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.
September Song
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
From May to December
But the days grow short
When you reach September
When the autumn weather
Turns leaves to flame
One hasn't got time
Oh, the days dwindle down
To a precious few
September, November
And these few precious days
I'll spend with you
These precious days
I'll spend with you
Oh, the days dwindle down
To a precious few
September, November
And these few precious days
I'll spend with you
These precious days
I'll spend with you
These precious days
I'll spend with you
Willie Nelson's "September Song" is a song about the fleeting nature of time and the importance of cherishing the precious moments we have with the people we love. The song starts by saying that it's a long time from May to December, but as you reach September, the days grow shorter. The metaphor that is being used here is the passing of time during the course of a year, and how quickly it seems to pass us by. However, as the days start to dwindle down, it becomes more apparent that time is running out, and there isn't enough time for the "waiting game".
When autumn weather comes around, the leaves turn red and gold, and everything becomes picturesque. Despite the beauty of autumn, the song is suggesting that these precious days are the days that should be used to create memories that will last a lifetime. By November, the days are truly dwindling down, and the reality of the passage of time starts to hit home. Yet, even with so little time left, the singer decides to spend those precious days with the person they love, rather than waiting idly by.
In summary, "September Song" is a beautiful ballad full of metaphors that point to the harsh truths of life. The song suggests that life is a fleeting journey and that we should make the most of it by spending the precious little time we have with the ones we love.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh, it's a long long while
It feels like a very long time
From May to December
From the beginning of summer to the end of winter
But the days grow short
But the days become shorter
When you reach September
When you get to the month of September
When the autumn weather
When the weather turns to autumn
Turns leaves to flame
Causes leaves to change color and fall off the trees
One hasn't got time
One doesn't have much time
For the waiting game
To wait around for things to happen
Oh, the days dwindle down
The days become fewer
To a precious few
To a very small number
September, November
The months of September and November
And these few precious days
And these few valuable days
I'll spend with you
I'll spend with you
These precious days
These special days
I'll spend with you
I'll spend with you
These precious days
These special days
I'll spend with you
I'll spend with you
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Royalty Network, Songtrust Ave, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Kurt Weill, Maxwell Anderson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
*♥.ღ ~ mwkjdrew ~ ღ.♥* ✿⊱╮
Oh, it's a long long while
From May to December
But the days grow short
When you reach September
When the autumn weather
Turns leaves to flame
One hasn't got time
For the waiting game
Oh, the days dwindle down
To a precious few
September, November
And these few precious days
I'll spend with you
These precious days
I'll spend with you
Oh, the days dwindle down
To a precious few
September, November
And these few precious days
I'll spend with you
These precious days
I'll spend with you
These precious days
I'll spend with you
Songwriters: Kurt Weill / Maxwell Anderson
September Song lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc, T.R.O. Inc.
rhadames asenjo
My absolute, most favorite version of this soulful tune.!... Willie sings it like no other. Now that I've reached the September of my years, I've come to appreciate life and music like never before.... alas.!
Daniel Daniels
Have you ever heard Jeff Lynne’s version off Armchair Theater?
Ivelisse Diaz
As I listen to this song I cry because my beloved.little dog has a few days left, and it compelled me to write you and ask how you are? I know it has been 5 years since this post. Hope you are well and enjoying your life.
Jennifer McCarthy
Willie is the best
Thomas Ingersoll
be VERY GLAD that you have LIVED to see "September" of your DAYS..... TRUST....isn't LIFE sweeter when there's little of it left? BE WELL - BE HAPPY
Kevin Trotter
This song gives me chills and tears. God what a beautiful song
chiselset
Attended a funeral today and this was chosen by the deceased to be played during the service to his wife , very moving song and a very moving moment in time .
Donald Saxton
I always hated this song as a kid because it sounded like a last look at life before Death. Now that I'm older, I listen to it with fond memories of the life I've been blessed with.
60 panhead
@Kerry Bennett so sorry for your loss, lord in your name we pray
Kerry Bennett
@60 panhead i wore the album out listening to this song my Pop died on Sept 14 right before my birthday.