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.
Summer Of Roses
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But a short time is better than no time you see
So I bring to you all my possessions
And would that you'd share them with me
I bring you one springtime of robins
One springtime of robins to sing
And I bring you one summer of roses
I bring you one autumn of dry leaves
Dry leaves will be helpful you know
To soften the fall of your snowflakes
When I bring you, your winter of snow
The lyrics of Willie Nelson's "Summer of Roses" are poignant, expressing a sense of fleeting beauty and the desire to share it with someone special. The song speaks of the limited time that the singer has with his lover, acknowledging that even though their time together may be brief, it is still precious. He brings all his possessions to show his love, and wishes that she would share them with him. The verse is heartfelt, and the words carry a sense of longing and passion.
The second verse speaks of the singer's desire to share the beauty of the natural world with his love. He offers her one springtime of robins, with their sweet songs, and one summer of roses, with their lovely fragrance. He understands the value of these fleeting moments of beauty and offers them as a way to deepen their connection. He also offers her one autumn of dry leaves, knowing that they can be useful in softening the fall of winter's snowflakes. Although there is a sense of sadness in this verse, as the beauty of the natural world is also fleeting, there is also a recognition of the cyclical nature of life, and the hope that even after the winter, spring will come again.
Overall, the lyrics of "Summer of Roses" are a beautiful and earnest expression of love, longing, and the desire to connect with something greater than oneself. Through the language of nature and the seasons, the song highlights the fleeting beauty of life, and the need to embrace it fully while we can.
Line by Line Meaning
A short time I have to be with you my love
I don't have forever to be with you, my love
But a short time is better than no time you see
Even though I don't have much time, it's still better than having no time with you
So I bring to you all my possessions
I'm giving you everything I have
And would that you'd share them with me
I hope you'll share your life with me
I bring you one springtime of robins
I bring you the joy of spring and the sweet songs of the robins
One springtime of robins to sing
I bring you the promise of new beginnings and the beauty of nature
And I bring you one summer of roses
I bring you the warmth of summer and the sweet fragrance of roses
One summer of roses I bring
I bring you the beauty of nature and the promise of love
I bring you one autumn of dry leaves
I bring you the changing of seasons and the beauty of fall
Dry leaves will be helpful you know
Dry leaves will cushion the ground for you when the snow falls
To soften the fall of your snowflakes
The dry leaves will help ease the impact of the snowflakes as they fall
When I bring you, your winter of snow
I'll be there for you during the cold and lonely winter
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: WILLIE NELSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@MarkLAsche
Willie does in these two minutes what most songwriters spend a lifetime trying to do.
@bonnielayhue3187
This is the most beautiful song Willie Nelson ever sang. My all time favorite.. it reminds me of God
@marsharupe8112
Yesterday's Wine is such an amazing album, with beautiful songs like this and the title tune. I was so thrilled when I found a copy on compact disc to replace my well-worn vinyl copy.
@juliemariet
explain again to me. . .
@juliemariet
explain again to lord
why i m here
the setting for the stage
is still not clear.
i am born, can you...
@PabluchoViision
Denny Hanley: you're right on the money. It's a very powerful performance, very difficult to bring off. Willie's phrasing is other-worldly great. It's Sinatra great, Billie Holiday great, Ray Charles great. And yes, he "makes it sound easy"... like the world-class musician and singer that he is.
@gregfrancis5252
TO ME IT'S HIS BEST
@vaughnwinslett776
In the care of GOD.
@ericvalley3225
Who's got the chords to this song?!?!?!?!?!
@WhoaD614
google