Country music veteran Willie Nelson’s long-awaited book, “Me and Paul: Untold Stories of a Fabled Friendship,” is out now. It’s a touching tribute to his long association with Paul English, who was both his drummer and a close friend for a long period. The book is about their amazing musical adventures and how close they were as friends. It also talks about highly private and painful events in Nelson’s life, including a terrible part that not many people knew about.
In one of the book’s most disturbing and personal chapters, Nelson talks about a time when he thought about killing himself. He says he was so bewildered and stressed that he walked to a train track and got ready to lie down and wait for a train to come. He stood there, sure there was no way out, and thought it might be over. But after 15 minutes, he turned around and went back to a nearby tavern, where he informed a customer what had transpired. The account, which is surprisingly simple, demonstrates how Nelson was going through a lot of emotional pain behind the scenes, even if he looked like he was fine in public at the time.
It’s especially sad that Nelson is gone because he was a cultural icon known for his laid-back demeanor, unusual braids, and songs that will always be about love, death, and life on the road. Someone who has been in the public eye for more than 60 years talking about something so personal is quite gutsy. It also makes us remember that even renowned people have scars that we can’t see.
Nelson’s tone in the book is not mournful at all, even though it was a horrible time in his life. A lot of it is quite funny and full of bizarre stories that only someone like him could tell, such late-night bar fights, crazy road trips, and musical accomplishments with his bandmate Paul English. English, who died in 2020, was Nelson’s drummer, but he was also a friend, bodyguard, tour manager, and spiritual brother. Nelson says that Paul was the band’s glue and sometimes even kept him going. They were friends for more than 70 years.
Willie Nelson is in his 90s, but he doesn’t seem like he’s going to quit making music any time soon. He says he doesn’t want to stop working or retire. He still plays live and is really interested in making things. He says that what he does every day also has a huge effect on his health. For example, he sings every day to keep his lungs healthy and runs a little bit every day to keep his body moving. This has been especially important when he got COVID-19 a few years ago.
He also believes that staying positive is very important. Nelson talks a lot about how important it is to see things from other people’s points of view in his interviews and book. He says that instead of thinking on things that make us sad or things we wish we hadn’t done, we should think about things that make us happy, like love and the good things in life. Nelson’s point of view is interesting because it is based on real life. This is especially true for someone who has been through a lot of difficult things, such losing loved ones, fighting in the profession, having money troubles, health problems, and political criticism.
Me and Paul is not only a music blog. It’s a story about how to be a better person, how to find meaning in life even when things are really bad, and how to keep your friends. Nelson’s writing is honest and sounds like a conversation. There are lessons about life concealed in the tears and the laughs, not just entertaining anecdotes. It celebrates the people who helped him along the journey and reminds him that healing and hope may still come, even when things are at their worst.
The book portrays a side of one of the best country music stars that people haven’t seen before. For some, it’s a story that gives them hope about how to be strong, stay alive, and keep going. People already knew a lot about Willie Nelson’s legacy, but Me and Paul adds to it by portraying the man behind the music in a way that feels very real and very personal.
