Willie Nelson on what makes a good song, his latest album, and Kris Kristofferson
‘There’s no better songwriter,’ Nelson once said of late bandmate Kris Kristofferson. What makes a good song? ‘You know it when you hear it’
Young musicians looking for longevity would be wise to follow the sensible words of Willie Nelson: do what feels right, and if you are lucky enough to have a statue built in your honour in your city, remember that it is just something you’ve “got to go down and clean off the pigeon s*** every now and then”.
Nelson, who is 91, has just released Last Leaf on the Tree, his second studio album this year – also his 76th solo studio album and 153rd album overall, according to Texas Monthly’s herculean ranking of his prolific discography.
So how many more does he have in him? Nelson says with a laugh: “I don’t know. I hope there’s a few more.” Maybe he’ll hit 200? “Why not!”
“He’s a real artist,” Nelson says of his son. “He picked all the songs.”