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.
Write Your Own Songs
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We are only songwriters just writing our songs and that's all
We write what we live and we live what we write is that wrong
If you think it is Mr. Music Executive
Why don't you write your own songs
[Chorus]
And don't listen to mine,they might run you crazy
We're making you rich and you're already lazy
So just lay on your ass and get richer or write your own songs
Mr. Purified Country don't you know what the whole things about
Is your head up your ass so far that you can't pull it out
The world's getting smaller and everyone in it belongs
And if you can't see that Mr. Purified Country
Why don't you just write your own songs
[Chorus.]
So just lay on your ass and get richer or write your own songs
In Willie Nelson's song "Write Your Own Songs," the lyrics delve into the topic of music executives and purists who criticize songwriters for their content and authenticity. The first verse shows how songwriters are viewed as outsiders and treated with disrespect, but Nelson defends his profession by saying that they are simply writing down their experiences. He questions why music executives don't write their own songs if they are so unhappy with the material produced by songwriters. The chorus emphasizes this point by telling them to stop listening to other people's songs and focus on making their own.
The second verse is directed towards "Mr. Purified Country," who is a traditional country music artist that refuses to see the value in different types of music. Nelson notes that the world is changing and everyone should have a voice in it. He wants music to be inclusive and open to different perspectives. The final line echoes the sentiment from the first verse, to just write your own songs if you can't appreciate the work of others.
Overall, the song is a commentary on the music industry and how it can be hard for songwriters to be taken seriously. It also highlights the importance of creative expression and standing up for oneself. Through this song, Nelson is advocating for a more diverse and accepting culture in the music industry.
Line by Line Meaning
You call us heathens with zero respect for the law
You label us as immoral people without any regard for rules because of our profession
We are only songwriters just writing our songs and that's all
We are artists who express our experiences and emotions through the medium of music
We write what we live and we live what we write is that wrong
We create our songs based on our own life and emotions, is that a problem?
If you think it is Mr. Music Executive
If you have a problem with our songwriting style, Mr. Music Executive
Why don't you write your own songs
Why don't you try writing your own songs instead of criticizing us?
And don't listen to mine, they might run you crazy
If you can't handle the emotions and stories in our songs, don't bother listening to them
They might make you dwell on your feelings a moment too long
Our songs might force you to confront your feelings more deeply than you are comfortable with
We're making you rich and you're already lazy
Our songs are responsible for making you wealthy, yet you still criticize us and refuse to create your own music
Mr. Purified Country don't you know what the whole things about
Do you, Mr. Purified Country, even understand the essence of music?
Is your head up your ass so far that you can't pull it out
Are you so ignorant that you cannot comprehend the world around you?
The world's getting smaller and everyone in it belongs
As the world becomes more interconnected, we realize that everyone belongs to one big community
And if you can't see that Mr. Purified Country
If you are unable to recognize this fact, Mr. Purified Country
Why don't you just write your own songs
Why don't you try writing your own songs instead of criticizing us?
So just lay on your ass and get richer or write your own songs
Either continue to profit off of others' creativity or try to create something of your own
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: WILLIE NELSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@shawnjohnson6077
How have I never heard this song until today. Love it.
@judysonmor9202
Willie is a National treasure. Dalton,Mn
@janetfarris3739
Hahahaha I'm loving this. I love Willie's humor. He always tells it like it is. Love you Willie
@mommenon1
Thank you Janet!! Hope this finds you well! Yes we love Willie for sure!!!
~Marianne...
@dkpred
I love Willie Nelson. Your one of my best friends I've never met.
@mt3311
I had forgotten this song. Gotta love Willie, I would tell them the same thing.
@christopherreed2694
Iv been a fan since on the road again I was 2 and knew every word and would sing it loud even wen wasn't on I learned how to play van halen eruption by ear wen I was 12 too but this is buy far my favorite favorite favorite new song thank you
@ILUVSWLA
Music Executives have destroyed the music industry. Willie hit the nail on the head with this song way back in the day.
@cs6113
Dear Willie, Love you more...
@judysonmor9202
Love this song and it’s so true. Love you Willie and family.