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.
Autumn Leaves
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The autumn leaves of red and gold
I see your lips, the summer kisses
The sun-burned hands I used to hold
Since you went away the days grow long
And soon I'll hear old winter's song
But I miss you most of all my darling
C'est une chanson, qui nous ressemble
Toi tu m'aimais et je t'aimais
Nous vivions tous deux ensemble
Toi qui m'aimais moi qui t'aimais
Mais la vie separe ceux qui s'aiment
Tout doucement sans faire de bruit
Et la mer efface sur le sable les pas des amants desunis
Willie Nelson's song Autumn Leaves is a beautiful and melancholic tune that captures the feeling of love lost during the fall season. The first verse describes the falling leaves drifting by the window, with their colors of red and gold, and how they remind the singer of his lost love. He remembers the summer kisses and the sun-burned hands that he used to hold. The second verse talks about how since his love went away, the days seem to grow longer, and soon he will be hearing winter's song. However, the singer misses his beloved the most during the autumn season when the leaves start to fall.
After the second verse, the song switches to French, reflecting the song's origins as "Les Feuilles Mortes," which was written by Joseph Kosma and Jacques Prévert. The French verse mirrors the English lyrics, with the idea that life separates those who love each other slowly and quietly, much like the way the sea erases the footprints of lovers on the shore.
Overall, Autumn Leaves is a poignant song about the passage of time and the loss of love. Its bittersweet melody and lyrics capture the cyclical nature of the seasons and the fragile nature of relationships.
Line by Line Meaning
The falling leaves drift by the window
The leaves that are falling outside the window are gently carried away by the wind.
The autumn leaves of red and gold
The autumn leaves are in vibrant shades of red and gold, creating a beautiful scene.
I see your lips, the summer kisses
I recall the moments we shared when we kissed during the summer.
The sun-burned hands I used to hold
I remember holding your hands when they were sunburnt from spending time outdoors.
Since you went away the days grow long
Ever since you left, time seems to pass so slowly and the days seem longer than they used to be.
And soon I'll hear old winter's song
The cold, wintry season is approaching, and I know I will feel more alone than ever.
But I miss you most of all my darling
Out of everything I am experiencing, missing you is the hardest thing to deal with.
When autumn leaves start to fall
As the autumn leaves begin to drop, all I can think of is you and the memories we made.
C'est une chanson, qui nous ressemble
This is a song that resembles us and our story.
Toi tu m'aimais et je t'aimais
You loved me and I loved you.
Nous vivions tous deux ensemble
We lived together and shared our lives.
Toi qui m'aimais moi qui t'aimais
You loved me and I loved you in return.
Mais la vie separe ceux qui s'aiment
But sometimes, life separates even those who love each other.
Tout doucement sans faire de bruit
Slowly and quietly, without making a fuss.
Et la mer efface sur le sable les pas des amants desunis
Just like how the waves wash away footprints on the shore, time will eventually erase our memories too.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: GIORGIO CANALI, FRANCESCO MAGNELLI, GIANNI MAROCCOLO, MASSIMO ZAMBONI, GIOVANNI LINDO FERRETTI
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind