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.
Healing Hands of Time
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Those healing hands of time
And soon they'll be dismissing you
From this heart of mine
They'll lead me safely through the night
And I'll follow as though blind
My future tightly clutched within
They let me close my eyes just then
Those healing hands of time
And soon they'll let me sleep again
Those healing hands of time
So already I've reached mountain peaks
And I've just begun to climb
I'll get over you by clinging to
Those healing hands of time
I'll get over you by clinging to
Those healing hands of time
In Willie Nelson's song "Healing Hands of Time," the singer describes the pain of missing someone they once loved and how time can act as a healing force. The first stanza talks about how time is working to heal the singer's heart, but also how time will eventually help them let go of the person they were missing. In the second stanza, the singer puts their faith in time, as their future is "tightly clutched within those healing hands," believing that eventually time will help them move on from their heartache.
The third stanza seems to suggest that the singer has already experienced some healing, perhaps small triumphs or moments when they were able to let go, represented by "mountain peaks" they've already reached. However, they know that healing is a gradual process, and that they still have a ways to go. The repetition of the phrase "I'll get over you by clinging to those healing hands of time" at the end of each stanza emphasizes the idea that time is the only thing that can truly heal the pain of a lost love.
Overall, "Healing Hands of Time" is a poignant reminder that healing takes time, and that it is often a long and difficult journey to move on from someone we once loved deeply.
Line by Line Meaning
They're working while I'm missing you
The hands of time are constantly moving forward even though I'm missing you.
Those healing hands of time
The passage of time can help heal wounds.
And soon they'll be dismissing you
Eventually, time will help me let go of you.
From this heart of mine
I need time in order to heal emotionally.
They'll lead me safely through the night
Time can help me cope even in difficult times.
And I'll follow as though blind
I will trust in the healing nature of time even if I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel.
My future tightly clutched within
Time holds the promise of a better future.
Those healing hands of time
Time is my source of healing.
They let me close my eyes just then
Time can provide a small respite from the pain of missing you.
And soon they'll let me sleep again
Time will help me find peace even while I sleep.
So already I've reached mountain peaks
I've made progress in moving on even though it's just the beginning.
And I've just begun to climb
I have a long journey ahead of me.
I'll get over you by clinging to
I will rely on the healing power of time to help me move on from you.
Those healing hands of time
Time is my path to healing.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Willie Nelson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@melodicRaconteursDen
Time soothes pain, still we strive,
To learn, grow, keep the drive.
Brave, humble, ready to see,
Life lessons time unveils to thee.
Mend errors, champion self anew,
Show universe your growth review.
Each step, guided by time's ride,
To a future tackled in stride.
@melodicRaconteursDen
"time heals, guiding through darkness, climbing peaks, letting go" , tells us, Willie, the legend
we hear you 💙
@melodicRaconteursDen
Time soothes pain, still we strive,
To learn, grow, keep the drive.
Brave, humble, ready to see,
Life lessons time unveils to thee.
Mend errors, champion self anew,
Show universe your growth review.
Each step, guided by time's ride,
To a future tackled in stride.
@alenaschutzova2822
Moc se mně ta píseň líbí. 💁😘
@alenaschutzova2822
Děkuju za Tak pěknou píseň hned tak po ránu. 💁😘
@willienelson-jr4xy
Hello Alena,
how're you doing?
Your comments caught my attention and that is why I am reaching out to you.
Your fan love for me warms my heart, Thank you!
It's nice meeting you here
@alenaschutzova2822
@willie nelson ❤️
@brianbrino4310
Thank you every day Willie Nelson for having your wonderful music close to my heart! What a real treat it is! Thank you thank you for your kindness forever!
@jeanetteposkey9958
Thank-u, Willie, 4 this beautiful song ...
❤❤❤
@elisabethsujono5513
Beautiful and wonderful song. Willie's voice sounds very clear, nice and sweet.
@JerryAndJulieMusic
What a song and voice ❤❤❤Willie