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.
Night And Day
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Only you beneath the moon or under the sun
Whether near to me or far
It's no matter of where you are
I think of you day and night
Night and day, why is it so
That this longin' for you follows wherever I go?
In the silence of my lonely room
I think of you day and night
Night and day, under the hide of me
There's an oh, such a hungry yearnin' burnin' inside of me
And its torment won't be through
Till you let me spend my life making love to you
Day and night, night and day
Night and day, under the hide of me
There's a oh, such a hungry yearning and burning inside of me
And its torment won't be through
Till you let me spend my life making love to you
Day and night, night and day
Night and day
, Willie Nelson's classic standard, is a song that expresses the deep longing and passion of love. The lyrics highlight the strong feelings that the singer has for his loved one, as they are constantly on his mind, day and night. The song compares the intensity of the singer's love to the rhythms of nature, with the object of his affection being the only one who can fulfill his desires, whether they are near or far, under the moon or the sun. The song's lyrics also express the idea of being completely consumed by love, with the singer's very being being consumed by a "hungry yearning and burning inside."
One interpretation of the lyrics is that they are about longing for someone who is unattainable or distant, as the repeated refrain of "night and day" suggests an obsessive or all-consuming love. The lyrics also suggest that the singer's passion is a torment that can only be assuaged by being with the loved one. The song's melody, with its soaring high notes and passionate crescendos, captures the intensity of the lyrics, creating a timeless ballad that has become a classic interpretation of the power of love.
Line by Line Meaning
Night and day, you are the one
No matter the time or place, this person is always on my mind and at the forefront of my thoughts.
Only you beneath the moon or under the sun
The person is the singular focus and everything revolves around them, whether it is day or night.
Whether near to me or far
Proximity is not a factor in my constant need to think about and be with this person.
It's no matter of where you are
No matter where the person is physically located or where I am, they still hold a special significance to me.
I think of you day and night
The person fills my thoughts and consumes my mind no matter the time of day or night.
Night and day, why is it so
I question why this person is always on my mind, but I cannot control my longing for them.
That this longin' for you follows wherever I go?
The longing to be with this person persists no matter where I am or what I am doing.
In the roarin' traffic's boom
The noise and chaos of everyday life cannot drown out my desire and need for this person.
In the silence of my lonely room
Even in moments of solitude and quiet, my thoughts are consumed by this person.
Night and day, under the hide of me
Beneath the surface, my desire and longing for this person is ever-present and strong.
There's an oh, such a hungry yearnin' burnin' inside of me
A passionate and intense yearning for this person exists within me and it cannot be ignored or subdued.
And its torment won't be through
This intense longing will not be quelled until I can finally be with and love this person.
Till you let me spend my life making love to you
My one desire is to be with and make love to this person for the rest of my life.
Day and night, night and day
No matter the time or place, my thoughts and desires for this person persist and will not be silenced.
Lyrics © Roba Music Verlag GMBH, Red Brick Music Publishing, BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Cole Porter
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Evansclan 4eva
I love Willie’s guitar. I wish he’d do more guitar songs as well as singing.
thecellnerdjohn
Just bought the CD on ebay. Very very nice!
Dave Bristol - Foley
Same here, was looking for one with his guitar work
Robert Bentzel
I tell my young county co workers about this album since they grew up in the 90s. No one has ever come back and talked to me about it. Guess they’re busy listing to Clint black
Cody (not an alien)
Thanks for this upload. I tried buying the CD but it is old or degraded and I think and no cd player I have accepts it. Can't stream this either. :/ maybe I have better luck on Willie's website
Dave Bristol - Foley
Your Welcome .. Should be able to download this from here
aus Blue
aww dont he sing here
aus Blue
@Robert King i listened to it all lol
Robert King
if you're not hearing it you aren't listening
aus Blue
ok did ya }