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.
Farther Down The Line
Willie Nelson Lyrics
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I hope we'll see him up in Fargo or somewhere farther down the line
This time he sure drew a bad one one that nobody could ride
By the way he pulled his hat on you know he'd be there for the fight
And it's the classic contradiction the unavoidable affliction
And it don't take much to predict son the way it always goes
'Cause one day she'll say she loves you and the next she'll be tired of you
And push'll always come to shove you on that midnight rodeo
He almost made it to the buzzer somehow he gave up in the end
He put one hand around the other and let that pick up man on in
It was his last chance to ride it now he'll have to move along
But he knows back in his mind that he won't be away for long
And it's the classic contradiction...
So let's have a hand for that young cowboy and wish him better luck next time
I hope we'll see him up in Fargo or somewhere farther down the line
The lyrics of Willie Nelson's "Farther Down The Line" tell the story of a young cowboy participating in a rodeo competition. He draws a difficult horse that no one can seem to ride, and despite giving it his all, he fails to make the buzzer. As he walks away, the onlookers applaud him for his effort and wish him better luck next time. The song explores the classic contradiction and unavoidable affliction of love: one moment, someone can love you and the next they can be tired of you. The cowboy knows that he won't be away for long - he'll be back for another competition.
The song serves a metaphor for life's cyclical nature. The cowboy's struggle in the rodeo mirrors life's ups and downs, with success and failure constantly intermingled. Furthermore, the song highlights the importance of perseverance in the face of failure. The rodeo cowboy doesn't give up, even though he was dealt a difficult hand with a horse that no one else could ride. In life, people will face challenges that seem insurmountable, but it's important to keep pushing forward and trying again.
Line by Line Meaning
Let's have a hand for that young cowboy and wish him better luck next time
Let us give an ovation for that young cowboy who had a rough time, and hope that he will do better in his next rodeo competition.
I hope we'll see him up in Fargo or somewhere farther down the line
I wish that we will see him in Fargo or another place, in his next competition.
This time he sure drew a bad one one that nobody could ride
The bull he picked to ride was too challenging for anyone.
By the way he pulled his hat on you know he'd be there for the fight
When he pulled his hat on, it was clear he was ready and willing to participate in the rodeo competition.
And it's the classic contradiction the unavoidable affliction
It's the cyclical pattern of life, where sometimes the highs and sometimes the lows happen.
And it don't take much to predict son the way it always goes
It's easy to predict how things will happen since they tend to unfold the same way.
'Cause one day she'll say she loves you and the next she'll be tired of you
Little inconsistencies in life are bound to happen, one day she might love you, the other day she might not.
And push'll always come to shove you on that midnight rodeo
In this rugged competition, someone will always do better than you.
He almost made it to the buzzer somehow he gave up in the end
He almost completed riding the bull, but somehow gave up in the end.
He put one hand around the other and let that pick up man on in
He stopped the competition and yielded to the pick-up man by putting his hands around himself for rescue.
It was his last chance to ride it now he'll have to move along
The competition was his final opportunity to ride the bull, he now has to move to another one.
But he knows back in his mind that he won't be away for long
He has confidence at the back of his mind that he'll be back soon.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: LYLE PEARCE LOVETT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind