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.
Highwayman
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Along the coach roads, I did ride
With sword and pistol by my side
Many a young maid lost her baubles to my trade
Many a soldier shed his lifeblood on my blade
The bastards hung me in the spring of twenty-five
But I am still alive
I was borne upon the tide
And with the sea, I did abide
I sailed a schooner round the Horn to Mexico
I went aloft and furled the mainsail in a blow
And when the yards broke off they said that I got killed
But I am living still
I was a dam builder
Across the river deep and wide
Where steel and water did collide
A place called Boulder on the wild Colorado
I slipped and fell into the wet concrete below
They buried me in that great tomb that knows no sound
But I am still around
I'll always be around and around and around and around and around and around
I fly a starship
Across the Universe divide
And when I reach the other side
I'll find a place to rest my spirit if I can
Perhaps I may become a highwayman again
Or I may simply be a single drop of rain
But I will remain
I'll be back again and again and again and again and again and again
The song "Highwayman" by Willie Nelson is a narrative ballad about a man who has lived many lives, died many times, but always seems to come back in a new form. The opening verse sets up the premise of the song, as the singer tells us that he once was a highwayman, a robber who preyed on travelers with a sword and pistol by his side. He recounts the violence of his trade, saying that many a young maid lost her "baubles" (jewelry) to him and many a soldier died due to his sword. The song takes a darker turn as the singer reveals that he was hung in 1825, but despite his death, claims that he is still alive.
The second verse follows the same pattern, with the singer describing himself as a sailor who was presumed dead after his ship was wrecked in a storm. Again, the singer says that he is living still. The third verse sees the singer in yet another profession; this time, he is a dam builder who falls into wet concrete and is buried alive. Again, he says that he is still around. In the final verse, the singer reveals that he now pilots a starship across the Universe divide and that when he reaches the other side, he'll find a place to rest his spirit if he can. He muses that he might become a highwayman again or simply a single drop of rain, but he knows that he'll always be around.
Line by Line Meaning
I was a highwayman
I was a robber who stole from people traveling along the roads.
Along the coach roads, I did ride
I traveled on horseback along the main roads where stagecoaches would travel.
With sword and pistol by my side
I carried weapons to use in case I was confronted or had to defend myself.
Many a young maid lost her baubles to my trade
I stole from many young women who were traveling with valuable personal items.
Many a soldier shed his lifeblood on my blade
I killed many soldiers who attempted to stop me.
The bastards hung me in the spring of twenty-five
I was executed by hanging in the spring of 1825.
But I am still alive
My spirit lives on despite my physical death.
I was a sailor
I was a seafarer who spent a large portion of my life on water.
I was born upon the tide
My birth and life were closely tied to the ocean and its cycles.
And with the sea, I did abide
I lived and spent much of my time on the sea.
I sailed a schooner round the Horn to Mexico
I sailed a specific type of ship, called a schooner, around the southern tip of South America to get to Mexico.
I went aloft and furled the mainsail in a blow
I climbed up the mast of the ship during a storm to furl, or tie up, one of the sails to prevent damage.
And when the yards broke off they said that I got killed
When the cross-beams of the ship's mast broke off, people assumed that I had died.
But I am living still
My spirit is still present despite my supposed death.
I was a dam builder
I was a worker who helped build a dam across a river.
Across the river deep and wide
The river was large and required a wide dam to be built.
Where steel and water did collide
The materials used to build the dam, steel and water, came together in a clash of forces.
A place called Boulder on the wild Colorado
The dam was built in a location called Boulder, located along the untamed Colorado river.
I slipped and fell into the wet concrete below
I had a mishap while working on the dam and fell into the wet concrete mixture used to build it.
They buried me in that great tomb that knows no sound
I was buried in the massive dam, which was made of materials that absorb all sound.
But I am still around
My spirit has continued to exist despite my physical entombment.
I'll always be around and around and around and around and around and around
My presence and spirit will always be present, without end.
I fly a starship
I now travel through space on board a starship.
Across the Universe divide
I travel through the vast expanse of space, which separates different parts of the universe.
And when I reach the other side
When I reach my destination, which is another part of the universe.
I'll find a place to rest my spirit if I can
If possible, I will locate a resting place where my spirit can relax and find peace.
Perhaps I may become a highwayman again
I may choose to take on the persona of a highwayman again in the future.
Or I may simply be a single drop of rain
Alternatively, I may end up existing as just one drop of rain.
But I will remain
Despite my future form, my spirit will continue to exist.
I'll be back again and again and again and again and again and again
I will continue to come back and exist in various forms and states of being throughout time.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Jimmy Webb
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@AINGELPROJECT667
This one is for Orio Palmer, Batallion 7 Chief of FDNY.
I was a fire chief.
Into the Towers I did go.
And my fear I did not show,
We looked for survivors among the smoke and all the flames,
We refused to leave if someone still remained.
And there we stayed until the Towers fell to the ground.
But I am still around.
Rest in peace, Chief Palmer. You are remembered.
@WhatIsTheDill
I played this song for a few friends. None of them liked it. Clearly, I need new friends.
@bigjohonyas
Clearly
@Prod.Uisce1
Your friends should get cultured
@sangsanga9093
No just still stick with the same ones
@frederikgram8970
YES
@yoshihd2214
They re dumb...sry bro
@darrensmith8730
This song isn't long enough. A definite masterpiece.
@barbaraaly6186
It's beautiful
@bugcooper7441
simple and haunting
@thetom1487
Yes