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.
Butterfly
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
If you're going where you wanna go
And if you're showing all you need to show
Butterfly, do you ever get to stay?
Or do you always fly away,
Pretty butterfly
But you're complicated and I don't understand
Is it just your story?
Do you always ride the wind?
Will you be flying away,
The same way you flew here
Butterfly, tell me if you even know
If you're going where you wanna go
And if you're showing all you need to show
Butterfly, do you ever get to stay?
Or do you always fly away,
Pretty butterfly
Butterfly, do you ever get to stay?
Or do you always fly away,
Pretty butterfly
Do you always fly away?
Pretty butterfly
The lyrics of Willie Nelson's "Butterfly" tell the story of a butterfly, an elusive creature that flits from one place to another. The song is a beautiful metaphor for a person who cannot be tamed nor contained. In the first stanza, Nelson talks about the uncertainty of the butterfly's journey, wondering if it knows where it is going and if it is showing itself fully. The second stanza depicts the singer's attempt to understand the butterfly's complicated nature, all the while knowing that it will continue to fly away.
In the last stanza, Nelson repeats the question earlier posed to the butterfly, asking if it ever gets to stay in one place or if it will always fly away. In essence, the song is an observation of a fleeting aspect of nature that serves as a reminder that some things in life cannot be fully understood or contained. It is a beautifully written, poetic take on the impermanence of life.
Line by Line Meaning
Butterfly, tell me if you even know
Are you aware of your life's direction?
If you're going where you wanna go
Are you pursuing your desires?
And if you're showing all you need to show
Are you revealing your true self to the world?
Butterfly, do you ever get to stay?
Do you ever find a stable home?
Or do you always fly away,
Or must you always leave?
Pretty butterfly
Beautiful, yet elusive creature
I have held you, with tender gentle hands
I have tried to understand and care for you
But you're complicated and I don't understand
But your motivations and actions are difficult to comprehend
Is it just your story?
Is this simply your nature?
Do you always ride the wind?
Must you always move with circumstances?
Will you be flying away,
Are you leaving once again?
The same way you flew here
In the same unpredictable manner you arrived
Butterfly, do you ever get to stay?
Is there ever a place for you to rest?
Or do you always fly away,
Or are you doomed to the fate of constant migration?
Pretty butterfly
Describing the unique beauty of this creature
Butterfly, do you ever get to stay?
Is there ever a time for stability in your life?
Or do you always fly away,
Or are you resigned to a never-ending cycle of flight?
Pretty butterfly
Reiterating the creature's beauty and mystery
Do you always fly away?
This line serves as a final statement on the elusive nature of the butterfly
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: Sonny Throckmorton, Mark Sherrill
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@dianacrow7509
Sometimes...retreating back into her cocoon is comforting and much safer. This is a beautiful song...ty~♡~
@blaugroc
Absolutelly!
@SharonWayman
My daughter sends me butterflies from Heaven! Thank you Willie.
@David-hc7bc
Hello 👋 Sharon how are you doing today yourself ??
@anelladambrosio2513
@@David-hc7bc ciao David!come stai?🙋🥰😍😘💋❤️
@JenniferShaw-kq4or
This song is so beautiful and soulful.
You are going to be so missed.❤❤❤❤❤😢😢😢🎉
@mussyfiocco2569
Ciao mitico Willie bellissima splendida dolcissima interpretazione da parte tua. Bravissimo inimitabile Willie.
Con affetto. 😘😘❤😘👏👏👏👏👏👏
@louiseanneblais9853
This is so lovely and touching, sitting here with tears rolling down my cheeks..thank you Willie
@David-hc7bc
Hello 👋 Louise how are you doing today yourself??
@aletamull5207
My Husband Of 52 Yr.s Passed A Yr Ago This Month Thank You For This Song For 1 Month A Pretty Butterfly Came To Visit Me N My Daughter N 2Son's. He Landed On Each Of Our Shoulders Then Our Index-Finger. He Stayed About 5 Mins Then Flew. Thank You For The Beautiful-Reminder.