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.
Train Train
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In my old sharecropper's one room country shack
They said my mommie left me the day before she had me
Said she hit the road and never once looked back
And I just like to mention that my grandma's old age pension
Is the reason why I'm standing here today
I got all my country learning and a milking and a churning
I been to Georgia on a fast train honey
I wouldn't born no yesterday
I got a good Christian raisin' and an eight grade education
Ain't no need in y'all a treatin' me this way
And now sweet Carolina, I don't guess
I'll ever find another woman put together like you are
With your wiggle and you're walking and your big city talking
And your brand new shiny Plymouth rag top car
Hey, let's hurry up and wait in this world of give and take
It seems like haste it makes me waste every time
I declare to my soul when you hear those ages roll
You better know I get my share of mine
I been to Georgia on a fast train honey
I wouldn't born no yesterday
I got a good Christian raisin' and an eight grade education
Ain't no need in y'all a treatin' me this way
I been to Georgia on a fast train honey
I wouldn't born no yesterday
I got a good Christian raisin' and an eight grade education
Ain't no need in y'all a treatin' me this way
Ain't no need in y'all a treatin' me this way
The lyrics of Willie Nelson's song Train Train talk about the struggles of growing up in a working-class family, and the pride that can come from it. The opening lines set the scene for the rest of the song, with the singer noting that he was born in a sharecropper's shack, with his mother abandoning him shortly after. The mention of his grandmother's pension highlights the realities of poverty and the need for support. The singer includes his experiences of toiling and working hard, such as milking cows, picking cotton and baling hay, indicating that his education came through a different route.
The chorus picks up on the pride taken in his humble origins, as he recounts having been to Georgia, but emphasizing that he was not born yesterday. Despite his experiences, he is proud of his good Christian raising and eight grade education, and asks explicitly for people to treat him accordingly. The final verse takes on a more personal tone as he addresses a woman, complimenting her in a playful way.
The song highlights the themes of overcoming hardship, pride in one's roots, and the struggles of poverty. Willie Nelson often noted that the inspiration for the song came from his own experiences growing up in Texas - where he was born in 1933 in a small town called Abbott, where his mother, a schoolteacher, separated from his father and raised him and his sister alone.
Line by Line Meaning
On a rainy Wednesday morning, on the day that I was born
I was born in a small, rural one room house on a rainy Wednesday, which marks the day of my birth.
In my old sharecropper's one room country shack
The house I was born in was a small, single-room dwelling that belonged to my sharecropper parents.
They said my mommie left me the day before she had me
My mother abandoned me by leaving a day before giving birth to me.
Said she hit the road and never once looked back
According to others, my mother left without a second glance and never returned.
And I just like to mention that my grandma's old age pension
My grandmother's pension from her advanced age is what has allowed me to survive and succeed up to this point.
Is the reason why I'm standing here today
I owe my life and current situation to my grandmother's pension.
I got all my country learning and a milking and a churning
I have gained knowledge and experience through working on a farm, including milking cows and making butter.
Picking cotton raisin' hell and baling hay
I have also worked picking cotton and baling hay, which was hard and laborious work.
I been to Georgia on a fast train honey
I have traveled to Georgia on a fast train, my experiences have brought me knowledge beyond my years.
I wouldn't born no yesterday
I may not be young anymore, but I am still wise beyond my years.
I got a good Christian raisin' and an eight grade education
I have been raised with Christian principles and have completed 8th grade in my education.
Ain't no need in y'all a treatin' me this way
There is no reason for you to treat me badly or with disrespect, I deserve to be treated with the same kindness and respect as everyone else.
And now sweet Carolina, I don't guess
As for Carolina, I don't think I will ever find another woman as remarkable as she is.
I'll ever find another woman put together like you are
Carolina is simply irreplaceable and uniquely special.
With your wiggle and you're walking and your big city talking
Carolina has a specific way of walking and speaking characteristic of those from large cities.
And your brand new shiny Plymouth rag top car
Carolina owns a new and shiny Plymouth convertible, which is a source of pride for her.
Hey, let's hurry up and wait in this world of give and take
We need to be patient as we navigate through life's ups and downs and give and take relationships.
It seems like haste it makes me waste every time
Acting impulsively often leads to wasted time and resources.
I declare to my soul when you hear those ages roll
I promise to myself that when I grow older and time passes, I will have made significant achievements and contributions.
You better know I get my share of mine
I will work hard for everything I achieve and make sure to get what I deserve.
Ain't no need in y'all a treatin' me this way
Again, there is no reason for you to treat me badly or disrespectfully.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: BILLY SHAVER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
mrjodel
Just great, man oh man!!!!!!!!!
Jacqui816
Couldn't have said it better!!! Sizzling!
Douglas Carideo
This song is called Mystery Train, not Train Train. Fix your title.
kathleenb1947
Wow! Hotdamn! Love it!!!!!!!!!!
Willie Waycup
Nice. Love leon and willie. I often fantasize theyll decide to do a tour together again and come close to my town.