“We’ve been in jail together for a long time.”
But he also didn’t use that rare time off to bake bread like the rest of us.
InLetters to America, we learn his family motto ("#1.
“I think I discovered that I talk a lot,” says Willie Nelson, of what he discovered about himself while writing ‘Letters to America.'.Credit: Pamela Springsteen
Don’t be an a–hole.
Don’t be an a–hole.
It’s good timing.
Nelson performing at the 46th Annual Willie Nelson 4th of July Picnic.Rick Kern/WireImage
He’s prolific and poetic, inclusive but unwavering, everyone’s compromise but without doing so himself.
Nelson wasn’t planning on being so direct in the title though.
“They decided thatLetters to Americawould be a more saleable title, maybe,” he says.
“So, whatever it takes.”
Do you feel like we’re making progress towards normalization?
WILLIE NELSON:Oh yeah, I think the public perception has changed dramatically over the last few years.
And more and more people are realizing that [weed] is a medicine.
And if used properly and not overdone, it can help you.
It can help you sleep, it can also reduce pain.
So that’s very positive.
And maybe helps people with a little bit of COVID anxiety.
Speaking of, you write “F— you” to COVID in the book.
I think that’s cathartic a lot of us just need to get that anger out of our systems.
I’m hoping other people will get the same idea, and then life goes on.
I got a couple of shots.
Kiss me, nothing makes me sick.
I want to get back to hugging my relatives and friends again and not having to worry.
I think we’re all ready for that.
I think we’ve had enough of distancing.
This book is many things: political guide, memoir, personal advice to friends and family.
Did you set out to create something that spans so much of your history and approach to life?
You ask, “What do you want to accomplish?”
And it’s believing in ourselves, especially when times are tough.
Did you discover some things while writing this book that you didn’t expect?
I think I discovered that I talk a lot.
And that’s very true.
InLetters to America, you are emphatic about equality.
Why was she so important to bring into the fold permanently?
First of all, she’s incredibly intelligent and very competent.
She brings a lot to the table.
She’s a good friend, and we’ve made some pretty good music together.
In the book you talk about genre, and how it’s a bit of a marketing construct.
And that sounds good to me.
If it’s pleasing to the ear, then it’s music to the ear.
So that put a whole new light on it for me.
The music is important, not what we call it.
You also address the different ways we carry grief, and how to deal with it.
Was that a difficult place to come to, because it’s not always our natural inclination?
That’s a learning process for sure.
A happy song now can feel kind of melancholy.
Have you felt the same?
It’s very strange.
I’ve never had that in my life, so I didn’t know how to react to it.
There seems to be a light at the end of a tunnel, though.
The light at the end of the tunnel could be a freight train.
We’re all looking forward to it, and I’m very anxious.
Though it wasn’t live and in-person, your Luck Reunion livestreams early in the pandemic were very healing.
It felt like, OK, we’re all in this together.
Maybe there’s a lesson for the future there.
Yes, you could go out and do a concert and the whole world could hear you.
That’d be cool.
So have you been working on new music in quarantine?
I’ve been writing a little.
And Jesus said, ‘Dad, I’m tired.
Why don’t you go down there this time?’
And God said, ‘Are you out of your f—ing mind?'"
I haven’t put a melody to it yet.
