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.
Superman
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Tryin' to be something that I'm not
Superman Superman
Tryin' to do more than I can
Gotta a little outta hand
I ain't Superman
Well I blew my throat and I blew my tour
I wasn't Superman wasn't Superman
Try to do more than I can
Gotta a little outta hand
I ain't Superman
Well the doctor said son it's a cryin' shame
But you ain't Clark Kent and I ain't Lois Lane
You ain't Superman you ain't Superman
Gotta a little outta hand
You ain't Superman
And when I die put it on my stone
God said sucker get your bad ass home
You ain't Superman you ain't Superman
Tryin' to do more than you can
Gotta a little outta hand
You ain't Superman
Tryin' to do more than than you can
Gotta a little outta hand
You ain't Superman
Willie Nelson's song "Superman" is a cautionary tale about the dangers of substance abuse and trying to be someone you're not. The lyrics tell the story of a person who has become addicted to pain pills and marijuana as they try to cope with the challenges of life. The character is trying to live up to the expectations of others by trying to be a superhero, specifically Superman, but eventually realizes that they're not capable of doing everything they set out to do.
The first verse describes the person's attempt to be more than they are through drug use. They are trying to be "something that I'm not" and "Superman". They realize that they have gone "a little outta hand" and "ain't Superman". In the second verse, they describe how their drug use has affected their career as a musician. They have blown their throat and tour and end up drinking soup de sour. They again state that they're not Superman and trying to do more than they're capable of.
In the final verse, the doctor tells the person that they aren't Clark Kent and the doctor isn't Lois Lane. They finally come to terms with the fact that they're not capable of being Superman and must face the consequences of their actions. When they die, they want it to be known that they finally found the truth and stopped trying to be what they weren't.
Overall, "Superman" is a story of self-discovery and acceptance. It's about facing reality and the consequences of our actions, even if they're painful to accept.
Line by Line Meaning
Too many pain pills too much pot
I took too many pain pills and smoked too much marijuana.
Tryin' to be something that I'm not
I'm trying to be someone I'm not.
Superman Superman
I wish I was Superman.
Tryin' to do more than I can
I'm trying to do more than I'm capable of.
Gotta a little outta hand
Things got a little out of control.
I ain't Superman
I'm not Superman.
Well I blew my throat and I blew my tour
I damaged my voice and failed my tour.
I wound up sippin on soup de sour
I ended up drinking sour soup.
Well I wasn't Superman wasn't Superman
I'm not Superman, I never was.
Well the doctor said son it's a cryin' shame
The doctor told me it's unfortunate.
But you ain't Clark Kent and I ain't Lois Lane
But we're not superheroes from the comic book.
You ain't Superman you ain't Superman
I'm not Superman.
And when I die put it on my stone
When I die, write it on my tombstone.
God said sucker get your bad ass home
God told me to come home.
Tryin' to do more than you can
You're trying to do more than you are capable of.
You ain't Superman
You are not Superman.
Gotta a little outta hand
Things got a little out of control.
Tryin' to do more than than you can
You're trying to do more than you are capable of.
Gotta a little outta hand
Things got a little out of control.
You ain't Superman
You are not Superman.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: CALVIN BROADUS, WILLIE NELSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
D. OsoFly Rodaway
it's dope seeing cultures come together
Unknown X
Undoctrinated culture is suppose to bring out an appreciation of art and beauty but at times it tends to bring the ugly out of us.
Da Plastic Paddy
I thought they were both American
Smallblock Chevy
@Da Plastic Paddy American is a nationality, not a culture. Just let me know if there's anything else I can help you with!
Da Plastic Paddy
@Smallblock Chevy Culture and Nationality is the same lol You can't move to another country and practice your culture if it breaks the law.... Think.... Just because these two men have different skin tones doesn't mean they're from different cultures. They're both Yanks, from the USA.
Smallblock Chevy
@Da Plastic Paddy Culture and nationality are... ABSOLUTELY NOT the same thing. It's not even debatable, 100%, they are NOT the same thing. Nationality is SOLELY a reference to the nation one belongs to. Numerous countries have several different cultures throughout them, especially the larger ones. It's certainly possible for a country to have one predominant culture, but again, thy ARE NOT the same thing. Do you think when Jewish, Iranian, or Chinese families move to England and become English citizens (meaning their nationality is now English)., they scrap their own cultures and immediately adopt British culture? Even of the native English (all the same nationality), there are several different cultural variations. In the U.S., southern culture is completely different than northern culture, not even counting all the different cultures of the minority groups. Russia has Numerous different cultures throughout it's different regions, even though they're all the same nationality. Isn't it humiliatingly embarrassing to make such foolish statements as that, publicly for everyone to see?
Mullet Mike
Much respect for BOTH Snoop and Uncle Willie! :)
underballbutter
Respect to Snoop for real! He was goin out of his element and still killed it for his boy Willie Nelson
The Mad Carver
I think it's great that Snoop Dogg can appreciate the blues, and chill out and listen to country as well and not just have to listen to rap all the time. That's how it should be man. Never keep your mind closed to any one thing
Skip Mize
Spot on! I like all kinds of music.