“I thought it was the funniest thing in the world. D Heaven is closed and hell's overcrowded D A So I think I think I'll just stay where I am A So many people, well it sure is lonely A D Who even gives a damnD I hear someone callin', 'Come in from the craziness' D7 G But there ain't nobody around G D Heaven is closed and hell's overcrowded A D So I think I think I'll just stay where I am G D Yeah heaven is closed and hell's overcrowded A D So. “All of a sudden, we were outlaws,” Nelson told Rolling Stone in 2014, reflecting on the country music rebellion he was credited with launching. Whether he was crooning Countrypolitan fare in the Sixties - his 1962 debut album …And Then I Wrote is remarkable for its wealth of enduring songs - or busting down doors with Waylon Jennings in the Seventies, Nelson was always making waves with that unmistakable voice. It’s impossible to hear a Willie Nelson performance and not identify it as such. The Texas native has written some of music’s most important titles, from “Crazy,” made famous by Patsy Cline, to “Funny How Times Slips Away,” covered by Elvis Presley.Īnd then there are the songs with which he has become synonymous, thanks to his charmingly eccentric vocal delivery. But the fact is that Nelson’s own works deserve a volume or two. The instrumentation is very bluesy and I can see this song being picked up by blues performers, should they chance to hear the song.When Willie Nelson released his 2016 tribute album to the Gershwin brothers, he was showing his reverence for the Great American Songbook. The singer is crazy for feeling so lonely, crazy for feeling so blue. “Very Far To Crawl” closes out the album, a song about the end of a relationship and the desperation of someone looking to rekindle it. The front cover made his ambitions clear: Songs by Willie Nelson, it reads. Willie remains in this mid-tempo honky-tonk mode with “She Made My Life” then shifts gears with “I’ll Try To Do Better Next Time”, a somewhat religiously themed slow song about trying to keep to the God’s path. “I Ain’t Got No Nothin’ “ is a rollicking mid-tempo honky-tonk ballad that might as easily been played by Fats Domino, Bob Wills, or Amos Milburn with only slight changes of instrumentation.īut I ain’t got nothin’ ’cause you ain’t here with me Well I hope heaven finds what she’s lookin’ forĪnd that hell treats us both just the same
Hell stayed behind so I wouldn’t be lonelyĬould it be hell is heaven and that heaven is hell Heaven left for California on a midnight plane
I hear someone callin’, “Come in from the craziness” It’s an odd perspective but rather appropriate anyway. “Heaven Is Closed” is Willie’s take on reasons to keep living after his girl has left him. We’ve all been there – “It’s Friday and we’re ready to roar”. “Ready To Roar” kicks up the tempo for this western-swing flavored track. Mike Johnson plays some lovely steel guitar on this track. This song deals with the emotional effects of loss. Willie slows down the tempo for the contemplative “Something You Get Through”. Just when you think you made a new friend For most of us, after all it really comes down to one trusted companion. “Me and You” reflects the state of affairs that I think everyone experiences at one time or another. This song is about more of the problems associated with aging. This song features the harmonica playing of Mickey Raphael. I suppose all of us have been plagued with “Bad Breath” at one time or another, but as Willie notes “bad breath is better than no breath at all”. The next track is “Don’t Tell Noah”, a funky number somewhat difficult to characterize, but which reminds somewhat of the sort of lyrics that Mose Allison penned. One thing I learned about running the road It’s getting hard to watch my pals check out This is a great song that country radio won’t play but which can be heard on Sirius XM and other sources. The album opens up with the title track, a song which poses the dilemma faced by the aging – we want to keep living but there are times when it seems that all of our friends are disappearing. Most of these songs were penned shortly after the release of last year’s Nelson release God’s Problem Child. Maybe I didnt love you Quite as often as I could have And maybe I didnt treat you Quite as good as I should have If I made you feel second best Girl Im sorry I was blind You were always on my mind You were always on my mind And maybe I didnt hold you All those lonely, lonely times I guess I never told you I am so happy that youre mine Little things I should have said and done I just never. Last Man Standing is the 2018 release for Willie, containing original songs co-written by Willie with the album’s producer Buddy Cannon. While Willie Nelson isn’t the last of the great country music stars of the 1950s and 1960s (Roy Clark, Jan Howard, Stonewall Jackson, Connie Smith, Charley Pride and Bill Anderson are still around), the title still seems appropriate as Willie is one of the few still active, albeit less active than previously.