4 Heartbreaking Covers From Willie Nelson’s New Album ‘Last Leaf on the Tree’

On Willie Nelson’s 76th studio album Last Leaf on the Tree, he follows in Johnny Cash’s footsteps to confront mortality through songs.

The recent death of Kris Kristofferson looms over the album. Produced by Nelson’s son Micah, these contemplations arrive from the last standing member of The Highwaymen. A pastoral collection of covers and originals, Nelson makes even the songs he didn’t write sound autobiographical.

Micah described the project’s through line as his father “facing death with grace.” But Nelson is still standing. Here are four heartbreaking covers from Last Leaf on the Tree.

“Keep Me in Your Heart” (Warren Zevon Cover)

Zevon faced death on his final album, The Wind. He closed his farewell with “Keep Me in Your Heart.” Listening to Nelson sing, his voice sounds weary, and its softness is supported by his trusty guitar, Trigger. Trigger is pretty beat up, too, but still capable of making beautiful noises. The opening verse shares a lyric with Bob Dylan’s “Not Dark Yet.” That song appeared on Dylan’s own mortality album, Time Out of Mind. Zevon’s last gift was a hymn. It couldn’t have been easy for Nelson to sing this with his son standing only feet away at the studio console.

Shadows are falling and I’m running out of breath
Keep me in your heart for a while
If I leave you it doesn’t mean I love you any less
Keep me in your heart for a while

“Lost Cause” (Beck Cover)

Beck wrote “Lost Cause” following the breakup of his nine-year relationship with then-fiancé Leigh Limon. He had channeled his despair into a somber folk album, Sea Change. But Nelson sings “Lost Cause” from another perspective. At 91, the country legend faces mortality. Beck descended into hopelessness as a young man, but Nelson understands how lost a cause really is when you’re nearly out of time.

Your sorry eyes they cut through the bone
Making it hard to leave you alone
Leaving you here wearing your wounds
Waving your guns at somebody new

“Do You Realize??” (The Flaming Lips Cover)

Stopping to realize the vastness of space, the smallness of humans, and how everyone is hurling toward death isn’t limited to dorm-room students. Wayne Coyne and his band wrote a stunning space-pop song with a stark reminder of everyone’s inescapable fate. The Flaming Lips’ track celebrates fellow travelers, while Nelson’s contemplation exists in a different realm of gratitude. He’s nearer to the end. Coyne sounds like he’s beaming his question from outer space. Nelson’s earthy version sounds like the response.

Do you realize
That you have the most beautiful face?
Do you realize
We’re floating in space?

“Last Leaf” (Tom Waits Cover)

Nelson begins his new album with “Last Leaf,” using an autumn metaphor written by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan. When summer turns to fall, many lament the things they hoped to accomplish or experience under the sun. But darkness and cold temperatures accompany the new season. Leaves fall and decay, but Nelson, like an old sturdy tree, remains to greet the new arrivals. The Bad as Me original, recorded with Keith Richards, feels boozy. Waits tells the story like a guy who’s lucky to have landed on his feet. However, Nelson isn’t shaken by the changing storms—he’s seen ’em come and seen ’em go. The last outlaw on the open road.

When the autumn wind blows
They’re already gone
They flutter to the ground
They just can’t hang on
And there’s nothing in this world that I ain’t seen
I greet all the new ones that are coming in green

Photo by Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images