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.
Are You Sure
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Look down the bar from you
The lonely faces that you see
Are you sure that this is where you want to be
These are your friends
But are they real friends
Do they love you the same as me
You seem in such a hurry to live this kind of life
You've caused so many tears and misery
Look around you, take a good look
And tell me what you see
Are you sure that this is where you want to be
Don't let my tears persuade you, I had hoped I wouldn't cry
But lately, teardrops seem a part of me
Oh, look around you, take a good look
At all the lonely used-to-be's
Are you sure that this is where you want to be
The lyrics to Willie Nelson's song Are You Sure tell the story of someone warning a loved one about the potential consequences of their lifestyle. The singer asks the listener to take a look around and notice the lonely and sad faces at the bar. They ask if the listener is sure that this is where they want to be, surrounded by acquaintances who may not truly care for them. The singer reminisces about when they were once close with the listener, but they have since been pulled further away by their current lifestyle.
The singer raises concerns about the listener's behavior, expressing that they seem in a hurry, causing tears and misery to those around them. The listener is challenged to take a good look and reflect on whether this is truly where they want to be. The singer laments that they have shed many tears over the situation and hopes that their words will not fall on deaf ears. The song is a poignant reflection on the importance of true, meaningful connections.
Overall, the lyrics to Are You Sure are a warning tale about the potential consequences of prioritizing the wrong things in life. It encourages listeners to take a step back and reflect on their priorities, asking them to consider the effect their actions have on themselves and those around them.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh, look around you
Take a moment to observe your surroundings
Look down the bar from you
Look at the people sitting down the bar from you
The lonely faces that you see
The people you see around you seem lonely and unhappy
Are you sure that this is where you want to be
Questioning if where you're at is where you truly want to be
These are your friends
The people you're around are considered your friends
But are they real friends
Wondering if your friends are truly there for you
Do they love you the same as me
Questioning if the love and support you receive from your friends is genuine or not
Are you sure that this is where you want to be
Asking once again if where you're at is truly where you want to be
You seem in such a hurry to live this kind of life
Observing that you're in a rush to live a certain type of lifestyle
You've caused so many tears and misery
Noting that your actions have negatively affected the people around you
Look around you, take a good look
Reiterating the need to observe your surroundings
And tell me what you see
Asking for your perspective on what you see around you
Are you sure that this is where you want to be
Once again questioning if where you're at is where you truly want to be
Don't let my tears persuade you, I had hoped I wouldn't cry
Trying not to sway your decision with tears and expressing a desire not to be emotional
But lately, teardrops seem a part of me
Admitting that crying has become a common occurrence for them
Oh, look around you, take a good look
Repeating the need to observe your surroundings
At all the lonely used-to-be's
Noting the people who were once happy but are now lonely and unhappy
Are you sure that this is where you want to be
Asking once again if where you're at is truly where you want to be
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: T-BONE BURNETT, KEITH CIANCIA, WOODY JACKSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@vinceryan6454
Love that she asked Willie why he didn't play this song, and he said to her, you know that song. It's a beautiful recording of a Willie classic that isn't well known. He wrote and recorded it in 1965 on an early album.
@Ernez
No ones really speaking about Willie in this video, so I thought I'd throw a comment out and say he done a really nice job in it as well!
@sugarlandspringsteen
+TheDirectionGaming Ur right Willie is a living legend and he still holds it down for his age.
@willienelsontunes
Even though Willie wrote this song years ago, it is timeless. Kacey and Willie together are a great blend of that song.
@krystlerose1
+TheDirectionGaming Willie wrote the song with Buddy Emmons in 1965: number 8 http://www.allmusic.com/album/country-willie-his-own-songs-mw0000251874
@TheRealSatanicpanic
+TheDirectionGaming I love how his voice has aged and he can still play guitar with the best of em
@ImmortalTara
Willies age (and life experience) is part of why he still holds it down. When Kasey views this 20-30 more years later into the music business (when hopefully we will have female singers that are as old and beautiful as Willie and not just male singers allowed to play that part) and you'll see that he's really singing raw truth here from his heart personally to Kasey on this, his duet part. She's the new one to the biz and what he's singing is really what he's asking her. Hopefully she stays around long enough in the business to watch how much deeper the layers of meaning in this song get over time. It's a really rich experience when we can do that as songwriters, musicians, and fans.
@adamnicholson1273
Only Willie can have a girl as young as her sing right into his eyes and it not look weird..
@RChayes71788
...solid point..
@raymondsolisjr.1262
Yes