Archive for the ‘Songs’ Category

Patsy Cline records crazy (August 21, 1961)

Saturday, August 21st, 2021

August 21 1961, Patsy Cline recorded the classic Willie Nelson song, ‘Crazy’. She was still on crutches after going through a car windshield in a head-on collision two months earlier and had difficulty reaching the high notes of the song at first, due to her broken ribs.

Congratulations, Johnny Bush, “Whisky River” sung 2,000,000 times

Sunday, June 13th, 2021
Johnny Bush with Mitch Ballard of BMI.
Whiskey River has been performed two million times. 

“Jimmy’s Song”

Saturday, January 23rd, 2021

The Facts of Life: and Other Dirty Jokes
by Willie Nelson

“I wrote ‘Jimmy’s Song’ when my friend and bass player, David Zettner, was drafted into the army during the Viet Nam War.  I could have called it ‘David’s Song,’ but ‘Jimmy’s Road’ sounded more euphonious.  Thank you, Chet Atkins, for that big word.  He said that one time about some line I had written.  At the time I didn’t know what it meant — words that go together — but I said, ‘Alright Chet, thanks.’  I was relieved to find out later it was a good thing.”

Willie Nelson, “Still is Still Moving to me”

Thursday, January 21st, 2021

When people ask me which of the songs Ive written are my favorites, “Still is Still Moving” always comes up near the top of the list. The band and I play it at almost every concert, and I’ve recorded it countless times, as well, so you have got to figure the song means something important to me.

Sometimes I wonder if perhaps the song is me.

Whether you look at the song from the point of view of ancient philosophies or from the modern knowledge of quantum physics, there is great motion in all stillness, and true stillness at the heart of all action.

The early Chinese philosophers referred to hits in the concept of something called wu wei, which suggests fulfilling every task with the least necessary action. Two notes are not required when one will suffice. Twenty words may not say something better than ten, or one. For me, that word is stillness.

No matter how still I am, the world around me is abuzz with activity, and the world within me as well. Modern physics tells us that the atoms in our body ” and all the particles and forces that make up those atoms ” are never at rest. While our bodies and the world around us seem solid, that physical appearance is merely an illusion, for each of our atoms is comprised primarily of empty space.

If your life in this modern world seems to pass you by at the speed of light, perhaps you could consult Einstein, who proved that the faster we travel, the more time is compressed. That’s right, the faster we go, the less time we have. So what is your hurry?

This may not mean much to you, but it must be quite traumatic for the atoms. Would you like to hear an atom joke? I didn’t think so, but here is one anyway:

A neutron went into a bar and says, “How much for a beer?”

The bartender says, “For you, no charge.”


The Tao of Willie: A Guide to the Happiness in Your Heart

The Tao of Willie Nelson
by Willie Nelson, with Turk Pipkin

Johnny Cash, “Backstage Pass to the Willie Nelson Show”

Thursday, November 12th, 2020

Essential Willie Nelson Playlist

Saturday, October 10th, 2020

www.msn.com
by: Amy McCarthy

Read entire article, see all the pictures here.

Known as the Red-Headed Stranger, a serious cannabis enthusiast and one of country music’s most iconic songwriters, Willie Nelson has recorded an incredible number of classic songs in his more than 60-year-long career in the industry. He’s also earned a reputation as one of the most affable artists in any genre, and his accomplishments have been recognized countless times by the Recording Academy and Country Music Association, and has earned a place in the hearts of music fans everywhere, not just country music lovers. Flip through the gallery for an essential playlist of Nelson’s finest songs, from his cover of “Georgia On My Mind” to the quintessential “Whiskey River.”

www.msn.com
by: Amy McCarthy

Read article here: msn.com

Paul Nelson on new Ray Wylie Hubbard single

Saturday, June 20th, 2020

Angel Flying Too Close to the Sun

Wednesday, May 20th, 2020

Behind the Song: Willie Nelson, “Crazy”

Thursday, February 27th, 2020

www.songwriter.com
by: Paul Kingsbury

Once a song becomes a widely recognized hit, its popularity can seem virtually inevitable. How could that song not have been a hit?

Certainly that would seem to be the case with “Crazy,” the country standard written by Willie Nelson and recorded definitively by Patsy Cline for Decca Records in 1961. Cline’s hit recording swings with such velvety finesse, and her voice throbs and aches so exquisitely, that the entire production sounds absolutely effortless. Actually, it was anything but.

“Crazy”
by Willie Nelson

Start with the songwriter.

Today Willie Nelson is universally acclaimed as both a singer and a songwriter. But when he arrived in Nashville from Texas in 1960, the 27-year-old ex-DJ and bar musician was a household name only at his own kitchen table. Although his talent was obvious, many in the country music business thought his style was simply too offbeat and artsy for the charts.

“I enjoyed fooling around with the phrasing,” Willie has said, “but it made my sound noncommercial for all those Nashville ears who were listening for the same old stuff and misunderstood anything original.” Nelson also tended to write melodies that were more complex than the standard country fare. “I had problems immediately with my song ‘Crazy’ because it had four or five chords in it,” he recalled. “Not that ‘Crazy’ is real complicated; it just wasn’t your basic three-chord country hillbilly song.”

Two people who believed in Willie from the beginning were songwriter Hank Cochran and Grand Ole Opry star Billy Walker. Cochran got Willie a $50 a week draw as a staff writer at Pamper Music shortly after he arrived in Nashville, while Walker quickly recorded Willie’s “Funny How Time Slips Away” and talked Willie up with other artists. One of them happened to be fellow Grand Ole Opry cast member Patsy Cline.

Then 28 years old and coming off her first No. 1 hit (“I Fall to Pieces”) after six years of ups and downs in the music industry, Cline did not quickly warm to “Crazy.” She much preferred “Funny How Time Slips Away,” but Walker kept that one for himself. “Crazy” must have seemed like the consolation prize. However, when Hank Cochran pitched “Crazy” to Owen Bradley, Cline’s producer, he was quickly sold-which just goes to show what great ears Owen Bradley had.

The demo (which can be heard on Willie Nelson’s Demo Sessions CD) was slow and syrupy. Willie’s phrasing was all over the place-sometimes ahead of the beat, sometimes behind it, stretching syllables out or biting them short. Sometimes he was closer to reciting the lyrics than singing them. Yet somehow Owen Bradley heard a potential hit in that.

Patsy Cline, however, did not. Although Bradley persuaded her to try the song at his Quonset Hut studio on August 21, 1961, she could not get a handle on it during four-hour session. Part of Patsy’s difficulty may have been that she had been in a horrific auto accident just two months before in which she was badly banged up. When she came into the studio, she was on crutches. It may have hurt to hit certain notes. There were other difficulties as well.

“In addition to Patsy’s injury,” says Harold Bradley, the Country Music Hall of Fame guitarist and Owen’s brother, “the other thing that made this session hard was that my brother would refine the track as we went along.  There was no written music for ‘Crazy.’ So Owen would come out of the control room and say, ‘Why don’t you guys try this?’”

After four hours, Owen Bradley and Nashville’s A Team pickers nailed the song. Where Willie’s demo had wobbled boozily, Bradley’s arrangement swung in a lush, sophisticated way. However, it still lacked a lead vocal. That came three weeks later, on September 15, when Patsy overdubbed a pitch-perfect emotional performance in a single take.

Only a month later Patsy wrote to a friend: “They say ‘Crazy’ is a smash. . . . Music Reporter has it top 30 C & W already & Music Vender has it already in pop & C & W charts. I’m real glad but can’t hardly believe it’s happening to me.” It would go on to reach No. 2 in Billboard‘s country chart and No. 9 pop. More significantly, of course, it’s become a standard, covered by such luminaries as Loretta Lynn, Linda Ronstadt, Cassandra Wilson, Diana Krall . . . and Willie Nelson himself, who has had the good sense to lean heavily on Patsy Cline and Owen Bradley’s masterful arrangement ever since.

“What ever happened to peace on earth?”

Tuesday, December 31st, 2019

Willie wrote this song on Christmas, 2003, and performed it for the first time at the Kucinich for President fundraising concert in Austin, Texas, on Jan. 3, 2004.

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 earthWe believe everything that they tell us
They’re gonna’ kill us
So we gotta’ kill them first
But I remember a commandment
Thou shall not kill
How much is that soldier’s life worth
And whatever happened to peace on earth(Bridge)
And the bewildered herd is still believing
Everything we’ve been told from our birth
Hell they won’t lie to me
Not on my own damn TV
But how much is a liar’s word worth
And whatever happened to peace on earth

So I guess it’s just
Do unto others before they do it to you

Willie Nelson, “Still is Still Moving to Me”

Thursday, December 12th, 2019

When people ask me which of the songs Ive written are my favorites, “Still is Still Moving” always comes up near the top of the list. The band and I play it at almost every concert, and I’ve recorded it countless times, as well, so you have got to figure the song means something important to me.

Sometimes I wonder if perhaps the song is me.

Whether you look at the song from the point of view of ancient philosophies or from the modern knowledge of quantum physics, there is great motion in all stillness, and true stillness at the heart of all action.

The early Chinese philosophers referred to hits in the concept of something called wu wei, which suggests fulfilling every task with the least necessary action. Two notes are not required when one will suffice. Twenty words may not say something better than ten, or one. For me, that word is stillness.

No matter how still I am, the world around me is abuzz with activity, and the world within me as well. Modern physics tells us that the atoms in our body ” and all the particles and forces that make up those atoms ” are never at rest. While our bodies and the world around us seem solid, that physical appearance is merely an illusion, for each of our atoms is comprised primarily of empty space.

If your life in this modern world seems to pass you by at the speed of light, perhaps you could consult Einstein, who proved that the faster we travel, the more time is compressed. That’s right, the faster we go, the less time we have. So what is your hurry?

This may not mean much to you, but it must be quite traumatic for the atoms. Would you like to hear an atom joke? I didn’t think so, but here is one anyway:

A neutron went into a bar and says, “How much for a beer?”

The bartender says, “For you, no charge.”


The Tao of Willie: A Guide to the Happiness in Your Heart

The Tao of Willie Nelson
by Willie Nelson, with Turk Pipkin

Congratulations, Johnny Bush, “Whisky River” sung 2,000,000 times

Monday, November 11th, 2019

I think Willie has sung it that many times himself.

Willie Nelson and Patsy Cline and “Crazy”

Wednesday, November 6th, 2019
Photo credit: Michael Ochs

How Patsy Cline and Willie Nelson Teamed up for Her Hit Song “Crazy”

The up-and-coming songwriter and country music singer found common ground on a crossover classic that cemented both artists’ reputations.

www.biography.com
by: Tim Ott

While he is hailed today as one of the iconic musicians of his time, there was a time when Willie Nelson was trying to sell his songs for meal money like a fruit vendor on the streets.

Such was the case when he arrived in Nashville, Tennessee in 1960, a broke balladeer armed with a trove of songs that would eventually become hits for other artists, including a yearning ballad for a lost lover that was originally called “Stupid,” before getting retitled as “Crazy.”

At the time, country singer Patsy Cline was enduring her own professional and personal difficulties, her momentum stalled since her 1957 breakthrough with “Walkin’ After Midnight.” In June 1961, as she was finally making headway with a much-needed follow-up hit, “I Fall to Pieces,” she was in a horrific car accident that left her hospitalized in critical condition.

Nelson brought a demo to Cline’s home but wouldn’t go inside

Things were soon looking up for both artists. “I Fall to Pieces” reached the top spot on the country charts while Cline was recuperating, and word was out around Nashville’s music community that she was ready to make another splash. Meanwhile, Nelson had scored a gig with Pamper Music, his reputation as a gifted, albeit unorthodox, songwriter gaining steam thanks to his recent successes for Faron Young (“These Walls”) and Billy Walker (“Funny How Time Slips Away”).

There are differing accounts of how “Crazy” wound up with the chanteuse who delivered its definitive version. According to Willie Nelson: An Epic Life, Cline’s husband and manager, Charlie Dick, had irritated his wife by playing a Nelson song over and over, leaving a bad taste in her mouth when the songwriter’s name was mentioned. As a result, when Nelson and fellow Pamper Music scribe Hank Cochran arrived a few days later with a demo of “Crazy,” Nelson hid in the car until Cline went out to retrieve “that little son of a b***h” herself.

?In the alternate version relayed in It’s a Long Story: My Life, Nelson claimed he played the “Crazy” demo for Dick at the local hangout, after which Dick insisted on immediately bringing it home for his wife to hear. Because it was after 1 a.m., Nelson was hesitant to go inside, until Cline, a hospitable “sweetheart,” came to get him.

Cline’s reaction to “Crazy” is also disputed. Nelson recalled her saying she was “glad” he wrote the song and planned to record it, while other sources say she had her eye on different material and was loath to take on an aching heartbreaker of this type.

Cline nailed her recording performance in one take

Regardless, “Crazy” was placed on Cline’s recording schedule at producer Owen Bradley’s Quonset Hut Studio. Recognizing the potential in this piece of music, Bradley whipped up a lavish arrangement, focusing on instruments like the drums, electric guitar and piano, unusual for country music at the time. He also pulled in the Jordanaires, a quartet that found fame backing Elvis Presley, for an extra layer of harmonies.

The lead vocals were another story. Nelson’s demo, which featured his idiosyncratic sense of meter and phrasing, left everyone flummoxed as they tried to mold it into a number befitting Cline’s style. Furthermore, the singer was still in pain and unable to belt out certain notes with her customary vigor. After temporarily shelving her input, Cline returned to the studio a few days later and nailed her performance, with its melodic leaps and dramatic pauses, in one take.

There was one more obstacle to “Crazy” reaching the masses: Billy Walker, who valued Nelson after the success of “Funny How Time Slips Away,” had a “hold” on the song that gave him first rights to its release. That was quickly rectified, however, when Cochran promised to provide another hit song in its place.

“Crazy” became one of the biggest jukebox hits of all time

Released in October 1961 by Decca Records, “Crazy” became a No. 2 country hit and rose to No. 9 on the Hot 100, though its chart performance only tells a small part of its legacy. It became one of Cline’s signature songs, the torch of a life cut short by a plane crash a year and a half later, as well as a standard covered by the likes of Loretta Lynn, Linda Ronstadt and LeAnne Rhimes, among others. In 1988, as part of celebrations for the 100th-year anniversary of the jukebox, the Amusement and Music Operators Association named “Crazy” and Presley’s “Hound Dog” as the most-played jukebox hits of all time.

All it took were the combined powers of two legendary artists, one an out-of-the-box songwriter and the other a perfectionist, powerhouse singer, who were crazy enough to tap into the universal longing that made this song a classic for the ages.

Cline nailed her recording performance in one take.

Regardless, “Crazy” was placed on Cline’s recording schedule at producer Owen Bradley’s Quonset Hut Studio. Recognizing the potential in this piece of music, Bradley whipped up a lavish arrangement, focusing on instruments like the drums, electric guitar and piano, unusual for country music at the time. He also pulled in the Jordanaires, a quartet that found fame backing Elvis Presley, for an extra layer of harmonies.

The lead vocals were another story. Nelson’s demo, which featured his idiosyncratic sense of meter and phrasing, left everyone flummoxed as they tried to mold it into a number befitting Cline’s style. Furthermore, the singer was still in pain and unable to belt out certain notes with her customary vigor. After temporarily shelving her input, Cline returned to the studio a few days later and nailed her performance, with its melodic leaps and dramatic pauses, in one take.

There was one more obstacle to “Crazy” reaching the masses: Billy Walker, who valued Nelson after the success of “Funny How Time Slips Away,” had a “hold” on the song that gave him first rights to its release. That was quickly rectified, however, when Cochran promised to provide another hit song in its place.

“Crazy” became one of the biggest jukebox hits of all time
Released in October 1961 by Decca Records, “Crazy” became a No. 2 country hit and rose to No. 9 on the Hot 100, though its chart performance only tells a small part of its legacy. It became one of Cline’s signature songs, the torch of a life cut short by a plane crash a year and a half later, as well as a standard covered by the likes of Loretta Lynn, Linda Ronstadt and LeAnne Rhimes, among others. In 1988, as part of celebrations for the 100th-year anniversary of the jukebox, the Amusement and Music Operators Association named “Crazy” and Presley’s “Hound Dog” as the most-played jukebox hits of all time.

All it took were the combined powers of two legendary artists, one an out-of-the-box songwriter and the other a perfectionist, powerhouse singer, who were crazy enough to tap into the universal longing that made this song a classic for the ages.

Willie Nelson songs

Monday, July 29th, 2019
  • A Moment Isn’t Very Long
  • A Penny For Your Thoughts
  • Alice in Hulaland (co-written with Buddy Cannon)
  • Albania Albania
  • Always Now
  • American Dream (co-written With Bob Dylan)
  • Amnesia
  • And So Will You My Love
  • Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground
  • Annie
  • Any Old Arms Won’t Do (co-written With Hank Cochran)
  • Are You Ever Coming Home (co-written With Hank Cochran)
  • Are You Sure (co-written With Buddy Emmons)
  • Ashamed
  • Au Jardin De Mes Reves (Albert Babin, rearranged)
  • Bach Minuet In G (rearranged)
  • Back On The Road (co-written With Nathan Mackey)
  • Back to Earth
  • Baja Oklahoma (co-written With Dan Jenkins)
  • Band of Brothers
  • Bandera
  • Bird (co-written With Robert Braddock, Hal Coleman, Barry Etris, Claude Putman, Jr. And John Bush Shinn III)
  • Bird Medley
  • Blame It On The Times
  • Bloody Mary Morning
  • Blue Rock Montana
  • Both Ends Of The Candle
  • Broken Promise
  • Bring it On
  • Buddy
  • Changing Skies
  • Christmas Blues (co-written With Booker Jones)
  • Christmas Prayer
  • Cling To The Spark
  • Cold Empty Spark
  • Come On Back Jesus
  • Congratulations
  • Country Willie
  • Crazy
  • Cry Softly Darling
  • Crying In The Heart
  • Darkness On The Face Of The Earth
  • Darling Are You Ever Coming Home
  • December Day
  • Denver
  • Devil In A Sleeping Bag
  • Did I Ever Love You
  • Do Your Thing You’re A Cowboy
  • Don’t Say Love Or Nothing
  • Down At The Corner Beer Joint
  • Dream Come True
  • Driving the Herd (co-written with Buddy Cannon)
  • Ehrbares Madchen
  • El Niño
  • Electric Horseman
  • Eleven Dixie Mudcats
  • End Of Understanding
  • Everybody’s Baby
  • Everything But You
  • Everywhere I go
  • Face of a Fighter
  • Family Bible
  • Follow Me Around
  • Following Me Around
  • Forgiving You Was Easy
  • Funny
  • Funny How Time Slips Away
  • Ghost
  • Go Away
  • Goin’ Home
  • Good Hearted Woman (co-written With Waylon Jennings)
  • Good Times
  • Guitar in the Corner
  • Great Divide
  • Half a Man
  • Half Black Half Leopard
  • Happiness Lives Next Door
  • Hard Edge Texas (co-written With Kris Kristofferson)
  • He’s Not For You
  • Healing Hands Of Time
  • Heartaches Of A Fool
  • Heartland
  • Heaven And Hell
  • Heebie Jeebie Blues No. 2
  • Hej Meddig
  • Hello Darling
  • Hello Fool
  • Hello Wall Number 2
  • Hello Walls
  • Hero
  • Hint Of Song
  • Hold Me Tighter
  • Home Is Where You’re Happy
  • Home Motel
  • Homecoming In Heaven
  • Hot Blooded Woman
  • Hot Time In Music City Blues
  • How Does It Feel
  • How Long Is Forever
  • I Am The Forest
  • I Can Cry Again
  • I Can Get Off On You
  • I Can Still Reach Yesterday
  • I Can’t Find The Time
  • I Didn’t Sleep A Wink
  • I Don’t Feel Anything
  • I Don’t Know Where I Am Today
  • I Don’t Understand
  • I Feel Sorry For Him
  • I Gotta Get Drunk
  • I Guard The Canadian Border
  • I Guess I Ve Come To Live Here
  • I Just Can’t Let You Say Goodbye
  • I Just Don’t Understand
  • I Just Stopped By
  • I Let My Mind Wander
  • I Live One Day At A Time
  • I Never Cared For You
  • I Should Have Kissed Her More
  • I Still Can’t Believe You’re Gone
  • I Thought About You
  • I Thought I Left You
  • I Want A Girl
  • I Want To Be Alone
  • I Write You Letters
  • I’d Already Cheated On You
  • I’d Rather You Didn’t Love Me
  • I’ll Stay Around
  • I’m A Memory
  • I’m Building Heartaches
  • I’m Falling In Love Again
  • I’m Gonna Lose A Lot Of Teardrops
  • I’m Not Trying To Forget You
  • I’m So Ashamed
  • I’m Still Not Over You
  • I’m Waiting forever
  • I’ve Got A Wonderful Future
  • I’ve Just Destroyed The World
  • I’ve Loved You All Over The World
  • I’ve Seen All This World I Care to See
  • If You Could Only See
  • If You Really Loved Me
  • In God’s Eyes
  • In The Car Again
  • Is The Better Part Over
  • Is There Something On Your Mind
  • Island In The Sea
  • It Could Be Said That Way
  • It Should Be Easier Now
  • It’s A Dream Come True
  • It’s Not For Me To Understand
  • It’s Not Supposed To Be That Way
  • It’s Only Money (co-written with Buddy Cannon)
  • Jimmy’s Road
  • Jingle Bells (James Pierpont, rearranged)
  • Just As I Am (Charlotte Elliott, William B. Bradbury)
  • Just For The Moment
  • Kneel At The Feet Of Jesus
  • Laying My Burdens Down
  • Laws of Nature
  • Lear And A Limo (co-written With Mickey Raphael)
  • Leave Alone
  • Let Me Be A Man
  • Let My Heart Be Broken
  • Let’s Pretend We’re Strangers
  • Little Old Fashioned Karma
  • Little Things
  • Local Memory
  • Loco
  • London
  • Lonely Little Mansion
  • Looking For A Place To Fall (co-written With Merle Haggard And Freddy Powers)
  • Makin’s Of A Song (co-written With Max Barnes, Waylon Jennings And Troy Seals)
  • Man With the Blues
  • Mariachi
  • Matador
  • Me And Paul
  • Mean Old Greyhound Bus
  • Message
  • Misery Mansion
  • More Than One Way To Cry
  • Mr. Record Man
  • My Kind Of Girl
  • My Love
  • My Love For The Rose
  • My Own Peculiar Way
  • New Way To Cry
  • Night Life
  • No Love Around
  • No Place for Me
  • No Tomorrow In Sight
  • Nobody Said It Was Going To Be Easy
  • Nobody Slides My Friend
  • O’er The Waves (Juventino Rosas, rearranged)
  • Old Age And Treachert
  • On the Road Again
  • On The Road Too Long
  • Once Along
  • One Day At A Time
  • One In A Row
  • One Step Beyond
  • Opportunity To Cry
  • Our Chain Of Love
  • Over You Again
  • Pages
  • Part Where I Cry
  • The Party’s Over
  • Permanently Lonely
  • Pet Wrangler
  • Phases, Stages, Circles, Cycles
  • Pick Up The Pieces
  • Pick Up The Tempo
  • Place To Fall Apart (co-written With Merle Haggard And Freddy Powers)
  • Precious Memories
  • Pretend I Never Happened
  • Pretty Paper
  • Pride Wins Again
  • Promises Promises
  • Pullamo
  • Rainy Day Blues
  • Raysha’s Theme
  • Remember The Good Times
  • Ridge Top
  • Right From Wrong
  • Road Happy (co-written With Dolly Parton)
  • Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die
  • Run Jody Run
  • Sad Songs And Waltzes
  • Save Your Tears
  • Send Me a Picture
  • Shall We Gather
  • She Always Comes Back To Me
  • She Is Gone
  • She Might Call
  • She’s Gone (co-written With Fred Foster)
  • She’s Not For You
  • She’s Still Gone (Shirley Nelson)
  • Shelter Of My Arms
  • Shotgun Willie
  • Sister’s Coming Home
  • Sit On My Lap
  • Sitting Here In Limbo (Written by Jimmy Cliff and Guilly Bright)
  • Slow Down Old World
  • So Much To Do
  • So You Think You’re A Cowboy
  • Solidarity
  • Some Other Time
  • Somebody Pick Up My Pieces
  • Someone Waiting For You
  • Something To Think About
  • Sometimes She Lies (Harlan Howard, rearranged)
  • Somewhere In Texas
  • Songwriter
  • Sorrow Tearing Me Apart
  • Sound In Your Mind
  • Spirit I-iii
  • Spirit Of E Nine
  • Stage Coach Score (co-written With David Alan Coe)
  • Still Is Still Moving To Me
  • Storm Has Just Begun
  • Storm Within My Heart
  • Suffer In Silence
  • Summer Of Roses
  • Sweet Bye And ByeTake My Advice (co-written With David Alan Coe)
  • Take My Word
  • Talk To Me
  • Tell It To Jesus
  • Texas
  • That’s What Children Are For
  • That’s Why I Love Her
  • The Wall
  • There Are Worse Things Than Be
  • There Goes A Man
  • There Is A Fountain
  • There Is No Easy Way
  • There Shall Be Showers Of Blessings
  • There’s A Way
  • There’s Gonna Be Love In My Home
  • There’s No Tomorrow In Sight
  • There’s Worse Things Than Being Alone
  • These Are Difficult Times
  • They’re All The Same
  • Things To Remember
  • Three Days
  • Time Of The Preacher
  • To Make A Long Story Short (She’s Gone)
  • Today’s Gonna Make A Wonderful
  • Too Sick To Pray
  • Too Young To Settle Down (co-written With Jack Rhodes)
  • Touch Me
  • Tougher Than Leather
  • Truth Will Set You Free
  • Turn Out The Lights (co-written By Hank Craig)
  • Twice The Man (co-written With Edwin Griens And Maribeth Murray)
  • Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
  • Two Different Roads (Hank Cochran, Jan Crutchfield; rearranged)
  • Two Sides To Every Story
  • Two Stories Wide
  • Uncloudy Day ( THE UNCLOUDED DAY – Original Lyrics & Music: Josiah K. Alwood, circa 1880)
  • Under The Double Eagle
  • Undo The Right (co-written With Hank Cochran)
  • Used to Her
  • Valentine
  • Waiting Forever For You
  • Waiting Time
  • Wake Me When It’s Over
  • Walking
  • Wanted On Mother (co-written With Harlan Howard)
  • Wasted/Revenge
  • We Don’t Run
  • We Look For Love
  • We Wouldn’t Have It Any Other Way
  • What a Way to Live
  • What Can You Do To Me Now (co-written With Hank Cochran)
  • What Do You Think Of Her Now (co-written With Hank Cochran)
  • What Do You Want Me To Do
  • What Right Have I
  • When I’ve Sung My Last Hillbilly
  • When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder
  • When We Live Again
  • Where Do You Stand
  • Where Dreams Come to Die (co-written with Buddy Cannon)
  • Where My House Lives
  • Where’s The Show
  • Whiskey River (by Johnny Bush, Paul Stroud)
  • White Cadillac Convertible Blue
  • Who Do I Know In Dallas (co-written With Hank Cochran)
  • Who’ll Buy My Memories (co-written With Eddie Noack)
  • Why Are You Picking On Me
  • Why Do I Have To Choose
  • Wilie Tuning
  • Will You Remember
  • Will You Remember Mine
  • Within Your Crowd
  • Wives and Girlfriends
  • Wonderful Future
  • Words Don’t Fit The Picture
  • Write Your Own Song
  • Yesterday’s Wine
  • You Don’t Think I’m Funny Anymore
  • You Dream About Me
  • You Left A Long Long Time Ago
  • You Memory Won’t Die
  • You Ought To Hear Me Cry
  • You Took My Happiness Away
  • You’ll Always Have Someone (co-written With Hank Cochran)
  • Your Country Boy
  • You Wouldn’t Cross The Street

Willie Nelson, “Whatever Happened to Peace on Earth?”

Saturday, June 1st, 2019

Wednesday, October 11th, 2006

I was at a concert this weekend in California to raise money for the National Veterans Foundation. I’m an Air Force veteran, and I have great respect for the military. I like to support the soldiers whenever I can. But I don’t support this war in Iraq.

I was against the war before it started. I always thought it was a terrible decision, badly thought out, badly planned, and then horribly executed.

I want to see our troops come home right away, and so do most Americans. Unfortunately, too many politicians in both parties refuse to listen.

So when will the troops come home? When we won’t put up with it anymore–when we change our government. And how will we do that? By voting the bastards out! On November 7th, you should vote for anyone who’s against the war and vote against anyone who’s for the war. It’s that simple.

When I wrote the song “Whatever Happened to Peace on Earth” (LYRICS) at Christmastime in 2003, a lot of people were for the war, a lot of people didn’t know the facts or the truth. But people are waking up now. They’re learning that they were lied to about the war. They’re feeling lied to about this Mark Foley scandal in terms of who knew what and when. They’re questioning the leadership in this country.

And that gives us new possibilities for November 7th. If we all go out and vote for peace candidates and get our friends to vote, and if our votes are really counted, it’s no contest. There’ll be a change in the Congress, and then we’ll just have to keep building so we can get a president who won’t send our soldiers to fight a war based on lies.

We should have thrown the bastards out years ago. Let’s do it now! Give Peace A VOTE!

Willie Nelson

Willie wrote this song on Christmas, 2003, and performed it for the first time at the Kucinich for President fundraising concert in Austin, Texas, on Jan. 3, 2004.

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 earthWe believe everything that they tell us
They’re gonna’ kill us
So we gotta’ kill them first
But I remember a commandment
Thou shall not kill
How much is that soldier’s life worth
And whatever happened to peace on earth(Bridge)
And the bewildered herd is still believing
Everything we’ve been told from our birth
Hell they won’t lie to me
Not on my own damn TV
But how much is a liar’s word worth
And whatever happened to peace on earth

So I guess it’s just
Do unto others before they do it to you