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.
Home Is Where You're Happy
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Or any place on earth that you may be.
Home is where you're happy, just any house will do,
And I'll feel at home as long as you're with me.
This room could not hold me for one short minute;
If you weren't here with me, I'd soon be gone.
That chair is just a chair when you're not in it.
Home is where you're happy and I'm happy here with you,
Or any place on earth that you may be.
Home is where you're happy, just any house will do,
And I'll feel at home as long as you're with me.
Time, someday, may cause this house to crumble,
But we'll move into another, love and all.
And if time, someday, should make your footsteps stumble,
I'll be there to catch you, should you fall.
Home is where you're happy and I'm happy here with you,
Or any place on earth that you may be.
Home is where you're happy, just any house will do,
And I'll feel at home as long as you're with me.
The song “Home Is Where You're Happy” by Willie Nelson talks about the importance of having someone you love around, which makes any place feel like home. The lyrics convey that a house or a room is not a home unless you have someone to share it with. The love shared amongst two people in a home is what makes it a special place. A house may crumble or one might stumble, but as long as that love is there, it will continue to be a momentous place.
The lyrics make a beautiful contrast between physical spaces and the emotions that surround them. To support this point, the lyricist mentions that a room is just a room without someone to share it with. It clarifies that the place where you feel happy is not where your house is but where your heart is. Home is where two people feel happy and comfortable around each other, regardless of the physical spaces.
In summary, the song portrays love as being the foundation and essence of what constitutes a home. A house is a physical structure, whereas a home is created through the love shared between two people.
Line by Line Meaning
Home is where you're happy and I'm happy here with you,
I am content wherever we are together because that is where we find our joy and sense of belonging.
Or any place on earth that you may be.
Although the physical location may change, our happiness is not tied to a specific place but rather to our relationship.
Home is where you're happy, just any house will do,
The building or structure itself is not as important as the happiness we find in each other's company.
And I'll feel at home as long as you're with me.
As long as we are together, I feel a sense of comfort and belonging, no matter where we are.
This room could not hold me for one short minute;
Without you, this space would feel empty and meaningless to me, even for a brief moment.
If you weren't here with me, I'd soon be gone.
Your presence gives me a sense of purpose and without it, I would feel lost and directionless.
That chair is just a chair when you're not in it.
Inanimate objects hold no importance without the people we love to share them with.
It takes more than rooms and chairs to make a home.
The true essence of a home is not in the material possessions found within, but rather the love and happiness shared between its inhabitants.
Time, someday, may cause this house to crumble,
The physical structure of our home is temporary and subject to change over time.
But we'll move into another, love and all.
No matter where life takes us, the love we share will always be our foundation, allowing us to create a new home wherever we go.
And if time, someday, should make your footsteps stumble,
If you face difficulties in life, I will be there to support and help you get back on your feet.
I'll be there to catch you, should you fall.
My love for you is unwavering and I will always be there to support and comfort you, no matter what challenges we may face.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: WILLIE NELSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@therebelandhissidekick561
One of the most honest songs mr Nelson did I would say !
@michaelcolgrave4184
This is by far my favourite Willie Nelson song ,I first heard it some thirty years ago when I attended a concert in Nashville he also did a song farther down the line ,I was so lucky I also got to attend his show in Hobart when he toured here a few years later , can't get enough of Willie !
@mommenon1
Neither can I!!! :) Thank you so much, I love your comment!!! Willie forever!!!
@michaelcolgrave4184
Marianne, it's lovely to get such nice responses to my comments ,I can assure you it's not always like that ,the trouble is some people don't like the truth, you've probably already realised that I am a massive fan of real country music , not the crapp they dish up to us these days,I have been very fortunate to have seen many of the greats of country music on trips to America and when they have visited Australia , and I'm also so lucky to have accumulated a great collection O music over the years and it's great to to listen to some when I wish , thanks for your response,stay safe , mick c
@mommenon1
@Michael Colgrave Thank you Michael, I smile :) I agree wholeheartedly with you, I'm too a great fan of real country music, and have well over a thousand country LP's of the real country music performers! Like you said it is so awesome to just pull out an album, sit back, relax and enjoy the music we love, real country music!!! Wonderful that you have been to several performances here in the US....Treasure the memories!!! Take Care, and stay safe!
~Marianne...
@michaelcolgrave4184
Hi again Marianne, I don't know where you are in the u.s. but yes I did my first trip to Nashville in 1979, and since then I have been back a number of times and have been to many shows in Orlando Florida,in Branson Missouri and of course Nashville,I was also at the Astrodome for the last performance there , that was my first introduction to George strait ,and God I'm glad I went , cheers, mick
@mommenon1
@Michael Colgrave Hi Michael, it sounds like you traveled a lot here in the US, hopefully nothing but great memories!! My last concert I attended was in 2017, Willie Nelson's at the Lakeview Amphitheater along the shores of Onondaga Lake in Syracuse NY...It's near where I live! Love the man and his music!! I'm glad I went, that's how I like to remember him! Take Care!!!
~Marianne...
@nigerianhouseplans5629
Willie is just too good to be true.
@myrabrock219
Absolutely.
@marakaretsos5204
One of America’s Greatest Singers!!!
🎶🎶🎶🎶🎸🎸⭐️⭐️🎸🎸🎸🎶🍀