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.
Golden Earrings
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That when your love wears golden earrings
She belongs to you
An old love story that's known to very few
But if you wear those golden earrings
Love will come to you
By the burning fire, they will glow with ev�ry coal
So be my gypsy
Make love your guiding light
And let that pair of golden earrings
Cast their spell tonight
Willie Nelson's Golden Earrings is a song that speaks of the power of love and the role of fate in uniting two people in love. The song is an ode to the mythical story that is known only to a few of the gypsy clan about how love can be won if one wears a pair of golden earrings. The lyrics casually narrate how love can captivate and bind two people together if destiny allows it. The golden earrings that the song speaks about are used as an allegory to convey the idea that love is magical and powerful enough to transcend boundaries and connect souls.
The song essence lies in the idea that certain things are destined to happen in life and love is one such thing. It suggests that love is not just an emotion; it is more profound than that. Love, as per the song, comes from a mystical energy that is omnipresent and omnipotent. The lyrics are an invitation to love, and it encourages the listeners to be bold in their pursuit of love, to trust their instincts and take the leap of faith that will lead them towards their happiness.
Line by Line Meaning
There's a story the gypsies know is true
The gypsies have a true story to tell
That when your love wears golden earrings
A person's love will belong to them when they wear golden earrings
She belongs to you
The love of the person wearing the golden earrings belongs to them
An old love story that's known to very few
This is a love story that is not well-known
But if you wear those golden earrings
Wearing golden earrings has a specific effect
Love will come to you
Wearing golden earrings will attract love to you
By the burning fire, they will glow with ev'ry coal
The golden earrings will shine brightly in the light of the burning fire
You will hear desire whisper low inside your soul
Wearing golden earrings will ignite a strong desire within the wearer's soul
So be my gypsy
Be my lover and follow my lead
Make love your guiding light
Allow love to guide your actions
And let that pair of golden earrings
Wear the golden earrings
Cast their spell tonight
Let the magical power of the golden earrings work its effect tonight
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JAY LIVINGSTON, RAY EVANS, VICTOR YOUNG
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Dachero
Golden Earrings (lyrics)
There's a story the gypsies know is true
That when your love wears golden earrings
She belongs to you
An old love story that's known to very few
But if you wear these golden earrings
Love will come to you
By the burning fire, they will glow with every coal
You will hear desire whisper low inside your soul
So be my gypsy
Make love your guiding light
And let that pair of golden earrings
Cast their spell tonight
Mario González
The last man standing on country music, you're big Willie, we love you. You are the gold and diamond earring of country music
Beverly Gallus
When I hear Willie sing this song I can feel each and every word come from his heart. There is so much feeling in the songs that he sings. This is a beautiful ,touching song. Trigger sounds great also.
Cote Loef
My sister who passed away a few years ago use to sing this when I was a kid. Love hearing Willie singing it.
Nicolay khmirov
Спасибо за такую прекрасную композицию! Легенда при жизни!
Maurizio Redegoso Kharitian
Music from the heart...thank you Sir...
Dane Volyn
The first time I heard this song was in the 1947 movie of the same name. The actor Murvyn Vye playing Zoltan the Gypsy king sang this song for Ray Milland who the Gypsy Liddy ( Marlena Dietrich ) was always singing to him. I loved that movie, it was an underrated masterpiece. And truly a song of great passion.
Emily S . Mcguffin
Willie Nelson...I love his songs...the one called “just breath” is what we are going to play when my grandpa dies...it is such a good song,.if you haven’t seen it or heard it,go watch the music video.,...it literally made me cry
Anita Fagulha
maravilhoso como sempre
Beverly Gallus
I didn’t know Willie sung this song. I must say he does a magnificent rendition of it. Then again, what song doesn’t he do justice too? Willie is by far the best male singer ever. I just love Willie..
Wanda Ribeiro
This song, the touching interpretation of Willie Nelson are so beautiful that, all the time I hear them, tears fall on my face.