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.
Rainy day blues
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Cloudy in the morning and it's gonna be raining in the afternoon
If you don't like this rainy weather you better pack your bags and move
But if you're running from it brother the only road that I can see
If you're running from it brother the only road that I can see
Is the road that leads to nowhere and nowhere is a fool like me
Rain keep a falling falling round my window pane
Rain keep a falling falling round my window pane
Save those dimes and nickels save 'em for a rainy day
Save your dimes and nickels save 'em for a rainy day
It ain't gonna keep the rain from coming but at least you know you've paid your way
Rain rain rain keep a falling...
The lyrics of Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis's song "Rainy Day Blues" are about a person's frustration with the rainy weather. The opening lines tell us that it's cloudy in the morning and it's going to rain in the afternoon, indicating that this person has been experiencing this weather for a while. The next line warns those who don't like this weather that they should move. However, the person singing is aware that the rain will keep falling and there's no running away from it. The only road he can see is the one that leads to nowhere, and he calls himself a fool for being stuck in this kind of weather.
The chorus tells us that the rain keeps falling around his window pane, and he feels that he will never see the sun again. This is a metaphor for his gloomy state of mind, and the rain is just a representation of his troubles. The second verse advises us to save our money for a rainy day, which means saving for a day when we may need the money more than ever. The person singing knows that even saving money won't keep the rain from coming. Still, at least we know that we've paid our way and are prepared for tough times.
Line by Line Meaning
Well it's cloudy in the morning gonna be raining in the afternoon
The singer mentions about the cloudy morning and predicts that it is going to rain in the afternoon.
If you don't like this rainy weather you better pack your bags and move
The singer suggests that if someone dislikes rainy weather, they should move to a place that doesn't have rainy weather.
But if you're running from it brother the only road that I can see
The singer implies that if someone is trying to escape from the rainy weather, the only path he can see is the one going nowhere.
Is the road that leads to nowhere and nowhere is a fool like me
The artist acknowledges that the direction leading nowhere is foolish and he doesn't want to take that path.
Rain keep a falling falling round my window pane
The artist is describing the scenario where the rain is continuously falling by the windowpane.
Ain't never seen so much rainy weather guess I'll never see the sun again
The singer has not experienced so much rain before, and he feels that he might never get to see the sun again.
Save your dimes and nickels save 'em for a rainy day
The singer advises saving money for future use during a rainy day.
It ain't gonna keep the rain from coming but at least you know you've paid your way
The artist clarifies that saving money wouldn't stop the rain, but it would help to be prepared when it does happen.
Rain rain rain keep a falling...
The artist is once again reiterating that the rain is continuously falling and doesn't seem to stop.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: J. MAYO WILLIAMS, JOE TURNER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind