Country music legend Willie Nelson’s career is an eclectic one, with genre-crossing albums like Stardust to his newly-announced 75th studio album The Border, which is set for release on May 31. Much of his music is introspective and positive, but he’s also put out some serious tear-jerkers as well. If you’re in need of a good tearjerker, look no further! Here are three Willie Nelson songs that will make you cry.
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1. “Hello Walls”
This track was made popular by honky-tonk country singer Faron Young. However, few know that Booger Red himself actually wrote it. It charted for weeks back in 1961 and is often considered the first song to bring national attention to Nelson.
It’s also a very gloomy song. “Hello Walls” is a lonely man’s reflection. He speaks only to the walls and window of his room after getting dumped by his lover. It’s a classic sad-vibes-playlist tune to listen to after a traumatic breakup if you’re into work from Nelson’s early days.
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2. “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain”
Nelson didn’t write this tear-jerker. However, he did popularize the song when he recorded to for his 1975 album Red Headed Stranger. The song itself was written by songwriter Fred Rose sometime in the 1940s.
“Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” is an appropriately somber tune for the concept album. It describes the parting of lovers and the hope that they’ll meet again in the afterlife.
3. “Seven Spanish Angels”
We can’t leave out this classic song in a list of Willie Nelson songs that will make you cry. This is another track that Nelson didn’t write (songwriters Troy Seals and Eddie Setser did), but it’s one that he definitely popularized in a duet with famed singer/songwriter Ray Charles in 1984.
The tune follows a criminal and his lover on the run from the police, and the two decide to fight the lawmen when they’re cornered. It’s a song about loyalty, fear, hope, God, and heaven, and Nelson does what he does best on the track: Tell a story.
Photo by Hulton Archive
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