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.
Till I Gain Control Again
Willie Nelson Lyrics
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You know I love to spend my morning time like sunlight dancing on your skin
And I have never gone so long just for telling lies to you
What you've seen is what I've been
There is nothing that I can hide a few you see me better than I can
Out on the road that lies before me now there are some turns where I will spin
I only hope that you will hold me now till I gain control again
And no matter what sea that I've been sailing on I'll always roll this way again
Out on the road that lies...
The opening lines of Willie Nelson's song Till I Gain Control Again convey a message of reassurance and a vow of permanence. The singer, perhaps a lover or a friend, likens himself to the sun that always rises over the mountain, a recurring presence that never fades away. He affirms his love for this person by sharing how he loves to spend his mornings with them, soaking up the warmth of the sunlight dancing on their skin. He then confesses that he has never spent such a long time away from this person by telling lies. He believes that this person knows him better than he knows himself and that he has nothing to hide from them.
The second half of the song shifts gears as Nelson talks about a new journey ahead of him. He is going on the road that lies before him, and he knows that there will be some sharp turns where he might lose control. However, he hopes that this person will be there to hold him until he can regain his bearings again. The last lines of the song emphasize the loyalty Nelson feels towards this person, likening them to a lighthouse that guides lost sailors to safety. No matter which sea he sails, Nelson believes he will always return, rolling back to the person who grounds him.
Line by Line Meaning
Just like the sun over the mountain top you know I'll always come again
I will always come back to your life, like the sun rising over the mountain.
You know I love to spend my morning time like sunlight dancing on your skin
I love to spend my mornings with you, feeling the warmth of the sunlight on your skin.
And I have never gone so long just for telling lies to you
I have never been away from you for so long just because I lied to you.
What you've seen is what I've been
You have always known the real me and what you have seen is what I truly am.
There is nothing that I can hide a few you see me better than I can
You know me better than I do, there is nothing that I can hide from you.
Out on the road that lies before me now there are some turns where I will spin
I know that there will be difficult turns on the road ahead of me.
I only hope that you will hold me now till I gain control again
I only hope that you will be there to support me until I gain control of my life again.
Just like a lighthouse you must stand alone and mark the sailor's journey's end
Like a lighthouse that guides sailors to their destination, you are there to guide me to the end of my journey.
And no matter what sea that I've been sailing on I'll always roll this way again
No matter which life path I take, I will always come back to you.
Lyrics © TRAVELLERS HOLLOW MUSIC
Written by: RODNEY J. CROWELL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind