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.
Ocean of Diamonds
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
While others drink wine, leaning over a bar
But all that I need dear to make me feel fine
Is to know that your love will forever be mine
I'd give an ocean of diamonds or a world filled with flowers
To hold you closely for just a few hours
Hear you whisper softly that you love me too
I don't drink their champagne and I don't drink their wine
So if you refuse me my poor heart will pine
I'll be so lonely till the day that I die
And as long as I live dear you'll still hear me cry
I'd give an ocean of diamonds or a world filled with flowers
To hold you closely for just a few hours
Hear you whisper softly that you love me too
Would change all the dark clouds to the bluest of blue
Would change all the dark clouds to the bluest of blue
The lyrics of Willie Nelson's song "Ocean of Diamonds" reflect the yearning of the singer for the love of their partner. The lyrics express the idea that material things like champagne and wine don't matter when true love is present. The singer states that all they need is the assurance of their partner's love to make them feel happy and fulfilled. The use of imagery is particularly effective in this song, with the singer saying they would give an "ocean of diamonds or a world filled with flowers" to have their partner close by for a few hours. These strong images reflect the depth of feeling that the singer has for their loved one.
The song is also notable for its emotional tone. The words convey a sense of longing and vulnerability, as the singer confesses their need for their partner's love. The repetition of the chorus at the end of the song emphasizes this feeling, as the singer repeats the line "Would change all the dark clouds to the bluest of blue." Overall, the song captures the intensity of the love that the singer feels for their partner and the sense of desperation that comes when that love is not reciprocated.
Line by Line Meaning
Some people drink champagne out under the stars
Some people enjoy the luxuries of life under the clear sky, like drinking champagne.
While others drink wine, leaning over a bar
Other people prefer drinking wine, while they lean over the bar that they sit on.
But all that I need dear to make me feel fine
For me, all I need to feel content is your love.
Is to know that your love will forever be mine
Being assured that you will love me for eternity is all I require to feel complete.
I'd give an ocean of diamonds or a world filled with flowers
I would give any material or non-material possession, that signifies how precious you are to me.
To hold you closely for just a few hours
I want to hold you in my arms, close to me for even a little while.
Hear you whisper softly that you love me too
The fact that you love me back is what I wish to hear whispered softly in my ear.
Would change all the dark clouds to the bluest of blue
The knowledge that you reciprocate my love will change my whole world, making every dark and gloomy area of my life bright and sunny.
I don't drink their champagne and I don't drink their wine
The drinks that some individuals relish do not entice me.
So if you refuse me my poor heart will pine
If you deny me your love, I will be miserable and dejected.
I'll be so lonely till the day that I die
If you do not love me, my loneliness is a situation that will remain with me until my dying day.
And as long as I live dear you'll still hear me cry
As long as I live, you will always hear me cry over the fact that you could not love me back.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: CLIFFORD CARNAHAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Βασίλης Κυριακίδης
One of my favourite Willie's songs...
Isack Charles
best song ever