Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American musician, actor, an… Read Full Bio ↴Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American musician, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger (1975) and Stardust (1978), made Nelson one of the most recognized artists in country music. He was one of the main figures of outlaw country, a subgenre of country music that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restrictions of the Nashville sound. Nelson has acted in over 30 films, co-authored several books, and has been involved in activism for the use of biofuels and the legalization of marijuana.

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.

I'd Rather You Didn't Love Me
Willie Nelson Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

You told me you'd love me forever
But the one in your arms is not me
So if this is what you refer to as love
Then I'd rather you didn't love me
I have waited so long for your love now
But I've made up my mind it can't be
For if I am just one of the many you love
Then I'd rather you didn't love me

How can I name the one to blame
I suppose it's the way you believe
But if this is what you refer to as love
Then I'd rather you didn't love me

And if I am just one of the many you love

Then I'd rather you didn't love me
I'd rather you didn't love me

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Willie Nelson's song, "I'd Rather You Didn't Love Me," express a sense of resignation and sadness in the face of unrequited love. The song's speaker hears from the person they love that they will love them forever, only to later discover that their affections have shifted elsewhere. The singer realizes that they are not the only one that this person loves, and as a result, they would rather not be loved at all than to have to share that love with others. The song's focus on the singer's feelings of inadequacy and hurt echo the universal experience of unrequited love, where even the promise of love's eternal flames can be extinguished in a moment.

One interpretation of the lyrics is that the singer is in love with someone who cannot commit to them. The line, "But the one in your arms is not me," suggests that the person they love is in a relationship with someone else, leaving the singer on the outside looking in. The lyrics also suggest that the singer has been waiting a long time for this person's love, potentially suggesting that they have been pining for them to show interest for a while. The line, "I have waited so long for your love now, but I've made up my mind it can't be," suggests that the singer has come to terms with the fact that their love is unreciprocated.

In conclusion, "I'd Rather You Didn't Love Me" captures the pain and disappointment that comes from unreturned love. The lyrics explore the singer's feelings of inadequacy and rejection, while also showing their determination to move on from this relationship and find the love they deserve.

Line by Line Meaning

You told me you'd love me forever
You promised to love me without end

But the one in your arms is not me
You have someone else in your heart

So if this is what you refer to as love
If your definition of love includes infidelity

Then I'd rather you didn't love me
I prefer to not be loved in such a manner

I have waited so long for your love now
I have desired your affection for an extensive amount of time

But I've made up my mind it can't be
I have concluded that it is not possible

For if I am just one of the many you love
If I am not unique in your feelings

Then I'd rather you didn't love me
I would choose to be unloved instead

How can I name the one to blame
Who can I hold accountable for this situation

I suppose it's the way you believe
I suppose it's your attitude towards love

But if this is what you refer to as love
However, if your definition of love is flawed

Then I'd rather you didn't love me
It is preferable for me to not be loved by you

And if I am just one of the many you love
And if my status is that of one of many

Then I'd rather you didn't love me
I would rather your affection be absent

I'd rather you didn't love me
I would choose to not have your love

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: WILLIE NELSON

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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Most interesting comment from YouTube:

JP Moreno V.

9y↑13

You told me you'd love me forever
but the one in your arms
is not me
So if this is what you refer
to as love then I'd rather
you didn't love me
I have waited so long
for your love now
but I made up my mind
it can't be.
For if I am just one
of the many you love t
hen I'd rather you didn't
love me.
How can I name
the one to blame
I suppose it's the way
you believe.
But if this is what you
refer to as love
then I'd rather
you didn't love me
How can I name...

All comments from YouTube:

Linda cp

5y↑13

This ol' dude will be sorely missed when he's gone and no longer making music. I've been listening to him since I was a kid in the '60s. I never get enough of his sound.

Rooster Proctor

12y↑10

Outstanding......I could listen to Willie 24/7.........

Ngarangi

13y↑6

Great tune Great song Great artist, forever Willie is Gods gift to country

Angie Veri

6y↑4

Another awesome song by icon Willie Nelson, that I hadn't heard before. I would think there are many I haven't heard, but I am listening to them and thoroughly enjoying them, one by one. Thank you for sharing this song.