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.
Love Is Here To Stay
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Our love is here to stay
Not for a year
But ever and a day
The radio and the telephone
And the movies that we know
Are passing fancies and in time may go
But, oh my dear
Our love is here to stay
Together we're
Going a long, long way
In time the Rockies may crumble
Gibralter may tumble
There're only made of clay
But our love is here to stay
It's very clear
Our love is here to stay
Not for a year
But ever and a day
The radio and the telephone
And the movies that we know
Are passing fancies and in time may go
But, oh my dear
Our love is here to stay
Together we're
Going a long, long way
In time the Rockies may crumble
Gibralter may tumble
There're only made of clay
But our love is here
Our love is here
Our love is here to stay
In Willie Nelson's song Love is Here to Stay, the lyrics speak of the steadfastness and longevity of the love between two people. The opening lines declare that the love that the two people share is unequivocally present and irrevocably permanent. In fact, it is a love that will last forever and a day, in sharp contrast to fleeting and transitory things like the radio, telephone and movies which may come and go.
The next stanza further highlights the certainty and endurance of their love, even if physical landmarks like the Rockies or Gibralter, which are often seen as the prime examples of indestructibility, one day finally fell apart. The chorus repeats the same line, reminding the listener that the love will be there always.
Throughout the song, the lyrics paint the picture of a love that is not only incredibly strong but also surpasses all other human experiences or developments. In essence, their love is the one thing that will persist and survive as the world continues to change and evolve.
The song's themes are not unique to Willie Nelson, as many other love songs have tried to capture the same kind of emotional essence of what makes love work, and what makes it last. However, with Nelson’s signature vocal style and soulful guitar licks, Love is Here to Stay becomes an iconic representation of the kind of unceasing love that many dream of sharing with someone.
Line by Line Meaning
It's very clear
It's obvious, evident and undeniable that our love is here to stay
Our love is here to stay
Our love is permanent, enduring and steadfast
Not for a year
Our love is not short-lived, temporary or transient
But ever and a day
Our love is forever, eternal and infinite
The radio and the telephone
Modern technologies that entertain, connect and communicate with people
And the movies that we know
Film productions that entertain, educate and reflect the culture of society
Are passing fancies and in time may go
These modern technologies and film productions are temporary, fleeting and could disappear with time
But, oh my dear
Despite these evanescent things, my dear, our love remains the same
Together we're
United, attached and inextricably linked with each other
Going a long, long way
Our love journey is extensive, uninterrupted and continuous
In time the Rockies may crumble
The Rocky Mountains, an emblematic symbol of durability and strength, might disintegrate with time
Gibralter may tumble
Gibraltar, a strategic fortress of invincibility and resilience, could also collapse
There're only made of clay
These powerful landmarks are mere objects that could crumble with time and are therefore impermanent
But our love is here to stay
Our love, in contrast to these physical structures, is indestructible, timeless and forever present
Our love is here
Our love is real, tangible and palpable
Our love is here
Our love is not a fantasy, a dream or an illusion
Our love is here to stay
Our love is everlasting, unbreakable and ubiquitous
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind