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 in San Antone
Willie Nelson Lyrics
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Haven't got a care
Haven't got a thing to call my own
Though I'm out of money
I'm a millionaire
I still have my home in San Antone
When I greet my neighbor with a hi y'all
But when I feel like braggin'
I just up and say
I'm a native son of San Antone
Well I travel around the country on my merry way
I've been to crowds and felt I was alone
But when I feel like braggin'
I just up and say
I'm a native son of San Antone
And there's a sweet somebody by the Alamo
Someday she's goin' to be my very own
And we'll buy a high chair in a year or so
For our little home in San Antone
Well I haven't got a worry
Haven't got a care
Haven't got a thing to call my own
And though I'm out of money
I'm a millionaire
I still have my home in San Antone
And there's a sweet somebody by the Alamo
Someday she's goin' to be my very own
And then I'll build a high chair in a year or so
For our little home in San Antone
I'm a native son of San Antone
For our little home in San Antone
The song Home in San Antone by Willie Nelson and Ray Price celebrates the pride and sense of belonging that comes with having a home in the city of San Antonio, Texas. The lyrics express the singer's unabashed love for his hometown, despite being out of money, and the feeling of being welcomed as a king among his neighbors. The singer brags about being a native son of San Antone, and the assurance that he has a place he can always call home.
The song tells the story of a man who travels around the country and feels alone in the crowds; however, he has a sense of belonging when he is in San Antonio. The lyrics suggest that the man is genuinely happy to be home, even when he is not in a position to purchase expensive things. The song concludes with the singer talking about a sweet somebody by the Alamo, who will someday be his own, and the plans he has for their little home in San Antone.
Overall, the lyrics of Home in San Antone by Willie Nelson and Ray Price express the unapologetic love for the city by a native son, and the attachment and pride that comes with having a place to call home.
Line by Line Meaning
Haven't got a worry
I have no concerns or anxieties
Haven't got a care
There is nothing to trouble me
Haven't got a thing to call my own
I possess nothing of my own
Though I'm out of money
Despite being broke
I'm a millionaire
I feel wealthy because of my home in San Antone
When I greet my neighbor with a hi y'all
When I say hello to my neighbour in a southern accent
I'm as welcome as a king upon a throne
I feel highly regarded in my community
But when I feel like braggin'
When I want to boast
I just up and say
I simply state
I'm a native son of San Antone
I was born and raised in San Antone, a point of pride
Well I travel around the country on my merry way
I journey around the US happily
I've been to crowds and felt I was alone
I have travelled to big cities and felt anonymous
And there's a sweet somebody by the Alamo
There's someone special to me near the Alamo
Someday she's goin' to be my very own
One day she'll be mine and I'll be hers
And we'll buy a high chair in a year or so
We'll purchase a high chair soon for our future child
For our little home in San Antone
For our home in the city we both love
I still have my home in San Antone
My home in San Antone is my greatest treasure
I'm a native son of San Antone
Being from San Antone is my identity
For our little home in San Antone
Our home is where our hearts truly belong
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Songtrust Ave
Written by: FRED ROSE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind