Born and raised in Buffalo, NY, Nile came from a musical family—his grandfather was a vaudeville pianist who played with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson and Eddie Cantor; his uncles played boogie-woogie. His listened to the music of Elvis Presley, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, and Fats Domino, brought home by his older brothers. Nile himself began playing piano at age eight and took classical music lessons until he was a teenager, when he taught himself his first rock & roll song. He soon began to compose short songs and continued the habit into his college years, when during the summers he made trips into New York City to frequent hootenanny clubs like Folk City and the Gaslight.
Nile studied philosophy at the University at Buffalo where he received a BA in 1971, before heading for Greenwich Village. After graduation, Nile took an apartment in the heart of Greenwich Village; however, during his first winter in New York, he contracted pneumonia, which put him out of commission for about a year. He continued writing songs while recuperating, determined to make a name for himself as a latter-day troubadour. That he did throughout the ’70s, becoming a fixture in the Village folk and rock scenes and getting tabbed as the next big thing to come out of that long-thriving artistic community.
He began hanging out at clubs like CBGB's, where he would see bands like Patti Smith, Television, the Ramones and Talking Heads.
EARLY CAREER
Establishing residency at the Village club Kenny's Castaways on Bleecker St., Nile began drawing ever-growing crowds, which in turn led to his first record deal. In a glowing review in The New York Times, rock critic Robert Palmer wrote of Nile; "Every once in awhile the times seems to produce an artist who is at once an iconoclast and near-perfect expression of contemporary currents. He is one of the best singer-songwriters to emerge from the New York scene in a long time."
Following a flurry of critical acclaim, he found himself courted by representatives from close to a dozen record companies; he chose Arista Records, and went into the studio with a band that included Jay Dee Daugherty from the Patti Smith Group. More rave reviews compared the singer to Bob Dylan and Buddy Holly, and called him "a one-man Clash." The excitement surrounding his self-titled debut album, Willie Nile, prompted Pete Townshend to request Willie's presence on the Who 's summer tour. Nile and his band were soon on the road with The Who, only a few months after Willie's first experience playing with a band. After two acclaimed albums, the self-titled 1980 debut and 1981's Golden Down, Nile fell prey to protracted legal problems which derailed his career for a number of years.
RE-EMERGENCE
Although he continued to write, Nile did not perform live or record again until a 1987 performance in Oslo, Norway, with Eric Andersen. A videotape of Nile’s performance in Norway prompted a Columbia talent scout to sign him to the label in 1988, but production on his album didn't start for two more years. Issued in 1991, His Columbia Records CD Places I Have Never Been contained the songs "Everybody Needs A Hammer" and "Heaven Help The Lonely." Places I Have Never Been featured appearances by backing musicians including Richard Thompson, Loudon Wainwright III, Roger McGuinn, and members of the Hooters and the Roches. His 1992 EP release, Hard Times in America, became a favorite among some listeners in Europe.
Nile has recorded and performed with many musicians, including Ringo Starr, Tori Amos, Elvis Costello, Lucinda Williams, Ian Hunter, and Barenaked Ladies. A live Central Park concert album, Willie Nile-Archive Alive, was released on Archive Recordings, and Nile was one of the vocalists on the ensemble album Largo, along with Joan Osborne, Cyndi Lauper, Levon Helm, The Chieftains, Taj Mahal and Carole King. Another project found Nile writing and performing most of the songs for the soundtrack to the Kevin McLaughlin film Pinch Me!
In the fall of 2003, Nile was invited to share the stage at three concerts with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, including the two final Giants Stadium shows.
“Nile’s defining quality is his charismatic spirit. It’s a passion and enthusiasm that is infectious and earned Nile the admiration of fans and peers alike.” From Shea to the clubs and concert halls of Europe, "his live performances are legendary.
Studio albums
* 1980 - Willie Nile
* 1981 - Golden Down
* 1991 - Places I Have Never Been
* 1999 - Beautiful Wreck of the World
* 2006 - Streets of New York
* 2009 - House Of A Thousand Guitars
* 2010 - The Innocent Ones
Live albums
* 1997 - Live in Central Park - Archive Alive!
* 2007 - Live at Turning Point
* 2008 - Live From the Streets of New York
Gathering together his resources over time, he put out his first self-released album, Beautiful Wreck of the World, in 1999. It was chosen as one of the Top Ten Albums of the Year by critics at Billboard Magazine, The Village Voice and Stereo Review. Lucinda Williams called "On the Road to Calvary," Nile's song for Jeff Buckley, "One of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard." The album reached the finals of the Independent Music Awards for Best Rock Album of the Year.
In 2006, Nile released Streets of New York, which some consider to be his best work to date, due to quality production and clever songwriting. Former Time magazine music critic and Academy Award winning screenwriter Jay Cocks writes of Streets of New York, "The tunes he writes and plays with such blowtorch vibrancy get the myth and magic and danger and sadness and love in this town--of this town--truer, and righter, than anything I've heard since Dion. This record is a head-twister and heart-wrencher. It's rock and roll at its best. It's New York at its best. And there's nothing better than that."[citation needed]
House Of A Thousand Guitars was released on April 14, 2009.
On September 30, 2009, at his show at Giants Stadium in E. Rutherford, NJ, Bruce Springsteen invited Nile on stage to play with the E Street Band.
In addition, on November 22, 2009 Bruce Springsteen again invited him onstage to play the second last song of Springsteen's final concert of his tour, which was in Willie's hometown of Buffalo at HSBC Arena. Nile joined Springsteen and the E Street Band for the cover of Jackie Wilson's "Higher and Higher".
God Laughs
Willie Nile Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
He gets up without a warning, heads out to the sea
He goes down to the river, gets a boat with a sail
He's got things to deliver all day long I can hear him wail
God laughs, god cries
God looks for love between your eyes
God gives, god takes
And why, because he's god
God walks to the station, gets mail by the pound
He goes home through the bone yard
Reads every letter when no one's around
He goes down to the market near the church with the bell
He works hard as a tour guide
Taking everybody through heaven and hell
God laughs, god cries
God looks for love between your eyes
God wails, god moans
God don't use fax or telephones
God drinks, god smokes
God plans to quit before he croaks
And why, because he's god
He goes home after a long day, watches news on channel 5
Sometime when it's over late at night you can hear him cry
He lays down after eleven in his bed by the sea
He lays down here in heaven dreams all night about you and me
God laughs, god cries
God looks for love between your eyes
God sits, god waits
God goes to bed and fornicates
God hears, god sees
God knows your tune and changes keys
God cheats, god steals
God crushes us beneath his wheels
God heals, god kills
God does it all for your cheap thrills
And why, because he god
The song "God Laughs" by Willie Nile is an insightful and humorous take on how the higher power lives his life. It sets the scene of a typical day for God, waking up in the morning with toast and tea, and taking on different roles throughout the day, including a delivery person, tour guide, and even a lover. The song asserts that God is present in every aspect of our lives, even the mundane things like pumping gas or slamming brakes. At the end of the day, he sits and watches the news, but sometimes cries over the state of the world. The song ends on a powerful note, reminding the listener that God is capable of doing everything, from cheating and stealing to healing and killing - all for our cheap thrills.
Overall, the lyrics are meant to be satirical and light-hearted, but they also offer a deeper message about the presence of God in everyday life. They suggest that while God may be omnipotent, he is also human-like in his desires, emotions, and actions, which connects him to us in a relatable way.
Line by Line Meaning
God wakes in the morning, has toast with his tea
God starts his day just like a person - wakes up, eats breakfast, and drinks tea
He gets up without a warning, heads out to the sea
God doesn't need an alarm clock to wake up and he goes to the ocean for a morning boat ride
He goes down to the river, gets a boat with a sail
God goes to the river to get a sailboat
He's got things to deliver all day long I can hear him wail
God has a busy schedule and sometimes complains about it
God laughs, god cries
God expresses a range of emotions
God looks for love between your eyes
God searches for love in people's eyes
God gives, god takes
God gives and takes things away
God pumps your gas and slams your brakes
God is in control of our daily lives
And why, because he's god
God can do all of these things because he is God
God walks to the station, gets mail by the pound
God goes to the post office and collects a lot of mail
He goes home through the bone yard
God takes a route home that goes through a cemetery
Reads every letter when no one's around
God reads all the mail that he receives
He goes down to the market near the church with the bell
God goes to a market near a church with a bell tower
He works hard as a tour guide taking everybody through heaven and hell
God is like a tour guide, taking people through the afterlife
God wails, god moans
God expresses sadness and discomfort
God don't use fax or telephones
God doesn't use modern communication methods
God drinks, god smokes
God enjoys drinking and smoking
God plans to quit before he croaks
God intends to stop smoking and drinking before he dies
He goes home after a long day, watches news on channel 5
God watches the news after a busy day
Sometime when it's over late at night you can hear him cry
God sometimes cries alone at night
He lays down after eleven in his bed by the sea
God goes to bed around eleven in his seaside home
He lays down here in heaven dreams all night about you and me
God dreams about people while in heaven
God sits, god waits
God is patient
God goes to bed and fornicates
God has sexual relations
God hears, god sees
God is aware of everything
God knows your tune and changes keys
God is aware of every person's situation and takes action accordingly
God cheats, god steals
God breaks the rules sometimes
God crushes us beneath his wheels
God can be ruthless and overpowering
God heals, god kills
God has the power to both heal and take life
God does it all for your cheap thrills
God's actions are not always noble; sometimes he does things for entertainment
Contributed by Logan P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Don Sawyer
"God smokes/God plans to quit before he croaks." Willy Nile -- greatest rocker/singer/songwriter way too many people have never heard of.
Fat Freddy's Cat
Seriously underheard artist
Trevor Lees
Because he's God ......
Douglas Lowe
God goes to bed and fornicates!!! Brilliant
JE Sides
HaH!