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.
Touch Me
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Touch the hand of a man
Who once owned all the world
And touch me
Touch the arms That once held all the charms
Of the world's sweetest girl
Maybe someday you may Need to know
How it feels when you lose
So touch me
And you will know how you'd feel
With the blues
Watch me
Watch the eyes that have seen
All the heartache and pain in the land
And be thankful
That you're happy though standing so close
To the world's bluest man
Don't forget me
Take a good look at someone who's lost
Everything he can lose
And then touch me
And you'll know how you'd feel with the blues
Don't forget me
Take a good look at someone who's lost
Everything he can lose
Then touch me
And you'll know how you'd feel with the blues
"Touch Me" is a song by Willie Nelson that conveys a melancholic and powerful message about loss and heartbreak. In the first two stanzas, the singer of the song invites the listener to touch him, to touch the hand and arms of a man who once owned all the world and held the charms of the world's sweetest girl. The song then continues with the plea to watch the eyes of someone who has seen all the heartache and pain in the land and to be thankful for one's own happiness, standing close to the world's bluest man. The song concludes with the desperate request to not forget the singer, to take a good look at someone who has lost everything he can lose, and to touch him so that the listener may know how it feels to be with the blues.
The lyrics of "Touch Me" are poignant and introspective. The song speaks of the universal human experience of loss and sadness, and it invites listeners to empathize with the singer's feelings of loneliness and despair. The repetitive refrain, "And you'll know how you'd feel with the blues," drives the message of the song home and highlights the importance of human connection and empathy.
Line by Line Meaning
Touch me
Come close to me
Touch the hand of a man who once owned all the world
Hold the hand of a man who was once incredibly powerful
And touch me
Come even closer to me
Touch the arms that once held all the charms of the world's sweetest girl
Hold the arms that once embraced the most beautiful girl in the world
Touch me
Stay close to me
Maybe someday you may need to know how it feels when you lose
You may someday want to experience the pain of losing something valuable
So touch me
Stay with me and you will feel the sorrow of losing something important
And you will know how you'd feel with the blues
You'll understand the feeling of sadness
Watch me
Observe me
Watch the eyes that have seen all the heartache and pain in the land
Notice the eyes that have witnessed so much pain and suffering
And be thankful
Be grateful
That you're happy though standing so close to the world's bluest man
You should appreciate your happiness even though you're near someone who's extremely sad
Don't forget me
Remember me
Take a good look at someone who's lost everything he can lose
Look at someone who's lost everything they had
And then touch me
Stay close to me
And you'll know how you'd feel with the blues
You'll understand the feeling of sadness
Don't forget me
Remember me
Take a good look at someone who's lost everything he can lose
Look at someone who's lost everything they had
Then touch me
Stay close to me
And you'll know how you'd feel with the blues
You'll understand the feeling of sadness
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Songtrust Ave, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: WILLIE NELSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
twinPaula12
I love this song - Willie sure can sign a great love song. His unique voice makes any song he sings unforgettable. What a song writer - all of those he's written are ones that I play often - the songs are so good that no matter who sings them (except for Willie of course who makes them sound fabulous) they sound terrific. Thanks so much for posting this treasure. - Paula
Kevin Worley
What a great song.👍👍
Mara Karetsos
Wonderful song!!
The VOICE!!!
🎶🎶🎶🎶🎼🎼🎼🎼⭐️⭐️⭐️🎸🎸🎸
Walter Haight
Love the sound of this record. Such a contrast to the heavily overdubbed "Nashville Sound" records that were popular back then. It's kind of hard to believe that this would be Willie's last top ten hit until "Red Headed Stranger" came out in 1974 & he really found his niche.
Glen McGregor
The birth of magic. That's what Willie's music has been all of these years.
1978garfield
I love these early Willie albums.
I know he was unhappy with them but I think they really stand up.
M Crystal
I agree with you fully. I find myself going back to this album every once in a while. I love it every time. Im 22.
Rachelle Phillips
Gosh how I love this man for YEARS!!!!!!!
Jewel Dotson
Some of Willie's best were these early ones, Love you Willie
jason
Willie recorded 10 of Harlan Howards songs. Harlan wrote over 4000 songs and 100 of them made the top ten Harlan was one of the greatest country songwriters of all time
Hank Cochran wrote this song. I not only like singers, I admire the people who can put the music and words together. Now that's an artist