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.
Whiskey River
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Don't let her memory torture me
Whiskey River don't run dry
You're all I got, take care of me
Whiskey River take my mind
Don't let her memory torture me
Whiskey River don't run dry
I'm drowning in a whiskey river
Bathin' my memory and mind in the wetness of its soul
Feeling the amber current flowin' from my mind
And leavin' a heart you left so cold
Whiskey River take my mind
And don't let her memory torture me
Whiskey River don't run dry
You're all I got, take care of me
I'm drowning in a whiskey river
Bathin' my memory and mind in the wetness of its soul
Feeling the amber current flowin' from my mind
And leaving a heart you left so cold
Whiskey River take my mind (take my mind)
And don't let her memory torture me
Whiskey River don't run dry
You're all I got, take care of me
Whiskey River take my mind
Whiskey River take my mind
The song Whiskey River by Willie Nelson is a soulful ballad that touches upon themes of heartbreak, loss, and addiction. The singer is struggling to cope with the memories of a past lover and seeks refuge in the eponymous Whiskey River. The lyrics suggest that the river acts as a metaphorical escape from the pain and suffering of heartache, allowing the singer to immerse themselves in the amber current and forget about the ex-lover who left their heart cold.
The repeated refrain, "Whiskey River take my mind," highlights the singer's desperation to escape the pain of heartbreak. The river itself is portrayed as an all-encompassing force that takes care of the singer and shields them from the outside world. The poignant line, "You're all I've got, take care of me," reflects the singer's sense of isolation and reliance on whiskey to numb the pain.
The final lines of the song, "Whiskey River take my mind," are sung in a hauntingly beautiful manner that captures the essence of the song's emotional depth. Nelson's raspy voice is the perfect vessel for conveying the raw emotions of the singer, whose pain and suffering are palpable throughout the song.
Line by Line Meaning
Whiskey River take my mind
I want to forget the memories of my lost love so I am turning to alcohol as a means of escape.
Don't let her memory torture me
I hope this whiskey will fog my judgment and help me avoid the pain of my ex's memory.
Whiskey River don't run dry
I need this alcohol as it's the only thing numbing the pain and letting me forget my problems.
You're all I've got, take care of me
Alcohol has become my only friend, and I depend on it to ease my tormented mind.
I'm drowning in a whiskey river
I am so consumed by my problems that they have drowned me completely.
Bathin' my memory and mind in the wetness of its soul
I am submerging myself in whiskey, which I perceive as having a soul, as it's the only way to escape the pain.
Feeling the amber current flowin' from my mind
I can feel the alcohol coursing through my veins, gradually easing my pain by distorting my perception of reality.
And leaving a heart you left so cold
My ex has left me heartbroken, so I've resorted to drinking as a means of dealing with the pain.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Johnny Bush
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@CountryMusicalldaynew6789
Everyone who reads this, we don't know each other and probably never will but I wish you all the best in life and all the luck in the world 💖
@D0LLHEART.
Beautiful….You too! 🫶🏼☀️🍀
@elisecliftonklitz
Thanks!❤
@KatieFlame
Thanks Country Music alldaynew!! We need all the caring and kindness we can receive in today's world. May your days be always bright. 🌹
@C...G...
namaste 🙏
@marisuetate2998
Thank u..same to u!!!!
@leslittle9112
Two days clean and sober! Thank you Jesus!!!
@WHITE_AND_PROUDD
still sober?
@raulduke6105
Keep stroking, you can do it
@leonardowickman57
Good for you.