Willie Nelson is among the last survivors of a generation of outlaw country rockers whose music was an extension of their anti-authoritarian worldview. It was a club that also included his friend and sometime collaborator Johnny Cash and the late Kris Kristofferson, who died in September.
These musicians were seemingly hewn from the very granite of America itself – and, in their various ways, have embraced the ageing process as an opportunity to explore themes of regret, longing and autumnal melancholy.
With his American Recordings series, made shortly before his death, Cash created the template for the older artist looking back on his life, including through covers (such as a poignant take on Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt”). That is the tradition in which Nelson, now aged 91 yet somehow full of youthful mischief, follows with Last Leaf on the Tree. This stirring and often moving collection features covers of Tom Waits, Neil Young and Beck – and a revisiting of a song Nelson wrote in 1962 when he was a young vagabond with the world for the taking.
Not every rocker’s voice holds up to the ravages of time, but age has sweetened Nelson’s to a throaty half-purr. There are echoes of Leonard Cohen’s wistful later years in the opening track, a take on Tom Waits “Last Leaf” which, as delivered with a twinkle by Nelson, ripples with dark humour. “I’m the last leaf on the tree/The autumn took the rest,” he croons – sounding grateful for having stuck around so long.
He continues to look on the bright side on a notably breezy take on Beck’s “Lost Cause” (the original being a downer for the ages). Here, a sprightly Nelson is accompanied by a gentle country rock arrangement by his son Micah (who produced the record).
Last Leaf on the Tree sags slightly with a faithful reading of the Flaming Lips’ dreadful “Do You Realise??” – sonic syrup that mistakes sentimentality for profundity. But this largely buoyant album closes with a plaintive bang as Nelson circles back to his spectral 1960s lullaby “The Ghost”. It is a lament for a departed love that he originally released in his twenties and which he now reimagines as a haunting valentine to all the people in his life he has lost before pivoting suddenly into a playful burble of Aphex Twin-style glitches.
A lot has been said in recent weeks about pop stars dying too young. Nelson is one of those who has made it all the way to the final frontier. There is something enormously inspiring about that journey and about his cheerful outlook. These survivor’s songs will fill you with hope no matter your age.
Stream: “Last Leaf”, “The Ghost”
