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.
Lonestar
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
This feeling I'm trying to fight
It's dark and I think that I would
Give anything
For you to shine down on me
How far you are I just don't know
The distance I'm willing to go
Hoping for some kind of sign
Lonestar where are you out tonight?
This feeling I'm trying to fight
It's dark and I think that I would
Give anything
For you to shine down on me
For you to shine down on me
The lyrics of Willie Nelson and Norah Jones' song Lonestar paint a picture of a desolate and isolated landscape where the singer is seeking a connection with someone or something. The repeated question "Lonestar, where are you out tonight?" suggests that the singer is looking for a shining beacon in the darkness, a guiding light that will lead them to a sense of belonging and companionship. The desire to connect with another person is palpable in lines like "This feeling I'm trying to fight" and "I would give anything for you to shine down on me". The imagery of the stone being thrown into the sky in hopes of a sign speaks to the character's desperation for any sense of hope or guidance.
The use of the word "Lonestar" in the title and throughout the song is significant. Lonestar is a nickname for the state of Texas, which is known for its wide open spaces and rugged individualism. The use of this nickname suggests that the character is looking for a sense of connection and community in an area that is often associated with independence and self-reliance. The repeated chorus of the song creates a sense of yearning and longing for a connection that seems out of reach.
Line by Line Meaning
Lonestar where are you out tonight?
Addressing the state of Texas as Lonestar and expressing a desire to know its whereabouts at night.
This feeling I'm trying to fight
Assuming that Lonestar represents something or someone causing emotional distress and acknowledging a struggle against it.
It's dark and I think that I would
Acknowledging the darkness of the night and the longing for a guiding light amidst negativity.
Give anything
Strongly expressing willingness to do whatever it takes to overcome this feeling and situation.
For you to shine down on me
Requesting for divine intervention or any kind of positivity to bring light into the darkness.
How far you are I just don't know
Recognizing that the cause of the distress may be distant and unknown.
The distance I'm willing to go
Expressing a willingness to go far and overcome physical barriers in pursuit of resolution.
I pick up a stone that I cast to the sky
Symbolizing an act of hope or prayer, making an offering to the universe for a sign or message of guidance.
Hoping for some kind of sign
Awaiting a response, hoping for any kind of indication that things will get better.
For you to shine down on me
Reiterating the central message of the song, a plea for the universe to provide light and positivity in times of darkness.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Lee Alexander
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@TheNesianscribe
I love how battered Willie's guitar is, just like the man himself - rough around the edges but pure, classic country goodness! Also, just how beautiful and talented is Miss Jones? Wow, what a combo!
@TimBowSpice
Willie Nelson's guitar is named trigger, and the same man has been doing repairs on it for many years.
And the decade that Norah Jone's "Don't know why" was released, it was the top selling album of the decade.
@Jangocat
God bless Willie, I hope he lives to be 100... And Norah is a musical goddess...
@michelefitzgerald6603
ITS BEEN SAID
IT TAKES A THOUSAND YEARS
TO CREATE A TRUE LOVE ❤️
@michelefitzgerald6603
SONG
@robertothebar
Norah, the greatest pop/jazz/soul/folk/country singer-composer EVER!! And she´s the most beautiful woman in the world.....
@velvetunderpants44
And you just KNOW she's a total sweetheart too
@MrEclecticity
I am within a gossamer thread of agreeing with you.
@velvetunderpants44
Two Texas legends
Love the bones of both of 'em.
Norah's such a great country singer
My heart breaks at the thought of a world without Willie Nelson
@HuffTex
Norah Jones brings out something primal in me.....Grrrrrrrooowwwwwl! Willie is, and always will be, the coolest cat in the place...