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.
Wonderful Future
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm alone in the sweet used-to-be
My past and my present are one and the same
And the future holds nothing for me
Yesterday's kisses still burning
And yesterday's mem'ries still find me
Scenes from the past keep returning
I've got a wonderful future behind me
You say there is happiness waiting for me
But I know this is just fantasy
Let me trade one tomorrows for one yesterday
Live in my garden of dreams
Yesterday's kisses still burning
And yesterday's mem'ries still find me
Scenes from the past keep returning
I've got a wonderful future behind me
The lyrics to Willie Nelson's song Wonderful Future are those of a melancholy tune that speaks to the themes of nostalgia and the passage of time. At the outset of the song, the singer describes himself as wandering through a "garden of dreams," a metaphor for his memories of the past. He is alone, surrounded by memories of a "sweet used-to-be" while the present and past converge. The future, however, appears to hold nothing for him, as he laments the fact that all he has left are memories of kisses and scenes from the past. He declares that he has a "wonderful future behind me," suggesting that his best years are already behind him.
The lyrics reveal a sense of disillusionment and regret, as the singer seems to feel that he has missed out on something in life. At the same time, there is a sense of resignation and acceptance that comes through in the lyrics. The singer knows that he cannot change the past, and that the future is out of his control. The final lines of the song express a desire to "trade one tomorrow for one yesterday," indicating that the singer would rather live in the memories of the past than face an uncertain future.
Line by Line Meaning
Today as I walk through my garden of dreams
As I reflect upon my hopes and desires, I find myself alone in a world of memories.
I'm alone in the sweet used-to-be
I am isolated in a place where my past joys and pleasures once flourished.
My past and my present are one and the same
The events of my life have led me to this point where the past and present are indistinguishable.
And the future holds nothing for me
My life holds no promise for tomorrow, leaving me feeling hopeless and lost.
Yesterday's kisses still burning
The love and passion I experienced in the past still have an intense hold on me.
And yesterday's mem'ries still find me
My mind is constantly visited by the images and feelings of times gone by.
Scenes from the past keep returning
My past experiences continue to reappear in my thoughts, creating a sense of longing and nostalgia.
I've got a wonderful future behind me
My greatest moments and achievements are all in the past, leaving me with nothing to look forward to in the future.
You say there is happiness waiting for me
There are those who believe that my future holds happiness and fulfillment.
But I know this is just fantasy
I am aware that these hopes and dreams are illusory and unattainable.
Let me trade one tomorrows for one yesterday
I would give up any number of tomorrows to relive a single day from my past.
Live in my garden of dreams
I long to exist in a world where my dreams can be realized and my past experiences are still alive.
Lyrics © GLAD MUSIC CO.
Written by: WILLIE NELSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Brendan Foley
This song is a perfect example of why Willie Nelson is a living legend.
Lewis Kelly Official
Our idiot brother anyone. Lol I love the idea that the dog is called willie nelson and there’s a willie nelson song in the movie. Love this song
DANK Vibezz
I watched that movie yesterday and the day before that
Nunya Bizness
i literally saw the movie half an hour ago and i straight came here
I'm a hard cummer. Fuck you, bitch.
3 Willie Nelson songs.
gheester60
Gave me chills, just a perfect song, and his voice gets in your heart and mind and plays on and on. Thank you for posting this.
4girlsgramps
Ditto....This track was reissued many years ago on an album self titled 'Sweet Memories'....great album if you can find it. 'What A Wonderful Future' is one of many great tracks on the album.
Ernesto Ruiz
Yes,Yes, I love this song.Leave it to Willie Nelson to come up with this song that absolutely
touches my heart.
Rose Werchinski
"Wonderful Future" is a heartfelt story sung by a most talented artist/ musician --Willie Nelson...❤
Marianne Menon
Thank you Rose for your very kind comment. I agree wholeheartedly with you!🧡