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 albumβdestined to the IRSβand 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 holeβthe 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.
Good Time Charlie
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
There's not a soul I know around everybody's leavin' town
Some caught a freight some caught a plane find the sunshine leave the rain
They said this town'll waste your time I guess they're right it's wastin' mine
Some gotta win some gotta lose good time Charlie's got the blues
Good time Charlie's got the blues
You know my heart keeps telling me you're not a kid at thirty-three
I got my pills to ease the pain can't find a thing to ease the rain
I'd love to try and settle down but everybody's leavin' town
Some gotta win some gotta lose good time Charlie's got the blues
Good time Charlie's got the blues
Willie Nelson's classic song, "Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues," is a melancholic tune that speaks to the wandering nature of the human soul. The song begins with the singer lamenting the fact that everyone he knows is leaving town for Los Angeles in search of a better life. The singer sings that "some caught a freight, some caught a plane" in desperate attempts to find the sun and leave behind the rain. The song paints a picture of a town that is empty and fading away, a place where time is being wasted.
The singer of the song, who is named Charlie, is despondent and has fallen into a deep depression. He is dealing with the fact that he is not as young as he used to be, and he is feeling the weight of his choices. He has been playing around, losing his wife, and now he is losing his life. He is struggling with addiction, as evidenced by his statement that he has pills to ease the pain, but he cannot find anything to ease the rain.
The song ultimately speaks to the choices we make in life and the consequences that come with them. Some folks are destined to win, and others are doomed to lose. Good time Charile, it would seem, has fallen into the latter category, and he is left with nothing but his regrets and his blues.
Line by Line Meaning
Everybody's gone away said they're moving to LA
All my acquaintances are saying they are relocating to Los Angeles
There's not a soul I know around everybody's leavin' town
I do not recognize anyone and everyone is departing this town
Some caught a freight some caught a plane find the sunshine leave the rain
Some opted for freight trains, some selected flying to locate the sun and evade the rain
They said this town'll waste your time I guess they're right it's wastin' mine
They warned me that this place would waste my time and I suppose they were correct as it is consuming mine
Some gotta win some gotta lose good time Charlie's got the blues
Life is a game, and some win while others lose, meanwhile, Charlie is experiencing sorrow
Good time Charlie's got the blues
Charlie who enjoys life is going through a difficult phase
You know my heart keeps telling me you're not a kid at thirty-three
My inner voice always reminds me that I'm not young anymore even though I'm only thirty-three
You play around you lose your wife you play too long you lose your life
Engaging in careless conduct can lead to losing a spouse, and if done excessively, can even lead to losing one's life
I got my pills to ease the pain can't find a thing to ease the rain
I have medicines to alleviate my physical pain, but there's nothing to help me overcome my emotional distress
I'd love to try and settle down but everybody's leavin' town
I want to settle down, however, all my peers are departing this area
Lyrics Β© Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Danny O'Keefe
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Charles Radel
amazing how willie takes any song and makes it his own.a true musical treasure.
Michael Dornish
Willie has a way of making every song his. I've been enjoying his music since the 1970's.
bsteinagel
As someone who's living with mental illness, I can relate to this song on so many levels. Probably not why this song was written, but I can relate to it nonetheless.
LeLe Lisana
@Ol'Chevy actually, Danny O'Keefe wrote it.
Josh Husted
Pray for willie, and thank the Good Lord for him. He is One of our last outlaw national treasures.
maria schwencke
La cancion es muy bonita. La interpretacion de Elvis Presley es la mas divina.
Carol Griffith
this just makes my heart swell and my eyes fill with tears...such a touching feeling..right down to your soul...no matter who does it. as long as there is a good singer and great musicians...the subject is so very sad...I just want to put an arm around his shoulders and help Charie feel better......
KELLY TOBOLSKI
Great version of this song by Willie, shows his diverse talent.
Cole Trickle
Willieβs covers always give the original a run for their money
Mario Mendoza
I don't know Mr. Willie Nelson, but my deepest respects for him and his music. I have always admired him as he is truly genuine and down to earth. Keep on moving the spirits.