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.
Help Me Make It Through The Night
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Shake it loose and let it fall
Layin' soft upon my skin
Like the shadows on the wall
Come and lay down by my side
Till the early mornin' light
All I'm takin' is your time
I don't care who's right or wrong
I don't try to understand
Let the devil take tomorrow
'Cause tonight I need a friend
Yesterday is dead and gone
And tomorrow's out of sight
And it's sad to be alone
Help me make it through the night
I don't care who's right or wrong
I don't try to understand
Let the devil take tomorrow
For tonight I need a friend
Yesterday is dead and gone
And tomorrow's out of sight
And it's sad to be alone
Help me make it through the night
I don't want to be alone
Help me make it through the night
In Willie Nelson's song "Help Me Make It Through The Night," the singer is pleading with their lover to stay with them for the night. The language of the lyrics is sensual and evocative, with the singer encouraging their lover to take off their ribbon and lay down with them until morning. The shadows on the wall and the softness of the ribbon invoke a sense of intimacy and romance, while the repeated refrain of "help me make it through the night" reveals a deeper need and vulnerability.
The singer acknowledges their own emotional state, stating that they "don't care who's right or wrong" and they "don't try to understand." They simply want to be comforted for the moment, and are willing to let go of the past and the future in order to find solace. The line "let the devil take tomorrow" suggests a certain resignation or fatalism on the part of the singer, indicating that they are willing to face the consequences of their actions later.
Line by Line Meaning
Take the ribbon from your hair
Remove any constraints, barriers or restrictions that might prevent us from being intimate
Shake it loose and let it fall
Disregard any external expectations or social norms that might hinder our emotions
Layin' soft upon my skin
Experience the tender touch of physical intimacy to sense closeness and comfort
Like the shadows on the wall
Reflecting the fleeting nature of this fleeting moment and the transience of passion
Come and lay down by my side
Join me in a moment of physical and emotional intensity, to feel intimately connected
Till the early mornin' light
Embrace this passion and intensity until the end of the night
All I'm takin' is your time
I request only the duration of this moment to experience closeness and connection
Help me make it through the night
Join me in overcoming the loneliness and fear that lurk within us
I don't care who's right or wrong
There is no need to debate or judge, what matters is the emotional intimacy shared
I don't try to understand
I am not interested in any external reasoning or interpretation of my emotions
Let the devil take tomorrow
We do not know what the future beholds, so let's focus on this passionate moment alone
'Cause tonight I need a friend
In this moment of vulnerability and emotional intensity, all I desire is your presence and comfort
Yesterday is dead and gone
The past is no longer relevant, what matters is the emotional connection we share now
And tomorrow's out of sight
The future is uncertain, and we cannot predict what tomorrow holds
And it's sad to be alone
The feeling that comes with loneliness is heartbreaking and despairing
Help me make it through the night
Join me in surmounting the feelings of isolation and sadness by being with me now
I don't want to be alone
The fear of being left alone grips us, so I plead for your company and comfort
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Kris Kristofferson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Robyn Curtis
Willie Nelson is a very special part of musical history. I am in awe of his amazing guitar skills with the beautiful and battered Trigger. Hats off also to Kris Kristoffeson, Charlie Pride, Waylon Jennings of the Highwaymen and also Merle Haggard.
Daniel Zader
2 other of The Highway Men we're Johnny Cash followed by Waylon Jennings I only had respect for those 3 and from my country Australia Smokey Dawson followed by Slim Dusty
Sally Loeffler
Love Willie!! Absolutely, no body can sing like Willie!! What a God gift!
Peter Coleman
Hello how are you doing?
Brian Chaytor
My always favourite song by you Willie, so beautiful and meaningful! All your wonderful skills are shown and given to us for an all time real treat! Thank you wholeheartedly Willie!
Emily Judith
Hi Brian
Patricia Delicia
Beautiful version here. What a voice. ❤❤❤❤❤
Daisie Ramirez
I'm n
Peter Coleman
Hello how are you doing?
Hakeeem
Such a peaceful break from all the chaotic world we're living in.