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.
Unchained Melody
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I've hungered for your touch
A long lonely time
Time goes by so slowly
And time can do so much
Are you still mine
I need your love
God speed your love to me
Lonely rivers flow
To the sea
To the sea
To the open arms of the sea
Lonely riverside
Wait for me
Wait for me
I'll be coming home
Wait for me
Time goes by so slowly
And time can do so much
Are you still mine
I need your love
I need your love
God speed your love to me
God speed your love to me
The lyrics of Willie Nelson's version of "Unchained Melody" express a profound sense of longing for a loved one who is absent. The opening lines of the song, "Oh my love, my darling, I've hungered for your touch, a long lonely time," sets the tone of the song. The singer recalls how much he has missed his beloved and how long it has been since their last meeting. The lyrics convey a deep sense of loss and regret.
As the song progresses, the singer reflects on the passage of time and how it has affected their relationship. He notes that time goes by slowly and can do so much, both good and bad. He wonders if his beloved is still his and if they will be reunited. The chorus of the song repeats the line, "I need your love, God speed your love to me," underscoring the singer's desperate desire to be with his partner.
The imagery in the second verse of the "lonely rivers flow to the sea" is powerful and melancholic. It speaks to the sense of fate and inevitability that the singer feels in his desire to reunite with his beloved. The song ends with the repeated chorus, emphasizing the longing and deep emotional intensity of the song.
Overall, the lyrics of "Unchained Melody" express a deep sense of yearning and loss, while also conveying a powerful message of hope and devotion.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh my love, my darling
Addressing the loved one who has been missed for a long time
I've hungered for your touch
Expressing strong desire for physical connection and affection
A long lonely time
Describing the duration of separation felt by the singer
Time goes by so slowly
Reflecting on the perception of time passing when waiting for a loved one's return
And time can do so much
Acknowledging the transformative power of time on circumstances and emotions
Are you still mine
Expressing uncertainty and seeking reassurance about the status of the relationship
I need your love
Emphasizing the importance of love and emotional connection
God speed your love to me
Asking for divine intervention and wishing for the loved one's love to reach the singer
Lonely rivers flow
Using a natural metaphor to describe the singer's desolate emotional state
To the sea
Conveying the inevitability of life's journey and the ultimate dissolution of everything back into nature
To the open arms of the sea
Depicting the sea as a welcoming and infinite force that can console one's loneliness
Lonely riverside
Reiterating the singer's emotional state
Wait for me
Making a plea for patience and hope, promising to return and reconnect
I'll be coming home
Assuring the loved one that the singer will return to their place of belonging
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, UNCHAINED MELODY PUB LLC
Written by: Alex North, Hyman Zaret
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind