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.
South Of The Border
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That's where I fell in love when stars above came out to play
Now as I wander my thoughts ever stray south of the border down Mexico way
She was a picture in old Spanish lace
And for a tender while I kissed the smile opon her face
For it was Fiesta we were so gay south of the border down Mexico way
And she smiled and she whispered Manana
Never dreaming that we were parting
South of the border I rode back one day
There in a veil of white by candlelight she knelt to pray
And the mission bells told me that I mustn't stay
South of the border down Mexico way
Ay ay ay ay ay ay ay ay
Ay ay ay ay ay ay ay ay
Willie Nelson's "South of the Border" is a song that describes a love affair that happens in Mexico. The song begins by describing the location where the love affair took place. It was down Mexico way; where stars above the sky would come out to play creating an enchanting atmosphere. The singer recounts how he fell in love with a woman, who was a picture in old Spanish lace. They enjoyed the Fiesta merriment, and for a while, he kissed the smile upon her face. The singer cannot help but think of the memories he has of Mexico as he wanders.
The woman whispers, "Manana," which means "tomorrow" in Spanish. She thinks they will meet again, not knowing that it was their last time together. The singer also lies and whispers "Manana," meaning he'll probably see her next time, even if he knows that it won't be possible. He comes back to Mexico one day, where he sees the woman in her wedding dress, kneeling in prayer surrounded by candles, in a veil of white. The mission bells ring out, and he knows he should not stay. The song ends with the chorus repeated twice, emphasizing the emotional impact of lost love.
Overall, the song is about the bittersweet memories of a love affair that will never materialize again, and how the singer is haunted by the location and memories of Mexico where they fell in love.
Line by Line Meaning
South of the border down Mexico way
I found love in Mexico and now my thoughts often wander back to that place
That's where I fell in love when stars above came out to play
I fell in love in Mexico under the night sky when the stars were shining bright
Now as I wander my thoughts ever stray south of the border down Mexico way
Even now, when I'm far away, my mind always ends up thinking about my time in Mexico
She was a picture in old Spanish lace
This woman I met was beautiful, with an elegant sense of style
And for a tender while I kissed the smile opon her face
We shared sweet moments together where I would kiss her and her beautiful smile
For it was Fiesta we were so gay south of the border down Mexico way
We had fun and shared beautiful memories together during the Mexican Fiesta
And she smiled and she whispered Manana
She whispered 'tomorrow' with a smile, not knowing it was our last time together
Never dreaming that we were parting
We never thought that this could be the end of our time together
And I lied and I whispered Manana for our tomorrow never came
I lied and whispered 'tomorrow' back to her, knowing it would never come
South of the border I rode back one day
I went back to Mexico one day
There in a veil of white by candlelight she knelt to pray
I saw her in a white veil, praying by candlelight
And the mission bells told me that I mustn't stay
At that moment, I knew I had to leave and not stay any longer
South of the border down Mexico way
Once again, my thoughts lead me back to my time in Mexico
Ay ay ay ay ay ay ay ay
This line is a traditional Mexican exclamation, expressing intense emotions such as joy or grief.
Ay ay ay ay ay ay ay ay
This line is a traditional Mexican exclamation, expressing intense emotions such as joy or grief.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JIMMY KENNEDY, MICHAEL CARR
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Pondy Hsu
South of the border down Mexico way
That's where I fell in love
when stars above came out to play
Now as I wander my thoughts ever stray
south of the border down Mexico way
She was a picture in old Spanish lace
And for a tender while I kissed
the smile opon her face
For it was Fiesta we were so gay
south of the border down Mexico way
+++++++++++++++
And she smiled and she whispered Manana
Never dreaming that we were parting
And I lied and I whispered Manana
for our tomorrow never came
South of the border I rode back one day
There in a veil of white by candlelight
she knelt to pray
And the mission bells told me that I mustn't stay
South of the border down Mexico way
************
Ay ay ay ay, ay ay ay ay
Ay ay ay ay, ay ay ay ay.....
Mick Sayers
Brilliant playing and singing. Never heard it played as good as this before.
Robert Stevens
LONG LIVE WILLIE NELSON. One of America's Best Representatives! This is another inspiring performance by A True Master of his instrument. And the song Is To Die For!
Quentin Fernandez
WOW!!!! what a superb version. Brilliant rendition. Takes you back years.
JAMES DENNIS
Can't be beaten: voice & guitar playing both!!👍🏻
August Moon 201167
🙌
What A Really Nice Version Of This Song.
Willie Nelson Is An Absolute Favourite Of Mine.
🎼
Margret1973
Willie Nelson, eres único!!!
ifza,Elsa ,inas 💥💥
Willie's voice touched my soul guitar works out of this world
Oidile Sednanref 🎶
The great country star singing, Willie Nelson is simply awesome, love this song.
♥Eden 宇山♥
Good tune and superb video. I love W. Nelson great performance !!! Thank you so much......
Julian John
Absolutely magical.