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.
Sad Songs and Waltzes
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A true song as real as my tears
But you've no need to fear it
'Cause no one will hear it
'Cause sad songs and waltzes
Aren't selling this year
I'll tell all about how you cheated
I'd like to get even with you
'Cause you're leavin'
But sad songs and waltzes
Aren't selling this year
It's a good thing that I'm not a star
You don't know how lucky you are
And though my record may say it
No one will play it
'Cause sad songs and waltzes
Aren't selling this year
Well, it's a good thing that I'm not a star
And you don't know how lucky you are
Though my record may say it
No one will play it
'Cause sad songs and waltzes
Aren't selling this year
Willie Nelson's "Sad Songs and Waltzes" is a melancholic ballad about failed relationships, heartbreak, and the struggles of the music industry. The song is a reflection of the singer's own experiences in Nashville in 1966 when he tried to break into the country music scene, with little success. In the first verse of the song, Nelson talks about his desire to write a song about someone special in his life. He states that the song will be authentic and heartfelt but acknowledges that no one will hear it because of the current market trends. The chorus of the song describes the unpopularity of sad songs and waltzes and how they will not sell.
In the second verse, Nelson reveals that the song he wants to write will be about his partner cheating on him. He confesses his desire to get even with them and share his pain with the whole world through his music. However, once again, he is aware that such a song is unlikely to sell. The final verse acknowledges that even though the singer is not a star, nobody will play his song because of its depressing tone, making it a hopeless undertaking.
"Sad Songs and Waltzes" is a poignant reflection of the difficult realities of the music business, where commercial considerations often trump artistic merit. Through the song, Nelson speaks to the struggles of an artist who is committed to producing authentic and meaningful music but is forced to make compromises for the sake of commercial success.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm writing a song all about you
I am expressing my feelings for you in the form of a song.
A true song as real as my tears
The song is genuine and heartfelt, as expressed through my tears.
But you've no need to fear it
You need not be afraid of the song and its content.
'Cause no one will hear it
The song will not be heard by anyone and will remain unheard.
'Cause sad songs and waltzes
The genre of the song, sad songs and waltzes, is not popular at the moment.
Aren't selling this year
Songs in this genre are not selling well at the moment.
I'll tell all about how you cheated
The song will reveal the truth about how you cheated on me.
I'd like for the whole world to hear
I want everyone in the world to know what you did.
I'd like to get even with you
I want to seek revenge on you.
'Cause you're leavin'
Because you are leaving me.
But sad songs and waltzes
However, the song's genre is not popular at this time.
Aren't selling this year
Songs in this genre are not selling well at the moment.
It's a good thing that I'm not a star
I am glad that I am not a famous musician.
You don't know how lucky you are
You should consider yourself fortunate that the song will not receive wider attention.
And though my record may say it
Even if my album indicates otherwise.
No one will play it
The song will not receive any airplay and will not be played by anyone.
'Cause sad songs and waltzes
The genre of the song, sad songs and waltzes, is not popular at the moment.
Aren't selling this year
Songs in this genre are not selling well at the moment.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Willie Nelson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Pondy Hsu
I'm writing a song all about you
A true song as real as my tears
But you've no need to fear it,
'Cause no one will hear it
'Cause sad songs and waltzes aren't selling this year
I'll tell all about how you cheated
I'd like for the whole world to hear
I'd like to get even with you 'cause you're leaving
'Cause sad songs and waltzes aren't selling this year
It's a good thing that I'm not a star
You don't know how lucky you are
Though my record may say it, no one will play it
'Cause sad songs and waltzes aren't selling this year
****************
But It's a good thing that I'm not a star
You don't know how lucky you are
Though my record may say it, no one will play it
'Cause sad songs and waltzes
Aren't selling this year.....
Orioles Whiz Craig
It's a very funny song lyrically and I think Cake really brings that out. Country wise Willie's version leaves you searching for the humor a little more and rest assured, he is the master! Great tune and portrait of a desparate little angry man who's been burned. I truly enjoy both versions.
Jeremy Renals
Yes! It's such a funny song! I thought it was just me. I can't sing it without breaking into laughter. Genius!
Fred Payette
Wow 20 years later I find out it's a cover song and not Cake. Respect to Mr. Wilson
ShadowChimp1
CAKE version = Superior version
Cris R
That’s what got me here dude! I like Cake.
Then I saw a lot of ppl (Texas) doing this cover but different then what I heard
Brian Smetzer
Just found out today lol
Annelise Fjeld Knutsen
So did I! Today!
Waylon Nicholson
Wilson?
beaugiov
If this is country music, I can certainly 100% say I love country music. Great album!
Lowell Thomas, Jr.
This album had a profound effect on my musical perceptions and it DID help me through more than a couple of "sinking spells." lol