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'm Confessin'
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Tell me, do you love me too?
I'm confessin' that I need you,
Honest I do, need you every moment!
In your eyes I read such strange things,
But your lips deny they're true
Will your answer really change things,
Making me blue?
I'm afraid someday you'll leave me,
Say'n can't we still be friends?
If you go, you know you'll grieve me,
All in life on you depends
Am I guessin' that you love me?
Dreamin' dreams of you in vain,
I'm confessin' that I love you,
Over again!
I'm afraid someday you'll leave me,
Say'n can't we still be friends?
If you go, you know you'll grieve me,
All in life on you depends
Am I guessin' that you love me?
Dreamin' dreams of you in vain,
I'm confessin' that I love you,
Over again!
Willie Nelson's rendition of "I'm Confessin'" is a poignant declaration of love, a confession of deep feelings for someone who's captured his heart. The song's opening lines set the tone for the rest of the song, as Willie croons that he's "confessin' that I love you." He then goes on to ask if his love is reciprocated with the line "Tell me, do you love me too?"
The second verse continues with his confession, this time acknowledging that he needs his lover. He explains that he needs them every moment, and that he reads "strange things" in their eyes, though their lips "deny they're true." This line can be interpreted as his lover saying one thing, but their eyes revealing the opposite – perhaps indicating that they love him back, but are hesitant to admit it.
The final verse is the most emotive, as Willie exposes his vulnerability and fear of losing his lover. He's afraid that someday they'll leave him and only ask to be friends. He implores them not to leave, as he'd be unable to move on: "all in life on you depends." The song ends on a bittersweet note with Willie confessing his love once more, knowing that he might be "dreamin' dreams of you in vain."
Overall, Willie Nelson's "I'm Confessin'" is a tender and wistful depiction of the pangs of love, the fear of loss, and the power of vulnerability.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm confessin' that I love you
I'm admitting that I have strong feelings of affection towards you
Tell me, do you love me too?
Can you tell me if you share the same feelings of love?
I'm confessin' that I need you,
I'm admitting that I depend on you
Honest I do, need you every moment!
I truly rely on you constantly
In your eyes I read such strange things,
Your eyes communicate complex emotions to me
But your lips deny they're true
But you verbally deny those emotions exist
Will your answer really change things,
Will your response fundamentally alter our relationship?
Making me blue?
Will it cause me to feel sadness or regret?
I'm afraid someday you'll leave me,
I worry that at some point in the future, you'll abandon me
Say'n can't we still be friends?
Will you suggest we remain friends even if you decide to leave?
If you go, you know you'll grieve me,
If you depart, you'll cause me emotional pain
All in life on you depends
My entire existence rests on you and our relationship
Am I guessin' that you love me?
Am I making an educated guess that your feelings towards me are loving?
Dreamin' dreams of you in vain,
Imagining scenarios and outcomes involving you that will never come to fruition
I'm confessin' that I love you,
I'm acknowledging once more that I deeply care for you
Over again!
Reiterating my love for you once more
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Al J Neiburg, Doc Daugherty, Ellis Reynolds
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind