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.
What Can You Do to Me Now
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That you haven't done to me already
You broke my pride and made me cry out loud
What can you do to me now
I'm seeing things that I never thought I'd see
You've opened up the eyes inside of me
How long have you been doing this to me
Someway somehow I'll make a man of me
I will build me back the way I used to be
Much stronger now the second time around
'Cause what can you do to me now
What can you do to me now
That you haven't done to me already, already
You broke my pride and made me cry out loud
What can you do to me now
The lyrics of Willie Nelson's "What Can You Do To Me Now" are about resilience and moving forward. The song is written from the perspective of someone who has been hurt and broken down by someone else in the past. Despite the pain and suffering caused, the singer is asking what else the other person can do to them now that they haven't already done. The singer recognizes that their pride has been shattered and they have cried out loud, but they are determined to not let that define them.
The second verse captures the theme of self-discovery and introspection. The singer is seeing things that they never thought they would see, and they credit the other person with having opened up their eyes. In recognizing the effects of the other person's actions, the singer is also acknowledging how long they have been suffering silently. This realization leads the singer to see new sides of themselves that they never thought existed.
The final verse of the song is about hope and strength. The singer is determined to rebuild themselves in a way that makes them even stronger than before. The idea is that, since the other person has already done so much damage, there is nothing left that can be done to them. By accepting what has happened and focusing on moving forward, the singer is taking control of their life and their emotions. Overall, "What Can You Do To Me Now" is a powerful message about resilience and self-discovery.
Line by Line Meaning
What can you do to me now
After everything you've already done, there's nothing else you can do to hurt or break me
That you haven't done to me already
You've already caused me so much pain and heartache, there's nothing more you can do to surprise me
You broke my pride and made me cry out loud
You stripped me of my dignity and made me feel vulnerable and weak. You caused me so much emotional pain that I couldn't contain my tears
What can you do to me now
There's nothing else you can do to me that I can't handle or overcome. I refuse to let you have power over me
I'm seeing things that I never thought I'd see
You've opened my eyes to aspects of myself and the world that I never considered before
You've opened up the eyes inside of me
You've helped me see things about myself that I was previously oblivious to, forcing me to confront my flaws and insecurities
How long have you been doing this to me
I'm starting to realize that you've been manipulating and hurting me behind the scenes for much longer than I thought
I'm seeing sides of me that I can't believe
Your actions have forced me to confront aspects of myself that I never knew existed, whether positive or negative
Someway somehow I'll make a man of me
I will overcome this adversity and emerge a stronger and more resilient person because of it
I will build me back the way I used to be
I will use this experience as an opportunity to rebuild and strengthen my sense of self-worth and identity, reclaiming what you took from me
Much stronger now the second time around
The pain and hurt you've caused me has only made me tougher and more determined to overcome obstacles in the future
'Cause what can you do to me now
I refuse to let you have power over me any longer. You cannot break me any further
What can you do to me now
I refuse to let your cruelty and manipulation affect me any longer. I am in control of my own well-being and happiness
That you haven't done to me already, already
I've endured more than enough pain and suffering at your hands. There's nothing left for you to do
You broke my pride and made me cry out loud
You caused me immense emotional turmoil and devastated my sense of self-worth and dignity
What can you do to me now
I am over your hold on my life and emotions. There's nothing you can do to change my resilience and control over myself.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: WILLIE NELSON, HANK COCHRAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Janice Soares
❤️💕Yesterday, today Willie is always wonderful. 🥰🇧🇷
Wendy Cee
There will never be anyone like Willie Nelson. ❤️
Willie Nelson
Well, thank you for your reply so far, I create this private account so that i can have a chat with my fan one on one, and get to know them, To know how they feel about me and my career , and also carry them along in my career.
Mary Illinski
Amen to that.
Lorna Fraser Waterworth
Thank you Willie!! Superb 💖💖💖!!
Colleen Proppé
Country singers are tough. They can sing after a car crash, on crutches, in the rain, mud, during terrible addictions and after addictions. They sing after deaths, tragedies and losses. They keep going. They keep fighting. They are “country tough” and I think the strongest person in the room is often the one who has been through the most, the worst and survived to tell the story and help other people. Willie Nelson tough. God, I hope I can be half as strong as you someday, and when I finally master a guitar solo, I know you will be there in spirit, cheering me on.
Willie Nelson ♪
Thank you very much for your love and support I greatly appreciate
Adrian Monk
Hard Livin' & Hard Lovin'.
Willie Nelson
Hello Colleen
How are you doing?
It's nice meeting you here
Rodolfo rivero
Amigos...
Tengo 70 años y no logro recordar desde cuando escucho a Willie.
Lo que si sé es que cada día me produce mas alegria escuchar sus temas.
Te admiro maestro.
Que Dios te conceda salud por muchos años mas y sigas con tu camino.
Adiós a todos...😉✌👍