A one-off 2016 show in Scranton, Pennsylvania, grew into Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Music Festival, celebrating the spirit of Americana music and camaraderie. Nearly a decade later, the event is still going strong. Unfortunately, Nelson canceled a show in Oklahoma last month after extreme weather damaged his band’s gear. However, that has proven only a slight hiccup in a slew of otherwise incredible performances. Recently, the “Always On My Mind” singer delivered a moving performance of an early ’90s hit.
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“Legend”: Willie Nelson Is Still Going Strong at 92
Sitting onstage at Hersheypark Stadium Saturday (Aug. 9) in Hershey, Pennsylvania, Willie Nelson strummed his trusty guitar “Trigger” as he performed his 1993 song “Still Is Still Moving to Me.”
Off his 1993 album Across the Borderline, the song’s meaning is as murky as its tongue-twister title. “It’s not a love song; it’s not a heartbreak song, or a drinking song, or a cheating song,” Willie’s son, Micah Nelson, said in a 2023 interview with Texas Monthly.
In fact, Micah says, it’s not even really a country song at all. “But it’s got universal . . . It’s relatable in that it’s a song about being a being, like, moving through life, moving through reality, and kind of looking around, and just a person with consciousness trying to figure it out,” the 35-year-old singer-songwriter explained.
“And it’s hard to explain how I feel,” Willie sings. “It won’t go in words, but I know that it’s real. I can be moving or I can be still. But still is still moving to me.”
“Still Is Still Moving To Me” has become a trusty closer for Nelson’s shows. A fan posted footage of his recent performance to TikTok with the caption, “Willie Nelson you are such a legend.”
[RELATED: On This Day in 1982, Willie Nelson Was at No. 1 for the Third Time With the Same Album]
“Playing With Time”
After more than 154 albums, Willie Nelson has established himself as one of the industry’s most revered songwriters. But, as “Still Is Still Moving To Me” demonstrates, the Red-Headed Stranger doesn’t always need to rely on his words.
“He’s always stretching the pocket, pushing and pulling, playing with time,” Micah Nelson said of his father.
The “Die When I’m High” singer revealed that his father wrote the song on the road. “We were on tour, I think in Europe or something, and he was out riding bikes around with my mom, maybe with me and my brother on the back of the bicycles or something, and that’s when the lyrics came to him, riding his bike,” Micah said.
Featured image by Gary Miller/Getty Images for Shock Ink
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