When it's time to take your turn here's a lesson that you must learn
You could lose more than you'll ever find
When you reach the broken promiseland every dream slips through your hand
You'll know it's too late to change your mind
'Cause you paid the price to come so far just to wind up where you are
And you're still just across the borderline
Up and down the Rio Grande a thousand footprints in the sand
Reveal the secret no one can define
The river flows on like a breath in between our life and death
Who's the next to cross the borderline
Hope remains when pride is gone and it keeps you moving on
Calling you across the borderline
When you reach the broken promiseland...
And you're still just across the borderline
The song Across the Borderline by Willie Nelson is a beautiful piece that is all about hope, perseverance and the human struggle. The lyrics speak of a place where every street is paved with gold, across the borderline. The singer, perhaps yearning for a better life or chasing his dreams, warns that while it may seem like a dream come true, one could lose more than they could ever find, if they are not careful. The broken promises of life, the disappointments, and dreams slipping through one's hands are all struggles that anyone could identify with. The lyrics suggest that when faced with such heartbreaks, one must learn a valuable lesson - to never give up.
The beautiful imagery of the river Rio Grande with its thousand footprints in the sand reveals a secret that no one can define. The river flows like the breath between life and death, and it's uncertain who the next person to cross the borderline will be. The song reminds us that despite life's challenges, hope always remains, and it can keep you going, calling you across the borderline. The lyrics leave one with a feeling of optimism that even when the going gets tough, one can and should persevere, calling out to the other side of the border.
Line by Line Meaning
There's a land where I've been told every street is paved with gold
I have heard that there is a place where everything is perfect and wonderful.
And it's just across the borderline
This place is very close and easy to reach.
When it's time to take your turn here's a lesson that you must learn
When it is your time to take a chance or make a decision, there is an important lesson you should remember.
You could lose more than you'll ever find
Sometimes taking risks can bring more loss than gain.
When you reach the broken promiseland every dream slips through your hand
When you reach a place that did not turn out as you expected, everything you hoped for slips away.
You'll know it's too late to change your mind
It will become clear that it's too late to make any changes, and you have to work with what you have.
'Cause you paid the price to come so far just to wind up where you are
You sacrificed a lot to come this far, and now you find yourself in a place that isn't quite what you wanted.
And you're still just across the borderline
You are very close to your goal, yet it remains out of reach.
Up and down the Rio Grande a thousand footprints in the sand
Along the Rio Grande river, there are many people who have journeyed before you and left their mark.
Reveal the secret no one can define
These footprints reveal something mysterious that no one can quite understand or explain.
The river flows on like a breath in between our life and death
The Rio Grande river serves as a reminder that life is a journey that ends in death, and everything between those two points is just a fleeting moment.
Who's the next to cross the borderline
There is always someone else who will try to cross the borderline, even if you cannot.
Hope remains when pride is gone and it keeps you moving on
Even when you feel defeated, hope can provide the strength to keep going.
Calling you across the borderline
There is a force that is beckoning you to cross the borderline and achieve your dream.
When you reach the broken promiseland...
(repeated line)
And you're still just across the borderline
(repeated line)
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: James Luther Dickinson, John Robert Hiatt, Ryland Peter Cooder
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind