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.
Angel Eyes
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The ways of the world are feeble
Don't give up on simple people
Angle eyes stun those nights
The blues you can live without
It's not what you song's about
Angel eyes angel eyes
Tell me what would we're doin'
You can move the hearts of men
Just with a phrase you're turning
Since hearts ever have been yearning
Bear with us bear so alone
Thin lines you've been living on
Are so close to the danger zone
Angel eyes angel eyes
Tell me what would we're doin'
Without the light from angel eyes
In Willie Nelson's Angel Eyes, the lyrics speak of the power that a person possesses within themselves. Specifically, the power to move and impact the lives of others in profound ways. In the first stanza, "angel eyes" is used to refer to someone who is special and insightful, someone who can see beyond the limits of the physical world. This person is described as being able to understand the simplicity of life, even when faced with the complexities of the world around them. The phrase "stun those nights" implies that this person has the power to heal and remove the danger and sadness in other people's lives.
In the second stanza, the lyrics speak of the power that this person has to move the hearts of those around them. The use of phrases such as "just with a phrase you're turning" and "since hearts ever have been yearning" suggest that this person has the power to evoke strong emotions in others. However, the lyrics also acknowledge the isolation that comes with having this sort of power; "Thin lines you've been living on / Are so close to the danger zone," meaning that this person must be careful in how they wield their power.
Line by Line Meaning
Angel eyes angel eyes
The singer is talking to someone with beautiful eyes and repeating the phrase for emphasis.
The ways of the world are feeble
The world can be a weak and unpredictable place.
Don't give up on simple people
Don't underestimate the value of ordinary people in the world.
Angle eyes stun those nights
The artist's eyes are especially beautiful at night.
The blues you can live without
You don't need to be sad all the time.
It's not what you song's about
Don't let your music be about just sadness or negativity.
Angel eyes angel eyes
The singer again repeats the phrase to emphasize the beauty of the other's eyes.
Tell me what would we're doin'
The artist is pondering what life would be like without the other person.
Without the light from angel eyes
The artist's life would be darker without the beauty and light of the other person's eyes.
You can move the hearts of men
The other person has the ability to touch people's hearts.
Just with a phrase you're turning
The other person has a way with words and can change people's minds with just a few words.
Since hearts ever have been yearning
People have always had a longing for something more, and the other person can help fulfill that need.
Bear with us bear so alone
Both people in the relationship feel lonely at times, but they need to support each other through those times.
Thin lines you've been living on
The other person has been living on the edge and taking risks.
Are so close to the danger zone
The other person's risky behavior is getting close to being dangerous.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: RODNEY J. CROWELL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind