“Money is a funny thing. No matter how high you stack it or where you hide it, they can still take it away from you.”
– Willie Nelson, “The Tao of Willie”
“So here I was, an eight-dollar-a-day guitar player from Abbott, Texas, who the IRS claimed owed them thirty-two million bucks, which might have been more than I’d made in my whole life. This happened not because I was trying to cheat our government, but because I’d taken the advice of financial advisors who were supposed to be the best in the business. Stupid me. (And here’s the funny part. I knew the advice sounded kind of fishy in the first place, but I hadn’t followed my own instinct.)
In no time, my studio, golf course, and ranches were taken away from me, and it seemed and though — no matter how long I lived — I’d never be able to repay the debt. But even though they’d taken my recording studio, my gold records, and hundreds of hours of master tapes, the was no reason to despair.
They took my money, but they couldn’t take my music.
So I vowed to tour harder and then started to retire my debt by relasing a double album called The IRS Tapes. (It’s a winner, by the way. I recommend you buy a copy right away.)
I’ve heard people say I was singled out by the government because of my pot smoking or my politics, but the way I see it, there was a legitimate tax owed, it was the Feds’ job to pursue it, and my job to pay it off.
There were a lot of numbers being tossed around in the press, but by the time the iRS had decided what I really owed, I’d paid much of it off. A settlement with the financial advisors who’d gotten me into the whole mess finished the trick, and finally my debt was paid.
And if I’d never been able to pay it off, I’d still be the same person I am today. I’d still love my family, I’d still have a lot of friends, and I’d still have my music.
It’s easy to be overwheled by our desires for material things, but the fact is, most of us know what we truly value. Sometimes we just need a little reminder.
Of course, not everyone values the same things.
Not too long ago, my friend Ray Price called me up to tell me there was one thing he’d learned in life.
“What is it?” I asked.
And he said, “Money makes women horny.”
The Tao of Willie
A Guide to the Happiness in Your Heart,
by Willie Nelson, with Turk Pipkin