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.
Seasons Of My Heart
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We get a little sunshine, rain and snow
Just the way that it was planned to be
But there's no seasons in my heart
While you play the leading part
'Cause the flowers will bloom eternally
Your leaving, will bring autumn sorrow
But spring, it could bring some glad tomorrow
And darlin' we could be happy after all
As it all is in natures' plan
No season gets the upper hand. Oh
How I tried to keep this fact in mind
The trees are bare, the cold wind blows
And by experience I know
That winter comes, but the spring is close behind
Your leaving, will bring autumn sorrow
And my tears like withered leaves will fall
But spring, it could bring some glad tomorrow
And darlin' we could be happy.. after all...
"Seasons Of My Heart" is a beautiful song written by Johnny Cash and performed by Willie Nelson. The lyrics are about the natural seasons that come and go, but how there are no seasons in the singer's heart. The song reflects on the pain and sorrow of a lost love, but also offers hope for a better future. The opening lines of the song acknowledge that life has its ups and downs, just like the changing seasons. However, the singer's heart is in a constant winter, even as the world around him blooms with life.
The chorus of the song explores the theme of heartbreak, with the promise of a brighter future. The season of autumn is associated with sadness and loss, and the singer acknowledges that his tears will fall like withered leaves. But he also holds onto the hope of spring, which brings the promise of new life and happiness. The final verse of the song reflects on the natural cycle of the seasons, and how they always come full circle. Similarly, the singer acknowledges that while heartbreak is painful, it will eventually lead to new beginnings and opportunities for happiness.
Line by Line Meaning
The seasons come, the seasons go
Just like the seasons that are part of the natural cycle of life, things change and often come to an end.
We get a little sunshine, rain and snow
Throughout life, we experience moments of joy and sorrow that help us grow and learn.
Just the way that it was planned to be
Life is an unpredictable journey that we all must embrace, and we must accept that everything happens for a reason.
But there's no seasons in my heart
Despite the changing seasons, my love for you remains constant and never fades.
While you play the leading part
You are the one that is the center of my world, my love for you is what keeps me going.
'Cause the flowers will bloom eternally
Our love will never die, it will always be strong and beautiful like a blooming flower.
Your leaving, will bring autumn sorrow
If you were to leave, it would be a time of great sadness and loss, like the falling leaves of autumn.
And my tears like withered leaves will fall
My tears would symbolize the end of our love, like the withered leaves that fall from the trees in autumn.
But spring, it could bring some glad tomorrow
Just like the rebirth of spring, there is hope for a new beginning and a brighter future together.
And darlin' we could be happy after all
Despite the challenges we may face, we can find happiness in each other and our love can endure.
As it all is in natures' plan
Just like the changing seasons, our love and our journey together is part of a larger plan that we cannot control.
No season gets the upper hand. Oh
Even though each season has its own strengths, no one is better than the other, and they all have a role to play in the cycle of life.
How I tried to keep this fact in mind
I understand that life is unpredictable and full of changes, and I try to have faith in the larger plan, no matter what comes our way.
The trees are bare, the cold wind blows
When things seem bleak and barren, and the world seems cold and unforgiving, we must find the hope for brighter days ahead.
And by experience I know
Through the ups and downs of life, I have learned that things always get better in the end, and we can persevere through anything as long as we have each other.
That winter comes, but the spring is close behind
Even during the darkest and coldest times, we must hold on to the hope that a new beginning is right around the corner, just like how spring follows winter.
Lyrics © CARLIN AMERICA INC
Written by: DARRELL EDWARDS, GEORGE JONES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
MissTeacup
Superb job, Mr Nelson!
K W
It just amazes me how great Willie and Waylon were so great in the beginning of their careers. And then change both their styles later on and still be great ! Just pure talent I’d say !
Tom Mortensen
Love this version by Willie Nelson.
Raymond Nijenhuis
Beauty to the max.
Bella Stratton
Dekkadon; Want to thank you for posting all these videos from Willie's old original albums from before he was an Outlaw and a huge STAR. He was already a great singer, writer, and entertain though.......
Jewel Dotson
Actually Willie was better before he became a super star, most people just didn't realize it, such a haunting voice, love it
Jewel Dotson
As good as Willie was after (Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain) made him a super star, these early songs are his best, The possom would be proud of this cover of his song.