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.
Just The Way You Are
Willie Nelson Lyrics
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You've never let me down before
And don't imagine you're too familiar
And I don't see you anymore
I would not leave you in times of trouble
We never could have come this far
I took the good times and I'll take the bad times
And don't go trying some new fashion
Don't change the color of your hair
You always have my unspoken passion
Although I may not seem to care
I don't want clever conversation
I never wanna work that hard
I just want someone that I can talk to
I want you just the way you are
I need to know that you will always be
The same old someone that I knew
What will it take, 'til you believe in me
The way that I believe in you?
I said I love you and that's forever
And this I promise from the heart
But I couldn't love you any better
I love you just the way you are
I don't want clever conversation
I never wanna work that hard
I just want someone that I can talk to
I want you just the way you are
The song "Just the Way You Are" by Willie Nelson is a fervent declaration of love and acceptance. The song is all about acknowledging the imperfections that make a person unique and embracing them for who they are. The lyrics call on a lover not to change or try to please him but to remain true to themselves. He assures his partner that he will be with them through the good and the bad times and do not want them to change anything about themselves.
The singer appreciates the simplicity of the relationship and not wanting a partner who will work hard to be clever or assertive. They want someone they can talk to and connect with on an emotional level. The message is clear: unconditional love is the foundation of a strong relationship. It takes two people who are willing to love and accept each other for who they are, without reservation or judgement, to make it work.
Overall, the lyrics and the melody both resonate with many listeners because we all want to feel loved and accepted just the way we are. It is a timeless message that still rings true many years after this song was first released.
Line by Line Meaning
Don't go changing to try and please me
My love, please know that you do not need to change yourself to please me. I love you the way you are.
You've never let me down before
I have always trusted you, and you have never given me a reason to doubt you.
And don't imagine you're too familiar
I do not take you for granted, and I do not think I know you completely.
And I don't see you anymore
Even though we may be apart at times, my love for you never fades.
I would not leave you in times of trouble
I will always be by your side, supporting you through all the hardships of life.
We never could have come this far
Our relationship has been through a lot, but we have always made it through together.
I took the good times and I'll take the bad times
I cherish all the moments we share, the good and the bad, because they make us stronger.
I'll take you just the way you are
I love you for who you are, and I never want you to change yourself for me.
And don't go trying some new fashion
You do not need to change your appearance to impress me; your beauty shines from within.
Don't change the color of your hair
Your natural beauty is what I love, and I do not want you to alter it for my sake.
You always have my unspoken passion
Even though I may not always speak my mind, my passion for you remains strong and unwavering.
Although I may not seem to care
Though I may not always express my love vocally, it is always present in my heart.
What will it take, 'til you believe in me
I want you to have faith in me, in the same way that I have faith in you.
The same old someone that I knew
You are the same person I fell in love with and will always be, no matter what changes occur.
I said I love you and that's forever
My love for you will remain constant and everlasting, no matter what happens.
And this I promise from the heart
This is not just something I am saying, but a genuine promise from the depths of my heart.
But I couldn't love you any better
My love for you is already at its peak, and there is no way for me to love you more than I already do.
I love you just the way you are
I love you for who you are, and I never want you to feel like you need to change for me.
I don't want clever conversation
I do not need fancy words or complex discussions, I just want to talk to you about life and love.
I just want someone that I can talk to
You are the person I want to share all my thoughts and feelings with, now and forevermore.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Billy Joel
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind