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.
One For My Baby And One For The Road
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
There's no one in the place
Except you and me
So set 'em up Joe
I've got a little story
You oughta know
We're drinking my friend
To the end
So make it one for my baby
And one more for the road
I got the routine
Put another nickel in that machine
Feeling so bad
Can't you make the music
Easy and sad?
I could tell you a lot
But it's not in a gentleman's code
So just make it one for my baby
And one more for the road
You'd never know it
But buddy, I'm kind of a poet
I've got a lot of things I'd like to say
And when I'm gloomy
Won't you listen to me?
Till it's all, all talked away
Well, that's how it goes
Joe, I know you're getting anxious to close
So thanks for the cheer
I hope you didn't mind my bending your ear
But this torch that I found, it's
Gotta be drowned
Or soon I'll explode
So make it one for my baby
And one more for the road
Just make it one for my baby
And one more for
The road
Willie Nelson's song "One For My Baby And One For The Road" is a melancholic but beautiful ballad about a man who has been through a tough time and wants to drown his sorrows at the bar with the bartender, Joe. It is a heartfelt plea for one last drink before he walks out the door, and the lyrics are full of sadness and yearning. The man is trying to get over something that is bothering him, and he feels that the end of this episode is near. He doesn't want to talk about what's been troubling him or reveal his secrets to anyone.
He starts by setting the scene, it's quarter to three, and the bar is empty, except for the two of them. He wants Joe to make him a drink and listen to him, even though he can't tell him everything. He wants him to play some music to suit his mood, music that is slow and melancholic. He says that he has a lot of things he would like to say, but he can't, it's not in a gentleman's code.
He then acknowledges that Joe wants to close but is grateful for the conversation and hopes that he didn't mind him talking. The last verse is poignant because he knows that this torch he has found has to be drowned, or soon he'll explode. He wants one last drink before he tucks himself in and hits the road, where his journey will continue.
Overall, the song is a powerful and emotional lyric about one man's inner turmoil and the coping mechanisms he chooses to deal with it. The storytelling in this song is incredible, and it portrays a world-weary man who has seen too much and is struggling to find his place.
Line by Line Meaning
It's a quarter to three
It's late at night.
There's no one in the place
The bar is empty.
Except you and me
Only the singer and the bartender are present.
So set 'em up Joe
The singer asks the bartender to pour drinks.
I've got a little story
The singer wants to share something with the bartender.
You oughta know
The singer thinks the bartender should be aware of what he's going to say.
We're drinking my friend
The singer and the bartender are drinking together.
To the end
The singer proposes a toast to the end of something.
Of a brief episode
The thing that is ending didn't last very long.
So make it one for my baby
The singer asks for a drink for himself.
And one more for the road
He asks for another drink before he leaves.
I got the routine
The singer knows what he's doing.
Put another nickel in that machine
He wants the bartender to play some music.
Feeling so bad
The singer is sad or depressed.
Can't you make the music
He's asking the bartender to choose a particular kind of music.
Easy and sad?
The singer wants to listen to something that reflects his mood.
I could tell you a lot
The singer has a lot on his mind.
But it's not in a gentleman's code
It's not appropriate to talk about certain things in public.
So just make it one for my baby
The singer repeats his earlier request for a drink.
And one more for the road
Again, he asks for another drink.
You'd never know it
The singer is saying that he appears one way, but is actually different in reality.
But buddy, I'm kind of a poet
He's revealing something about himself - that he writes poetry.
I've got a lot of things I'd like to say
He has a lot on his mind that he wants to express.
And when I'm gloomy
When he's feeling down or sad.
Won't you listen to me?
He's asking the bartender to listen to him.
Till it's all, all talked away
Until he's expressed everything he wants to say.
Well, that's how it goes
That's just the way things are.
Joe, I know you're getting anxious to close
The singer knows the bartender wants to close the bar for the night.
So thanks for the cheer
The singer is thanking the bartender for the drinks and conversation.
I hope you didn't mind my bending your ear
The singer hopes he hasn't talked the bartender's ear off.
But this torch that I found, it's
The singer found a passion or love interest.
Gotta be drowned
He needs to forget about it or let it go.
Or soon I'll explode
Otherwise, he'll become overwhelmed with emotions.
So make it one for my baby
Once again, the singer orders a drink for himself.
And one more for the road
And another drink before he leaves.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Suh Synched
Willie is a translator of all emotion and feeling. what's funny is people box him into the country realm but he's so much more.
Tater
Love this man. Words can't explain what he's brought to this world with his music.
Sig Lewis
@Helen Boula ...for..5fff5.5..........f..f.from. is this. better....................................g5......7 AM
Phyllis Ammons
Hi
Helen Boula
@Carlos Gutierrez hes alrady in his own hell, you fans just don't see it.
Helen Boula
You don't know this man. I do.
Deborah do Crim
Great song. I love Willie! He's one of the best. Nobody will ever fill his shoes either ! Love you Willie ❤💖😘
anella d'ambrosio
@Mark Cliffordciao Mark! 🙋♀️😍😘💘🍀
Mark Clifford
Hello 👋 Deborah. How are you doing? Hope you are fine. I'm Mark Clifford and am from Denver Colorado, where are you from? You seem like a real country girl
Juan Masday
King of variety songs Willie can sing any song with his own style and it's great