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 Let My Mind Wander
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And what did it do
I just kept right on goin'
Until it got right to you
Can't trust it one minute
It's worst than a child
This old face without conscience
And it's driving me wild
I try to keep my mind busy
With thoughts of today but
In terrible memories
Seem to lure it away
My lonely heart wonders
If there'll ever come a day
When I can be happy
But I can't see no way
Cause I let my mind wander
Willie Nelson's song "I Let My Mind Wander" is a soulful reflection on the perils of overthinking and how it can lead to emotional turmoil. The lyrics are simple yet profound as they delve into the complex feelings that accompany uncontrolled thoughts. Nelson speaks of how he cannot trust his own mind, which is worse than a child, as it tends to wander off and make him feel lost and disoriented. The song is a poignant reminder of the importance of controlling one's thoughts and not letting them spiral out of control.
The chorus of the song highlights the struggle to keep one's mind focused on the present in order to avoid being caught up in painful memories of the past. Nelson's voice is particularly powerful when he sings about how his "lonely heart wonders if there'll ever come a day when I can be happy" and how he cannot find a way out of this emotional state because he keeps letting his mind wander. The song is a raw and honest portrayal of the human experience of struggling with negative thoughts and emotions.
Line by Line Meaning
I let my mind wander
I allowed my thoughts to drift aimlessly
And what did it do
It kept going in all directions
I just kept right on goin'
I didn't attempt to control my thoughts
Until it got right to you
Until my mind dwelled on you
Can't trust it one minute
My mind is unreliable
It's worst than a child
It's even more unpredictable than a child
This old face without conscience
My mind has no regard for consequences
And it's driving me wild
It's making me feel crazy
When I let my mind wander
When I don't keep my thoughts under control
I try to keep my mind busy
I attempt to keep my thoughts focused
With thoughts of today but
With present day ideas
In terrible memories
But memories of the past
Seem to lure it away
Tend to distract it
My lonely heart wonders
My heart that feels alone is curious
If there'll ever come a day
If there will be a time
When I can be happy
When I can feel content
But I can't see no way
But I cannot perceive how it will happen
Cause I let my mind wander
Because I don't control my thoughts
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: WILLIE NELSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Deke lanson
Jimmy Days steel on this song is beautiful. That solo just sends chills up my spine.
Larry Emmons
Jimmy Days steel would have been great but this is Buddy Emmons
Dalton Garner
Such a beautiful song. Really hits home right now.
Isabel Vicentino
I love Willie Nelson always love the songs and voice.!!!!
Ambrose Greenlee
What a voice at 76 . Great !!!!!
Ambrose Greenlee
Danny!!! Willie has done it again!!!!!! I love this song !!!!!!!!!
philadelphiawillcollins
Went to see Willie perform in Bethlehem PA. It was the first and best concert Id been too. I love Willie Nelson.
anella d'ambrosio
La canzone e stupenda! Ma la tua voce e meravigliosa! Grazie Willie! 👩❤️💋👨🥰🤩😍🎶🎸🎶💘♥️💔💯💋🌹
Linett Boyd
Oh man...its as if the message in this song is all about me
Matt Attack
This is one of my favorites