Willie hits this one on the head. Our acquaintance, who spent 3 years on and off working at various southern border areas wishes he had sang more—-
Are these the two border patrol agents mentioned in the verse about border agents getting federal prison? Compeán and Ramos? I think they were both pardoned by Bush. If so Willie got the names backwards Should have been Guess you heard about Ramos and Compean.
OK I just looked it up, I was wrong. Their sentences were commuted by Bush but they were pardoned by Trump.
It was definitely a weird post since we aren't due for another doom and gloom border post for another two to three weeks
It's amazing to me that after decades of debauchery, Willie is 90 and still singing. Good genes is the only explanation. What a unique voice he has.
Having been a fan since the mid 70’s; if you had told me back then that he was going to live 50 more years I would have laughed at you. Give us ten more years Willie. Waylon, Merle, Johnny, Ray, and Glen will wait for you.
Apparently it is a cover of a 2019 song by someone named Rodney Crowell and has at least one inaccuracy: Genius Annotation This seems to be an oblique reference to Jose Compeán and Ignacio Ramos, two Border Patrol agents who were convicted for killing a fleeing drug smuggler in 2005. However, they did not rot in federal prison; their sentences were commuted in 2009 by President George W. Bush, and they were fully pardoned in 2020 by President Donald Trump. https://genius.com/31223424 Makes a bit more sense that it wasn't Willie's originally
Blaming the "border" for social ills caused by attempted zealous enforcement reminds me of the old SNL X-Police sketch, the best record of which I could find here SNL Transcripts: Hugh Hefner: 10/15/77: The X-Police - SNL Transcripts Tonight One of the books I'm reading now is "Myth America", a series of essays by historians on various issues in which the myth has overtaken reality, including a chapter on the border. The only brief summary I found in a brief google search (one sentence), is at https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/01/05/historians-myth-america-kruse-zelizer/ Erika Lee claims that Trump’s anti-immigration rant that “they keep coming” has a long history, consistently overlooking decades of American recruitment of immigrants to make the nation an agricultural and industrial powerhouse.
The man has produced so much great stuff over the years, as a writer, as a performer, as a personality. So much good stuff. One particular classic:
Probably all that pot he smoked over the years. My favorite Willie Nelson story is the one about the fire at his house. Willie got there after the fire department and ran into the burning house. Everybody thought he was being a hero to rescue someone. He came out with his guitar and bag of pot.
