Advance Praise and Book Selections from Willie Nelson's Energy Follows Thought: The Story Behind My Songs
Published
Willie Nelson’s
Energy Follows Thought:
The Story Behind My Songs
Set to be Released October 31
by William Morrow
with David Ritz and Mickey Raphael
Audiobook narrated by Ethan Hawke
ADVANCE PRAISE
“[An] irresistible outing…
[Nelson’s] intelligence and wisdom shine through…
Fans will relish these insights
into the singer-songwriter’s many avatars:
the kid growing up poor with close ties
to his church and family; the political activist
who wrote ‘Vote ‘Em Out’ for Beto O’Rourke’s
2018 senatorial campaign;
and the enigmatic, sui generis artist.
This is a treasure.”
—Publishers Weekly
“In a wry narrative shot through with a loopy, stoner spiritualism, the great songwriter and outlaw country artist takes a ramble through his back pages . . . A lively accompaniment to Nelson’s sprawling, genre-crossing, delightful catalog of recordings.”
—Kirkus Reviews
[Willie Nelson’s] songwriting has consistently been indicative of a born storyteller. It’s fun and, at times, illuminating to read about where some of those stories stemmed from. The photos are great too… A sweet and intimate retrospective of a long and prolific career. This book will make readers feel like they’ve sat down with Nelson, who has just regaled them with tales.”
—Library Journal
“Throughout this lovely act of looking back and moving forward, Nelson wears his well-worn heart on his sleeve . . . Willie Nelson’s many admirers cross myriad lines, and they will eagerly pursue this chance to get close to their idol.”
—Booklist
* * * * *
William Morrow is proud to publish ENERGY FOLLOWS THOUGHT: The Stories Behind My Songs by Willie Nelson, with David Ritz and Mickey Raphael (on sale 10/31/23). Releasing the same week that Willie will be inducted into The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the book is an enduring tribute to this American icon’s legacy.
Having celebrated his 90th birthday earlier this year, Willie is at the perfect point in his life to share the stories behind the lyrics of 160 of his favorite songs for the first time ever. From his earliest work in the 1950s to today, Willie looks back at the songs that have defined his career, from his days of earning $50 each to his biggest hits, from the deep cuts that are incredibly meaningful to him, to his concept albums.
Along the way, he also shares the stories of his guitar Trigger, his family and “family,” as well as the artists he collaborated with, including Patsy Cline, Waylon Jennings, Ray Charles, Merle Haggard, Ray Price, Dolly Parton, and many others.
Willie is disarmingly honest, meditating on the nature of songwriting and finding his voice, and the themes he’s explored his whole life—relationships, infidelity, love, loss, friendship, life on the road, and particularly poignant at this juncture of his life: mortality.
Also featuring a dynamic assortment of rare photos and ephemera, ENERGY FOLLOWS THOUGHT is a revealing, wise, and beautiful book, showing Willie in a way his fans have never seen him before.
ENERGY FOLLOWS THOUGHT: The Stories Behind My Songs
William Morrow | On Sale: 10/31/2023
Hardcover | ISBN: 9780063272200| $50.00
Also available in E-Book and Digital Audio
ABOUT WILLIE NELSON
With a seven-decade career, Willie Nelson has earned every conceivable award as a musician and amassed reputable credentials as an author, actor, and activist. He continues to thrive as a relevant and progressive musical and cultural force. In recent years, he has delivered more than a dozen new albums, released a Top 10 New York Times’ bestsellers book, again headlined Farm Aid (an event he co-founded in 1985) and his annual Willie Nelson’s 4th of July Picnic, been honored by the Library of Congress with their Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, received his 5th degree black belt in Gong Kwon Yu Sul, headlined the annual Luck Reunion food and music festival during SXSW, launched his cannabis companies Willie’s Reserve and Willie’s Remedy, and graced the covers of Rolling Stone and AARP The Magazine. Nelson started this decade by releasing four albums of newly recorded music—First Rose of Spring (2020), That’s Life (2021), The Willie Nelson Family (2021), and A Beautiful Time (2022, GRAMMY Award winner for Best Country Album)—and three books—Me and Sister Bobbie: True Tales of The Family Band (2020), Willie Nelson’s Letters to America (2021), and Me and Paul: Untold Tale of a Fabled Friendship (2022). Throughout 2023, Willie celebrates his 90th birthday with multiple projects and events including a two-night star-studded concert, Long Story Short: Willie Nelson 90, that took place in April at the famed Hollywood Bowl, and released as a feature film in June. The year began with the debut of “Wille Nelson & Family,” a new five-part film documentary series directed by Thom Zimny and Oren Moverman that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival as well as the release of a new album,I Don’t Know a Thing About Love, which features 10 performances that pay tribute to American songwriter Harlan Howard. From June to October, Nelson headlines the annual Outlaw Music Festival Tour. In the Fall, two new releases debut: an album, Bluegrass (with newly recorded studio performances of 12 Willie Nelson-penned classics showcasing Willie with a bluegrass ensemble released September 15), and this new book, Energy Follows Thought (with stories behind the lyrics of 160 of his favorite songs, along with never-before-seen photos and ephemera coming on October 31). And on November 3, Nelson will be inducted into The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. These creative endeavors as well as new songs and performances that add to his classic catalog, find Willie Nelson rolling at an artistic peak, writing and singing and playing with the seasoned wit and wisdom that comes from the road.
# # #
Selections from ENERGY FOLLOWS THOUGHT
CRAZY
Craziness can be a pretty good strategy for survival.
THE PARTY’S OVER
Some people say it’s not good to feel sorry for yourself. Maybe so, but when it comes to songwriting, self-pity isn’t a bad attitude to embrace. Folks relate. From time to time, we all get to feeling sorry for ourselves.
AMNESIA
In order to remember, you have to forget. The more we forget, the more memories come to mind. And each memory contains the seed of a song.
SUMMER OF ROSES
Because I’m into my ninetieth year, a lot of people want to know my strategy for survival. I don’t have an easy answer… But sticking with love sticking with love—romantic love, spiritual love, every sort of genuine love—even when it didn’t seem like love was sticking with me, may be the key.
IT GETS EASIER
Success means many different things. I thought it had something to do with hit records. I was wrong. It has everything to do with accepting yourself. Accepting your limitations as well as your strengths. Accepting the certainty that you’re not going to please everyone.
I DON’T GO TO FUNERALS
I’m not morbid about mortality. I can even look forward to reuniting with spirits that have gone on before me. I work hard to keep my body healthy while, at the same time, being able to see that leaving my body might be a relief.
WRITE YOUR OWN SONGS
I get pissed off plenty. And no portrait of the True Me would be complete without showing my angry side. If you go through life without getting furious at someone or something, you’re hardly human. It’s just a matter of how and when you release the emotion.
DEVIL IN A SLEEPING BAG
Songs are like photographs, moments in time captured in rhyme and wrapped in melody. Even those that don’t make
complete sense refresh my memory and help me relive events that would otherwise vanish in thin air.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Without knowing or trying, in a few little lines I’d written the story of my life.
I’VE GOT A LOT OF TRAVELING TO DOThe road might be an addiction or even affliction, but I don’t see it that way. Sure, it gets habitual; and sure, it can be an escape from problems you don’t want to face. And sure, the inability to settle down might seem unsettling. But to those of us who’ve chosen to lead life on the road, we wouldn’t have it any another way.
COME ON TIME
My battle with time is over. My delusions are dead. Even though I’m singing and playing at a fast tempo, the message belies the rhythm. The harder I try to conquer time, the quicker time conquers me.
BAND OF BROTHERS
Being mixed-up, embracing the wild blend of elements that constitute who we are, can be a good thing. If more of us copped to uncertainty, we wouldn’t have to stake out these obstinate do-or-die positions. We could be more flexible, more willing to listen to others. We’d have a better of chance being a band of brothers and sisters and whatever. “Whatever” is whatever you want it to be.
BRING IT ON
Sometimes I sound braver in my songs than I feel in real life.
HEARTLAND
To give voice to the voiceless is a priceless privilege that comes with being a writer.
DELETE AND FAST FORWARD
If I had dwelled on the could’ves and should’ves, I would have aggravated myself into an early grave. Regret begets misery. Forgetting ain’t a bad thing. Remembering to keep moving is a good thing.
GUITAR IN THE CORNER
Trigger is the most precious nonhuman object I own. Sometimes it feels like Trigger owns me. Sometimes it feels like Trigger is me. I’m got crevices in my face. So does Trigger. He has too many knicks and cracks to count. Trigger is alive.
I’M STILL HERE
Whenever I’m called stubborn, I can’t argue. I can be stubborn as hell. Maybe that’s why I’m still here. I’m too stubborn to be anywhere else.
SOMETHING YOU GET THROUGH
I can also say that I don’t believe in endings. I believe in changes. I can’t fully understand love, but I do know that love was here yesterday, love is here today and love will be here tomorrow. Love exists outside of time.
I’VE LOVED YOU ALL OVER THE WORLD
There’s pleasure in solitary singing. But man, it’s nothing compared to singing in front of live human beings when I’m connecting to your heart and you’re connecting to mine. That connection carries a warmth and love that’s beyond the power of mere words. It’s just something I feel. Something I cherish. Something I live for.
