Quotes by Willie Nelson
Welcome to our collection of quotes (with shareable picture quotes) by Willie Nelson. We hope you enjoy pondering them and that you will share them widely.
Wikipedia Summary for Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American musician, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger (1975) and Stardust (1978), made Nelson one of the most recognized artists in country music. He was one of the main figures of outlaw country, a subgenre of country music that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restrictions of the Nashville sound. Nelson has acted in over 30 films, co-authored several books, and has been involved in activism for the use of biofuels and the legalization of marijuana.
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 disc 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 biodiesel brand Willie Nelson Biodiesel, whose product 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.
I think people need to be educated to the fact that marijuana is not a drug. Marijuana is a flower. God put it here.
Longer Version/[Notes]:
I think people need to be educated to the fact that marijuana is not a drug. Marijuana is an herb and a flower. God put it here. If He put it here and He wants it to grow, what gives the government the right to say that God is wrong?
Forgive, forget all of our broken promises We run, run, run to loose it all These days, are darker and they draw me in And I left a trail but no one missed me in, in the end.
All the broken promises Love could never be like this Lips that give the tender kiss Make the broken promises.
I like to stick with music I know I can play. I love classical, but I don't think I could ever play it. I'm just not qualified.
Marijuana is like sex: If I don't do it every day I get a headache.
Longer Version/[Notes]:
Marijuana is like sex. If I don't do it every day, I get a headache. I think marijuana should be recognized for what it is, as a medicine, an herb that grows in the ground. If you need it, use it.
Gay or straight? So what? It doesn't matter to me. We have to be concerned about other people regardless.
It's an ongoing problem, an ongoing situation, life is. It's just life, and it never stops and it never will. You just be thankful for what you've got, and move on.
Everything about Sinatra was good. He had the ability to pick great songs, and once Sinatra had sung them, that pretty much was it. He pretty much put his stamp on everything.
Love is like a dying ember, only memories remain.
Longer Version/[Notes]:
Love is like a dying ember, and only memories remain. And through the ages, I'll remember blue eyes crying in the rain.
When you're singing, you're using extra muscles, and it requires a lot of exercise and breathing. You can't do that if you're a sissy. If I have any fitness advice for people, I'd tell them to sing more. It's good therapy, too.
There's so many things going on in the world, Babies dying. Mothers crying. How much oil is one human life worth. And what ever happened to peace on earth.
I think there must be safety in numbers. If you f -- up enough times, they forget which one you really did. They start thinking, Well, nobody can be that bad.
More and more people are finding out the benefits of it -- hemp and marijuana. The more they delve into it and research it, the more they realize, Hey wait a minute, we should give this another look.
The first time I got onstage was when I was about 5 years old. It was at a church social, and I had a poem to recite.
At 82, Nelson (who wrote the song On the Road Again, among a thousand or more others) is the elder statesman of country music, a steadying and powerful voice in the industry and on environmental issues, and he's still on the road much of the year. The music keeps calling.
Let's get the government stay out of our private lives, once and for all, and stop arresting smokers. Let's take a stand for personal freedom.
If you start out looking at somebody, wondering whether he's good or bad, I think you're starting out in the wrong direction. I think we're all good and we're all bad.
If I started drinking again, there would be a lot of people bringing me pot because I can't handle alcohol. I just am not a good drinker. I get a little alcohol in me and I start trying to change the world, and that's not good. A lot of people are the same way. So that's why I don't drink anymore.
The fight to save family farms isn't just about farmers. It's
about making sure that there is a safe and healthy food supply for all of us.
It's about jobs, from Main Street to Wall Street. It's about a better
America.
I think it is just terrible and disgusting how everyone has treated Lance Armstrong, especially after what he achieved, winning seven Tour de France races while on drugs. When I was on drugs, I couldn't even find my bike.
I learned some invaluable lessons in Nashville that apply to both farming and show business: Do not corner something you know is meaner than you; keep skunks of all kinds at a distance; if you forgive your enemies, it messes up their heads.
The biggest killer on the planet is stress and I still think the best medicine is and always has been cannabis.
Freedom is control in your own life.
Longer Version/[Notes]:
Freedom is control in your own life. I have more control now than in the past, and I'm learning the value of saying no. That's very important.
I don't think any person has any special knowledge about what God has planned for me and you any more than me and you do.
I think I'm basically the same guy I always was. Maybe I've learned, through experience, to rein in some of the anger and temper they say redheads normally have.
But if you think of all the people who don't like me, just think of all the millions who've never heard of me!
I just enjoy both working and not working.
Longer Version/[Notes]:
I just enjoy both working and not working. And fortunately, I work enough where I get that out of my system, and then we take a few days off, take a rest.
I was influenced a lot by those around me -- there was a lot of singing that went on in the cotton fields.
I would like to see more airplay for all artists, no matter what age. I think there's a lot of money being spent toward the young guys, but a lot of the older guys are the ones who blazed the trail for those young guys.
Don't try to change anybody. And they should let you be yourself, 'You loved me when you met me, so let's keep going!'
Anybody can be unhappy. We can all be hurt. You don't have to be poor to need something or somebody. Rednecks, hippies, misfits -- we're all the same. Gay or straight? So what? It doesn't matter to me. We have to be concerned about other people, regardless.
We create our own unhappiness. The purpose of suffering is to help us understand we are the ones who cause it.
