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 Gotta Get Drunk
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And I sure do dread it
'Cause I know just what I'm gonna do
I'll start to spend my money
Calling everybody honey
And wind up singing the blues
I'll spend my whole paycheck
And brother I can name you a few
But I gotta get drunk
And I sure do dread it
'Cause I know just what I'm gonna do
I gotta get drunk I can't stay sober
There's a lot of good people in town
Who'd like to hear me holler
See me spend my dollars
And I wouldn't think of lettin' 'em down
There's a lot of doctors that tell me
That I'd better start to slowin' it down
But there's more old drunkers
Than there are old doctors
So I guess we'd better have another round
Well now I gotta get drunk
And I sure do dread it
'Cause I know just what I'm gonna do
I'll start to spend my money
Calling everybody honey
And wind up singing the blues
I'll spend my whole paycheck
On some old wreck
And brother I can name you a few
Well I gotta get drunk
And I sure do dread it
'Cause I know just what I'm gonna do
Well I gotta get drunk
And I sure do dread it
'Cause I know just what I'm gonna do
I'll start to spend my money
Calling everybody honey
And wind up singing the blues
I'll spend my whole paycheck
On some old wreck
And brother I can name you a few
Well I gotta get drunk
And I sure do dread it
'Cause I know just what I'm gonna do
"I Gotta Get Drunk" by Willie Nelson is a classic country song that talks about a man's struggle with alcohol addiction. The lyrics lay out the singer's fears and desires as he anticipates the coming night. He doesn't want to get drunk, but he knows he will, and he's worried about the consequences. He'll spend all of his money, call everyone "honey," and wind up singing the blues.
The lyrics paint a picture of a man who is caught in a cycle of addiction that he can't break. He knows that he's hurting himself and those around him, but he can't help himself. The song suggests that there's a community of people who support him in his addiction, whether they're other drinkers or just people who want to watch him sing and spend money.
This song is a powerful commentary on addiction and the hold that it can have on people. It doesn't offer any solutions or insights into how to break free from addiction, but it does give voice to the pain and struggle that people experience when they're caught in its grip.
Line by Line Meaning
Well I gotta get drunk
I feel the need to consume alcohol
And I sure do dread it
I don't look forward to the inevitable consequences of drinking
'Cause I know just what I'm gonna do
I anticipate repeating my usual pattern of behavior when I drink
I'll start to spend my money
I'll begin to use my funds recklessly
Calling everybody honey
I'll become overly friendly and flirtatious
And wind up singing the blues
I'll end up feeling regretful and sad about my actions while under the influence
I'll spend my whole paycheck
I'll use up all the money I earned
On some old wreck
I'll waste my money on something useless or frivolous
And brother I can name you a few
I can think of several examples of things I've wasted my money on in the past
But I gotta get drunk
Despite knowing the consequences, I feel an irresistible urge to drink
I can't stay sober
I am not able to resist the desire to drink alcohol
There's a lot of good people in town
There are many respectable members of the community
Who'd like to hear me holler
Some people enjoy my loud and boisterous behavior while under the influence
See me spend my dollars
They like to watch me use up my money while drinking
And I wouldn't think of lettin' 'em down
I feel the need to entertain these people and maintain their approval
There's a lot of doctors that tell me
Medical professionals have advised me
That I'd better start to slowin' it down
I should reduce my alcohol intake
But there's more old drunkers
However, there are still many people who drink excessively despite being older
Than there are old doctors
There are fewer doctors who are older than there are older people who drink excessively
So I guess we'd better have another round
Therefore, my companions and I will continue drinking
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Willie Nelson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@chuckheppner4384
When songs fall from the sky, all I can do is catch them before they hit the ground.
A lot of country music is sad. I think most art comes out of poverty and hard times. It applies to music. Three chords and the truth - that’s what a country song is. There is a lot of heartache in the world.
We are the same. There is no difference anywhere in the world. People are people. They laugh, cry, feel, and love, and music seems to be the commons denomination that brings us all together. Music cuts through all boundaries and goes right to the soul.
Oh, I think it's definitely spiritual. All music is. I think it's maybe one of the highest forms of spirituality.
#WillieNelson
Traditional theories of human creativity ascribe it to inspiration from a higher source working through the creative individual, who acts as a channel. The same conception underlies the notion of genius; originally the genius was not the person himself but his presiding god or spirit.
Rupert Sheldrake, The Rebirth of Nature: The Greening of Science and God
Sound is the force of creation, the true whole. Music then, becomes the voice of the great cosmic oneness and therefore the optimal way to reach this final state of healing.
The mystery of sound is mysticism; the harmony of life is religion. The knowledge of vibrations is metaphysics, the analysis of atoms is science, and their harmonious grouping is art. The rhythm of form is poetry, and the rhythm of sound is music. This shows that music is the art of arts and the science of all sciences; and it contains the fountain of all knowledge within itself.
A person does not hear sound only through the ears; he hears sound through every pore of his body. It permeates the entire being. We grown-up people think that we appreciate music, but if we realized the sense that an infant has brought with it of appreciating sound and rhythm, we would never boast of knowing music. The infant is music itself.
There is nothing better than music as a means for upliftment of the soul. Music is the language of the soul; and for two people of different nations or races to unite, there is no better means than music. The bringers of joy have always been the children of sorrow.
The person who is in tune with the Universe becomes like a radio receiver, through which the voice of the Universe is transmitted. To attain peace, what one has to do is to seek that rhythm which is in the depth of our being.
For a musician, music is the best way to unite with God. In ancient times the greatest of the prophets were great musicians. One day, music will take its rightful place as the true religion of Mankind.
Hazrat Inayat Khan
Music, uniquely among the arts, is both completely abstract and profoundly emotional. It has no power to represent anything particular or external, but it has a unique power to express inner states or feelings. Music can pierce the heart directly; it needs no mediation.
Music can move us to the heights or depths of emotion. It can persuade us to buy something, or remind us of our first date. It can lift us out of depression when nothing else can. It can get us dancing to its beat. But the power of music goes much, much further. Indeed, music occupies more areas of our brain than language does-humans are a musical species.
Music has a bonding power, it's primal social cement. The power of music to integrate and cure. . . is quite fundamental. It is the profoundest nonchemical medication. Music is...a fundamental way of expressing our humanity - and it is often our best medicine.
There is no one part of the brain which recognizes or responds emotionally to music. Instead, there are many different parts responding to different aspects of music: to pitch, to frequency, to timbre, to tonal intervals, to consonance, to dissonance, to rhythm, to melodic contour, to harmony.
Music can lift us out of depression or move us to tears - it is a remedy, a tonic, orange juice for the ear. But for many of my neurological patients, music is even more - it can provide access, even when no medication can, to movement, to speech, to life. For them, music is not a luxury, but a necessity.
I regard music therapy as a tool of great power in many neurological disorders -- Parkinson's and Alzheimer's -- because of its unique capacity to organize or reorganize cerebral function when it has been damaged. Music evokes emotion and emotion can bring it's memory.
The past which is not recoverable in any other way is embedded, as if in amber, in the music, and people can regain a sense of identity.
In terms of brain development, musical performance is every bit as important educationally as reading or writing.
Creativity...involves the power to originate, to break away from the existing ways of looking at things, to move freely in the realm of the imagination, to create and recreate worlds fully in one's mind-while supervising all this with a critical inner eye.
Oliver Sacks
@hellerma100
You sit at the desk, there is a lot of work, but you take a break, listen to Willie's song, and life is beautiful again. The birds sing outside the window and nature blooms.
@IDLFredux
It will be the greatest travesty in all of world history if this ain't played at my funeral.
@jonnyhaley3703
Had it at my grandads, good reaction
@wareagle843
This is the way
@elisecliftonklitz
🍺😋 happy birthday Willie🎈🎂
@JakeHudson-oc9wc
Willie is indeed a terrific singer, you can’t hear him sing and not love him.
How long have you been a fan?
@robertagilbert12345
Much love to you Willie. You're the best that's left. Wishing you many more years to entertain us all. Love all your old songs, thanks to my wonderful Daddy.
Wishing you a very blessed day love 💖🙏💖🙏💖🙏
@timthomas4294
To me he has been and is the best
@robertagilbert12345
@@timthomas4294
I totally agree with you!!!
@1978garfield
He is the last man standing.