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.
The Words Don't Fit the Picture
Willie Nelson Lyrics
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And if this is a roll, I play
Where are the words, I say to you
The words don't fit the picture anymore
And if we've been acting all along
And we both act right and we both act wrong
Where does it say that we should cry
The words don't fit the picture anymore
No need to force the love scenes anymore
And a one act play comes to an end
And we turn to leave, we can both part friends
But this is the time to say goodbye, goodbye
'Cause the words don't fit the picture anymore, anymore
In Willie Nelson's song "The Words Don't Fit The Picture Anymore," he speaks to his lover about their relationship and how the words that they use don't quite fit the emotional picture of what's going on between them anymore. He talks about their relationship being a game that they play and a roll that he plays - an experience in which the outcome is uncertain and not entirely in his control. There is a sense of uncertainty and unease in the relationship, as if he's unsure of how things will turn out or how he's supposed to feel about the entire situation.
He goes on to say that if they've been acting all along and have both acted right and wrong, then there's no need to cry as the words that they use no longer fit their relationship or the emotions that they feel. They may have been trying to maintain the facade of a happy relationship, but their words no longer fit the picture. Nelson then notes that it's time to say goodbye and move on from the relationship because the words don't fit the picture anymore.
Nelson's lyrics speak to the idea that people can outgrow each other and that relationships can become strained over time. The words and actions that may have worked earlier in the relationship no longer fit the emotions and experiences that they share. In the end, it's better to say goodbye and try to part amicably rather than try to force the relationship to work.
Line by Line Meaning
If this is a game, we play
If this is a situation where we must pretend, we will go along with it
And if this is a roll, I play
And if I have a role to play in this situation, I will take my part
Where are the words, I say to you
Where are the words we need to express our true feelings, I ask you
The words don't fit the picture anymore
Our words no longer match the reality of the situation
And if we've been acting all along
If we have been pretending and putting up a facade this whole time
And we both act right and we both act wrong
And we both have good and bad moments in our performance
Where does it say that we should cry
Why is crying expected in this situation
It's just the words don't fit the picture anymore, anymore
It is simply because our words are no longer fitting the reality of what is happening
The words don't fit the picture anymore
Our words no longer match the reality of the situation
No need to force the love scenes anymore
We do not need to fake our romantic feelings anymore
And a one act play comes to an end
This performance has reached its final act
And we turn to leave, we can both part friends
As we exit this situation, we can leave on friendly terms
But this is the time to say goodbye, goodbye
However, it is time to say goodbye
'Cause the words don't fit the picture anymore, anymore
Because our words no longer match the reality of the situation
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: WILLIE NELSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind