Willie Nelson can write songs like a genius. His best-known work is classic country. Some of those songs have catchy hooks that stay in your mind forever. You'll be humming them, singing them, or just plain mulling them over. These four Willie Nelson songs with terrific hooks have truly phenomenal staying power.
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'On The Road Again' by Willie Nelson
The film Honeysuckle Rose was kind of a disappointment. This jaunty song, which Nelson wrote for it, was not. He scribbled it on an airsickness bag on a plane. Nelson was asked to come up with a suitable tune for the movie (which he was in, by the way) by Executive Producer Sydney Pollack and Director Jerry Schatzberg, per Songfacts.
According to the outlet via Uncut magazine, Nelson said, "They were looking for songs for the movie and they asked me if I had any idea. I said, 'What do you want the song to say?' and Sydney said, 'Can it be something about being on the road?' It just started to click. I said 'You mean like, On the road again, I can't wait to get on the road again?; They said, 'That's great. What's the melody?' I said, 'I don't know yet.'"
He came up with one. A good one. "On The Road" was a number 1 hit. It was a great hook, too. Per wmpg.org, "His best-known song has a hook that every popular songwriter can envy and it is these simple four words: 'On the road again. Just can't wait to get on the road again.' It's so simple."
'Crazy' by Patsy Cline
This superb torch song was written by Nelson but it was Patsy Cline who made it a genuine national treasure when she recorded it in 1961. Each word is filled with yearning and desire the heartfelt way she sings it. Per AARP via Nelson's book Energy Follows Thought: The Stories Behind My Songs, Nelson wrote it and showed it to Cline's husband, Charlie Dick. He was so enthused that he woke Cline up at 1:00 am just to hear it.
She recorded it and the rest is history. The Library of Congress National Recording Registry included the song in 2003, the ultimate honor for a tune. As for the hook, for me, it's the lyric, "I'm crazy for trying / And crazy for crying / And crazy for loving you." Anyone who has ever experienced the anguish of an unrequited love will know exactly what that means.
'Funny How Time Slips Away'
The way Nelson sings this song, it almost sounds conversational rather than sung. He does it beautifully. I love the part near the end that goes, "But remember, what I tell you / That in time you're gonna pay / And it's surprising, how time slips away." The narrator's tone is so easygoing and genial and low-key in the rest of the song, and then comes this ominous zinger seemingly out of nowhere. His gal, who is now with another man, is going to find herself suffering for having left him. Subtle and dramatic, as only Willie Nelson can be.
'Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die'
Witty and irreverent, this song was co-written by Nelson. It was sung by him and Snoop Dogg on the 90th birthday concert tribute to Nelson at the Hollywood Bowl that aired on PBS, The two had a rip-roarin' good time singing it. Then the camera panned away from the stage to show clouds of smoke hanging over the audience. We know that they had a good time as well.
The breezy song is summed up nicely by American Songwriter. "While 'Roll Me Up' is of course meant to be tongue-in-cheek it's still a nice sentiment to think about. Why not enter the next life by way of what you loved in this one?" It's a great song that encapsulates Nelson's outlaw outlook on life. The hook is the title of the song, which concludes each verse. Unforgettable, especially when Nelson gets a little help from his friends!
