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Energy Follows Thought by Willie Nelson, David Ritz & Mickey Raphael

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Energy Follows Thought

The Stories Behind My Songs

by Willie Nelson, David Ritz & Mickey Raphael

Length 6 hours 41 minutes

Language English

Narrators Willie Nelson & Ethan Hawke

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Summary
About the authors
About the narrators

For the first time ever, and to help celebrate his 90th birthday in 2023, American icon Willie Nelson provides the stories behind the lyrics of 160 of his favorite songs.

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 his less well-known songs (but 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—what do you have to lose when you’re about to turn 90? —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.

Revealing, funny, whimsical, and wise, this book is an enduring tribute to Willie Nelson's legacy.

Biography & Memoir Music Nonfiction

Willie Nelson is one of the most popular, prolific, and influential songwriters and singers in the history of American music. He has recorded more than one hundred albums over six decades, appeared in several films, and written two New York Times bestsellers: Willie: An Autobiography and The Facts of Life and Other Dirty Jokes.

David Ritz is the author of the acclaimed novels The Man Who Brought the Dodgers Back to Brooklyn and Blue Notes Under a Green Felt Hat. He is the only four-time winner of the Gleason Book of the Year Award. He's also cowritten the memoirs of many celebrities.

Mickey Raphael, one of the country’s leading harmonica players, has been a member of Willie’s Family band for fifty years. He has performed on hundreds of albums and has served as a producer and arranger.

Ethan Hawke is best known for his starring roles in the motion pictures Dead Poets Society, Reality Bites, Gattaca, Before Sunrise, Hamlet and Training Day, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. He is the cofounder and artistic director of the Malaparte Theater Company, based in New York, and the author of the novels The Hottest State and Ash Wednesday. He lives in New York with his wife and two children.