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.
House of Gold
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
For wealth and what that wealth will buy
But don't they know on the Judgment Day
Gold and silver will melt away
I'd rather be in a deep dark grave
And know that my poor soul was saved
Than to live in this world in a house of gold
What good is gold, and silver too
When your heart's not good and true
So sinner, hear me when I say
Fall down on your knees and pray
And I'd rather be in a deep dark grave
And know that my poor soul was saved
Than to live in this world in a house of gold
Than deny my God, and doom my soul
Jesus died there on the cross
So this world would not be lost
Sinner hear now what I say
For some day you'll have to pay
And I'd rather be in a deep dark grave
And know that my poor soul was saved
Than to live in this world in a house of gold
Than deny my God, and doom my soul
In Willie Nelson's song "House of Gold," he denounces the materialistic obsession with money and possessions. He sings that people are willing to cheat, steal, and lie to accumulate wealth, but they fail to understand that, on the judgement day, gold and silver will become useless. Nelson believes that the soul's salvation is more important than living in a house of gold. He would rather have his poor soul saved and be in a deep dark grave than to deny God and compromise his soul's fate.
The chorus of the song emphasizes the importance of being sincere and true to oneself. The heart's goodness and truth are essential to live a fulfilling life. He urges the sinners to fall down on their knees and pray to avoid their eternal doom. The song concludes with Nelson reminding the listeners of Jesus's crucifixion and His ultimate sacrifice to redeem humanity. He warns that the sinners will have to pay someday and that, on that day, the wealth or the house of gold won't help, but only the purity of their souls will matter.
Line by Line Meaning
People cheat, they steal and lie
Some people resort to dishonesty to acquire wealth.
For wealth and what that wealth will buy
People are driven to achieve wealth to acquire things that it can buy.
But don't they know on the Judgment Day
Those people may not realize that their actions will be judged on the day of judgment.
Gold and silver will melt away
The wealth that they have accumulated will be worthless on that day.
I'd rather be in a deep dark grave
The artist would rather be dead and buried in a low-priced grave than to live a life without true faith.
And know that my poor soul was saved
He wants to ensure that his soul is saved after he dies.
Than to live in this world in a house of gold
The singer doesn't want to be surrounded by wealth if that causes them to lose sight of true values.
Than deny my God, and doom my soul
He doesn't want to risk his eternal salvation for wealth in this life.
What good is gold, and silver too
The artist is suggesting that wealth is worthless without a good heart and soul.
When your heart's not good and true
If a person's heart and intentions are not pure, money will not bring them true happiness.
So sinner, hear me when I say
The singer is urging sinners to listen to his words.
Fall down on your knees and pray
The artist advises sinners to seek God and pray to him.
Jesus died there on the cross
The singer is referring to Jesus' death on the cross and how it was for the sake of saving the world.
So this world would not be lost
Jesus' death enabled people to turn away from sin and find salvation.
Sinner hear now what I say
The singer is emphasizing his words again and urging sinners to pay attention.
For some day you'll have to pay
Everyone will be held accountable for their actions eventually.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Hank Williams Sr.
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Linda israel
Love it 😇
hey There
Wonderful, my new favorite! Thanks to my new friend Riley Baugus for introducing me to this. I did not know about it, just beautiful!
Doris Johansson
Lovely !!
Meek FYE
Yes I love willie nelson and to here’s him sang a song it’s really good
brenda kearney
awesome song ty!
matthew andrews
These one of 3 song that will be played at my funeral
America
someone show this song to congress
BlondiPier
First release
by Hank Williams with His Drifting Cowboys
(April 1954)
Kenny Dobbins
Actually the first was Move It On Over in 1947. He was dead by 1954.
Nina Menard
I am enjoying this album! Willie does gospel well!...What side of Willie is not to Love?....Versatile!t.........Thanks!