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.
Always on My Mind
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Quite as often as I could have
And maybe I didn't treat you
Quite as good as I should have
If I made you feel second best
Girl, I'm sorry I was blind
You were always on my mind
And maybe I didn't hold you
All those lonely, lonely times
I guess I never told you
I'm so happy that you're mine
Little things I should have said and done
I just never took the time
But you were always on my mind
You were always on my mind
Tell me
Tell me that your sweet love hasn't died
And give me
Give me one more chance to keep you satisfied
I'll keep you satisfied
Little things I should have said and done
I just never took the time
But you were always on my mind (you were always on my mind)
You were always on my mind
You were always on my mind (you were always on my mind)
You were always on my mind
The lyrics to Willie Nelson’s song Always on My Mind is a heartfelt apology to a loved one for not showing them enough love and appreciation when they were together. The singer acknowledges that they didn’t love or treat their partner as well as they could have and regrets not doing and saying the little things that could have made a difference. Despite their shortcomings, the singer expresses that their loved one was always on their mind and they want another chance to make things right and keep them satisfied.
The repetition of the phrase “you were always on my mind” throughout the song emphasizes the depth of the singer’s feelings and regrets. The use of past tense in the first two verses suggests that the relationship may have ended or their loved one is no longer with them. However, the hopeful tone in the last verse indicates that the singer wants to repair the damage and rekindle the relationship.
Overall, Always on My Mind is a powerful reflection on the importance of showing love and appreciation to those who matter the most to us before it’s too late.
Line by Line Meaning
Maybe I didn't love you
Perhaps I didn't cherish you
Quite as often as I could have
As much as I was capable of
And maybe I didn't treat you
Possibly I didn't behave towards you
Quite as good as I should have
As respectfully as I ought to have
If I made you feel second best
If I caused you to feel inferior
Girl I'm sorry I was blind
I regret not realizing
You were always on my mind
I constantly thought about you
And maybe I didn't hold you
Maybe I didn't physically embrace you
All those lonely, lonely times
During those painfully solitary instances
I guess I never told you
I don't think I expressed to you
I am so happy that you're mine
I am grateful that you belong to me
Little things I should have said and done
Actions and words that I neglected to do and say
I just never took the time
I simply did not allot time for it
Tell me
Inform me
Tell me that your sweet love hasn't died
Assure me that your affection still exists
And give me
As well as granting me
Give me one more chance to keep you satisfied
Provide me with another opportunity to satisfy you
I'll keep you satisfied
I will ensure your contentment
You were always on my mind (you were always on my mind)
You were consistently at the forefront of my thoughts
You were always on my mind
You were consistently at the forefront of my thoughts
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Sentric Music, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: Wayne Carson Thompson, John Jr. Christopher, Mark James
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@sumanngon
Anybody listening in 2024?
@silkie09
💖
@cindygarcia4951
Yes I am listening on this 2-18-24 🤗
@lasseportijk3608
Always
@motoriced7721
Heart warming and breaking song ❤️
@gulliver3644
Yes, married 53 years to my honey. The ultimate man’s guilt song. Damn you Willy!
@larryw.c.4544
My wife and I went to Hawaii years ago and happened to notice a flyer tacked to the wall at the Concierge's desk about Willie Nelson. When I asked, he told me it to was support local talent, and was a last minute notice. It cost about 10 dollars, and featured several groups, some with and some wirthout much talent. BUT, then Willie came on with his crew and blew the the place apart. Folding chairs on the grass, maybe fifty feet from the man himself, for 10 bucks in Hawaii!!!!!!! Beat that!!!
@dizrh4632
What was the date, if you don't mind me asking?
@larryw.c.4544
I had to ask my wife because I couldn't remember. It was in 2004 in Maui.@@dizrh4632
@daiellycavalheiro9655
Uau! Momentos inesquecíveis.