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.
Sweet Memories
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Night after night the past slips in and gathers all my sleep
My days are just an endless stream of emptiness to me
Filled only by the fleeting moments of her memories
Sweet memories
Sweet memories, hmm
She slipped into the silence of my dreams last night
Her laughter spills like water from the river to the sea
And I'm swept away from sadness clinging to her memories
Sweet memories
Sweet memories, hmm
In Willie Nelson's classic song Sweet Memories, he describes how his world feels like a dark and deep river where the memories of the past keep slipping in and robbing him of sleep night after night. His days are filled with emptiness, and the only moments of solace that he feels are the fleeting memories of his beloved. The chorus, which repeats twice, emphasizes the central theme of the song - that memories of his loved one keep him going even when he feels lost.
In the second verse, Willie Nelson goes on to describe how his dreams are the only place where he gets to be with his lover. She appears in his dreams, and he sees her moving through the different rooms, turning on lights. The sound of her laughter is like a river that flows into the sea, and he is swept away from his sadness with the memories of her. In this song, the river, sea, and darkness all serve as symbols of the depth of his love and the intensity of his grief.
Overall, Sweet Memories is a beautiful and moving song that speaks to the universal experience of loss, heartache, and the healing power of memories.
Line by Line Meaning
My world is like a river as dark as it is deep
My life is full of mysterious depths and shadows.
Night after night the past slips in and gathers all my sleep
Memories of the past haunt me every night, stealing away my peaceful rest.
My days are just an endless stream of emptiness to me
My days feel like a meaningless blur, devoid of purpose or joy.
Filled only by the fleeting moments of her memories
Only memories of her bring moments of happiness and contentment.
She slipped into the silence of my dreams last night
I dreamt of her last night, and she seemed to fill my mind with her essence.
Wondering from room to room turning on each light
In my dream, she was restless and searching, illuminating every corner of my imagination.
Her laughter spills like water from the river to the sea
In my dream, she was happy and carefree, and her laughter was like a joyful, never-ending stream.
And I'm swept away from sadness clinging to her memories
Her remembrance brings me a feeling of comfort, and it takes me away from my sorrow.
Sweet memories
These memories of her are precious, and I savor them dearly.
Sweet memories, hmm
Yes, these are sweet memories indeed.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Mickey Newbury
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Xine999
Tragedy rendered as beauty. Beautifully done. A perfect fit with his voice.
Don Claybrook, Sr.
One of Willie's very best and highly under appreciated.....
Petula Sharon Engelbrecht
So true 👌
Xine999
I haven't heard it before: now I know just what you mean
clive rees
What a stunning ballard ,i can relate to this ,thank you
Carolyn McDonald
I love hearing Willie singing this great song! Love Willie!
Sue Hopkins
One of his most beautiful songs.
David
Hello 👋 Sue how are you doing today,hope you having a blessed full day.
Leda Arantes
Amo sua voz Willie Nelson
Bobby Bonds
The very best version of this song.