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Willie Nelson's figure is likely to be reconsidered one day by all music enthusiasts. This doesn't mean Willie is unpopular; on the contrary, I think that despite his eccentric nature, or perhaps because of it, he is considered a kind of legend. However, I believe that his greatness as a musician and songwriter needs to be re-evaluated universally, beyond certain labels that can be more or less positive and more or less justified, and which have undoubtedly contributed to enhancing his myth. This is something he finds a sort of satisfaction in, typical of exceptional talents.
A crossover figure, precisely because he is eccentric and recognized as such, Willie Nelson embodies everything that is the myth of Nashville. Although fundamentally linked to hippie or at least democratic culture, in the end he is also acknowledged as part of the larger myth that is the United States of America. Ultimately, this is something with an undeniably recognized charm, both on the left and the right, which has surpassed and continues to surpass ideological barriers like ballistic missiles through the Iron Curtain. And here he is, Willie, who turned 85 last April 29, and two days prior, to celebrate his birthday (as he did last year with "God's Problem Child"), released "Last Man Standing" (Legacy Recordings), his seventy-seventh (77th) studio album recorded between Nashville, Tennessee, and Spicewood, Texas, with the production and collaboration of his loyal Buddy Cannon, who co-signs all the songs on the album with Nelson. These songs are clearly musically typical of "Red Head Stranger," ranging from country-folk ballads, elusive pianos, boleros, the western and frontier culture, to blues harmonicas played as if they were coyotes howling at the full moon at night.
Starting from the title and then in the contents of the lyrics, a certain irony emerges, the kind already mentioned, typical and mocking, of a man (Willie recently had some health issues that forced him to cancel all the dates of a tour planned for last February) who has cheated (even this time) death, alongside the usual tribute to the epic of the old west that is not so different from the myths of the epic poems of classical literature, once again transmitted mainly orally. It will certainly be difficult to separate Willie Nelson from his myth - which is and remains immortal - what is perhaps missing is the recognition from a certain pseudo-intellectual circle that fears popular heroes and looks at them with suspicion and an unwarranted air of superiority. Essentially, envy.
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