Willie Nelson on Songwriting: “I Don’t Try to Push It”

Willie Nelson is opening up about the art of songwriting.

As he approaches his 90th birthday, Nelson says that inspiration for songwriting doesn’t come as frequently as it once did, but that he doesn’t try to force the process. “Now and then, I’ll come up with another song,” he explains to AARP. “When I have enough, I’ll put an album out. I don’t try to push it. I think I’ve been kind of lucky through the years. I just wait and let it happen.”

In addition to his own hits “On the Road Again,” “Touch Me,” “Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground” and others, Nelson is also the writer behind other classics like Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” and “Funny How Time Slips Away,” which has been recorded by Brenda Lee, Jimmy Elledge, Al Green and Lyle Lovett and many others, and “Hello Walls” by Faron Young. Nelson admits there have been times throughout his career when he’s battled writer’s block, but that fellow legendary country singer/songwriter Roger Miller’s wise words helped ease his worries.

“I might go a while without writing,” he says. “I used to worry about it. Roger Miller told me, ‘Every now and then, the well goes dry. You have to live a while to refill the well.’”

Nelson will celebrate his milestone birthday with an all-star tribute concert, Long Story Short: Willie Nelson 90, at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on April 29 and 30. Neil Young, Sheryl Crow, Chris Stapleton, Kacey Musgraves, Snoop Dogg and Miranda Lambert are among the vast range of artists who will perform in honor of the legendary singer. Nelson is also slated to take the stage.

“Working is really good for me, no matter what kind of show it is,” Nelson reflects. ‘The fact that I’ll be there for two days with a lot of my good friends coming out and saying hello and singing with me makes it a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to it.”

Photo by Pamela Springsteen / Courtesy of Shock Ink