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.
Things to Remember
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That I've made out of list
The things to remember
Things to forget
But my mind can't separate
Joy from regret
I always remember the things
Things to remember
With the day that we met
The day that we parted
Things to forget
Well, why won't my heart
Let me do it this way?
With just things to remember
Today
Things to remember
Plans that were set
Plans didn't work out
Things to forget
Well, why won't my heart
Let me do it this way?
With just things to remember
Today
The song "Things to Remember" by Willie Nelson is a bittersweet reflection on the struggles of letting go of past relationships. Nelson speaks to the pain of trying to forget someone while still clinging to the memories that keep them present. He begins by admitting that he has cried so much lately that he has created a list of things to remember and things to forget. His mind struggles to separate joy from regret as he tries to move on from someone who has left a profound impact on his heart.
Throughout the song, Nelson repeats the phrase "things to remember, things to forget" as if to convince himself that he can take control of his memories and choose which ones to focus on. He remembers the day he met this person, the day they parted, and even the plans they made that never came to fruition. But no matter how much he tries, his heart won't let him just focus on the good memories. The pain of their absence is too strong, and he is left grappling with the overwhelming emotions that come with trying to move on from someone he loves.
Overall, "Things to Remember" is a poignant portrayal of the complex nature of heartbreak. It shows the difficulty of trying to let go of someone while still holding onto the memories that keep them close. It's a beautifully written song that captures the raw, emotional turmoil of heartbreak in a way that only Willie Nelson can.
Line by Line Meaning
I've cried so much lately
I have been crying a lot lately.
That I've made out of list
As a result, I have compiled a list.
The things to remember
The items that are worth remembering.
Things to forget
The things which I should forget.
But my mind can't separate
I find it hard to differentiate.
Joy from regret
Between the happiness and the sorrow.
I always remember the things
I seem to always recall the items.
To forget
That I ought to try my best to forget.
Things to remember
Things that I should keep in mind.
With the day that we met
Such as the day we first met.
The day that we parted
Or the day when we parted ways.
Things to forget
Things that I would be better served forgetting.
Well, why won't my heart
I am struggling to understand why my heart
Let me do it this way?
Will not permit me to follow this method?
With just things to remember
By simply remembering some things.
Today
At present.
Things to remember
Things which I should hold onto.
Plans that were set
Plans that were established.
Plans didn't work out
Plans that did not come to fruition.
Things to forget
Things which I ought to try my best to forget.
Well, why won't my heart
I cannot understand why my heart
Let me do it this way?
Will not permit me to follow this method?
With just things to remember
By just remembering some things.
Today
Currently.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: WILLIE NELSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
John Isaac
Willie Nelson is one of a kind. There will never be anyone as great as he. There are songs that he wrote that could never be said any other way.
Jim Malcolm
John Isaac The second sentence says the whole truth. Everest.
JeffGR4
Yeah, but Patsy Cline did a nice job with Willie's Crazy .
JeffGR4
Really fantastic! Things To Remember was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee in 1961.
Jerry Johnson
Willie, sliding along in honky-tonk swing mode . Fun to hear his early stuff.
Serop Pasha
thanks for posting this...another beautiful country/blues hit i keep findin myself listening to....t, yur cold as ice
zerblis
Make Way For Willie Nelson
James Barnes
I've called him "Nellie Wilson" since the pigtails - but look at me, and you'll know that's just a friendly poke in the ribs!
John Guilfoil
thats some fine pickin'....and they swing their butts off
Denise Dillon
willie nelson