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.
Dark as a Dungeon
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And seek not your fortune in the dark, dreary mines.
It will form as a habit and seep in your soul,
'Till the stream of your blood is as black as the coal.
And it's dark as a dungeon and damp as the dew,
Where danger is double and pleasures are few,
Where the rain never falls and the sun never shines
It's a-many a man I have known in my day,
Who lived just to labor his whole life away.
Like a fiend with his dope and a drunkard his wine,
A man will have lust for the lure of the mines.
And it's dark as a dungeon and damp as the dew,
Where danger is double and pleasures are few,
Where the rain never falls and the sun never shines
And it's dark as a dungeon way down in the mines.
O midnight, or the morning, or the middle of the day
It's the same to the miner who labors away
Where the demons of death often come by surprise
One fall of the slate and you're buried alive
And it's dark as a dungeon and damp as the dew,
Where danger is double and pleasures are few,
Where the rain never falls and the sun never shines
And it's dark as a dungeon way down in the mines.
I hope when I'm gone and the ages shall roll,
My body will blacken and turn into coal.
Then I'll look from the door of my heavenly home,
And pity the miner a-diggin' my bones.
Where it's dark as a dungeon and damp as the dew,
Where danger is double and pleasures are few,
Where the rain never falls and the sun never shines
And it's dark as a dungeon way down in the mines.
Willie Nelson's song "Dark as a Dungeon" addresses the harshness of coal mining, describing its darkness and dampness, as well as the dangers and hardscrabble life that miners face. The song begins by warning young men not to pursue their fortune in the mines, as it will become a habit they can never shake. The line "It will form as a habit and seep in your soul, Till the stream of your blood is as black as the coal" highlights not only the danger of the mines but also the effect they have on the miners themselves.
The chorus of the song emphasizes the bleakness of the mining life. The lines "And it's dark as a dungeon and damp as the dew, Where danger is double and pleasures are few, Where the rain never falls and the sun never shines" are repeated throughout the song, driving home the point that miners are forced to work in terrible conditions with little hope for a better life.
In the final verse, Nelson imagines himself looking back from heaven at the miners who dug his own burial plot. His hope is that his body will turn into coal, thus highlighting the connection between this valuable resource and the harsh reality of the people who risk their lives to extract it.
Overall, "Dark as a Dungeon" is a powerful meditation on the cost of progress, the toll that dangerous jobs can take on people's lives, and the importance of remembering the sacrifices made by those who came before us.
Line by Line Meaning
Come and listen you fellows, young and so fine,
Hey there young and fancy folks, lend an ear and hear my tale,
And seek not your fortune in the dark, dreary mines.
Don't go searching for your luck in the gloomy mines.
It will form as a habit and seep in your soul,
Working there will become a part of you, a second nature that permeates your being,
'Till the stream of your blood is as black as the coal.
Until your very blood is tainted with the darkness of coal and the mining life.
And it's dark as a dungeon and damp as the dew,
The mines are bleak and shadowy, soaking wet and damp with dew,
Where danger is double and pleasures are few,
A place where danger lurks and good times are scarce,
Where the rain never falls and the sun never shines
Where it never rains, and sunlight never penetrates the darkness of the mines.
And it's dark as a dungeon way down in the mines.
The mines are so dark and deep, it's like being trapped in a dungeon underground.
It's a-many a man I have known in my day,
I've met many men in my time,
Who lived just to labor his whole life away.
Who worked themselves to death to make ends meet.
Like a fiend with his dope and a drunkard his wine,
Like an addict with his poison, or a drunkard and his wine,
A man will have lust for the lure of the mines.
Some men can't resist the call of the mines, despite the danger and drudgery.
O midnight, or the morning, or the middle of the day
Whether it's the middle of the night or day, or anywhere in between,
It's the same to the miner who labors away
It doesn't matter to the miner who works every hour of every day.
Where the demons of death often come by surprise
Death can sneak up on miners in the form of accidents or illness,
One fall of the slate and you're buried alive
If the slate falls, a miner can be buried alive without any warning.
And I hope when I'm gone and the ages shall roll,
And I hope that after I've passed and time has passed,
My body will blacken and turn into coal.
My body will decay and turn to coal, just like the substance that defines the mining life.
Then I'll look from the door of my heavenly home,
From the heavens, I will look back and observe
And pity the miner a-diggin' my bones.
And I will feel sorry for the miner who must dig up my bones.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Merle Travis
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Awesome ALMIGHTY
Great song by our legendary singer, Willie. What an awesome voice and rendition! Thanks for uploading, Rounder Records.
Stäni Steinbock
Dark as a Dungeon was written by Merle Travis.
ROBERT WAITS
Listened to quite a few versions of this song!Willie just catches it best!
Barb Vince
This here is soul soothing music. Thank ya’ll.❤
Susan Liebl
Love the way the bass comes in after the intro.....to carry the song deep in the mine...
KEBO Bradley
Just like all great artist,you feel the words,they're singing.Willie😉
Bruno Romano
Best version ever!
Morag MacGregor
Nobody could do it like Merle and yet...and yet Willie crawls inside a song like a skin walker. And then it's his song as much as the songwriter's.
Nephertiti1
"Crawls inside a song like a skin walker" I love it.
Rockahollic
Like a skin walker, I don't think I heard that term in that way before