THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.
337-Willie Nelson-Funny How Time Slips Away.
1961-It has never charted in the UK.
Best Bit-At 0.48. …and the older you get, the quicker it slips.
Willie Nelson was born Willie Hugh Nelson on April 29th, 1933, in Abbott, Texas, United States, he was named Willie by his cousin Mildred, who also chose Hugh as his middle name, in honour of her recently deceased younger brother. Willie Nelson had thought for much of his life that his birthday was April 30th, but he discovered late in life from an elderly relative that he was actually born just before midnight on the 29th, as the doctor hadn’t recorded his time of birth accurately, now Willie celebrates both days. Much of Willie Nelson’s early success came as a songwriter, with two of his most famous compositions being ‘Crazy,’ a song which when recorded by Patsy Cline (1932-1963) (1961-Billboard Number 9) has gone on to become one of the most played songs in ‘Country Music,’ and ‘Pretty Paper,’ which when recorded by Roy Orbison, (1936-1988) (see also best songs 657) reached Number 6 in the UK in 1963. Willie Nelson is considered one of the most important figures in American music, in the genres of ‘Country Music,’ ‘Country Rock,’ and ‘Outlaw Country,’ which is a sub genre of American Country Music, of which Nelson is considered one of it’s originators. Willie Nelson has also appeared in numerous films since making his acting debut in ‘The Electric Horseman’ in 1979, other acting highlights include appearing in ‘Barbarosa’ in 1982, and the film version of his 1975 Album ‘Red Headed Stranger,’ in 1986.
The discography of Willie Nelson, who has sold in excess of 50 million records worldwide, includes a staggering 102 studio Albums released between 1962-2023, and 132 singles released between 1957-2024, there are also two soundtrack Albums, 51 official compilation Albums, and 14 live Albums available. In America on Billboard, 10 of his singles have reached the Hot 100, with ‘To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before,’ his 1984 duet with Julio Iglesias, peaking the highest at Number 5. Willie Nelson has had great success on the Billboard ‘Hot Country Songs’ chart with 74 of his singles making the top 40, with 19 of those singles reaching Number 1, he has also appeared on that chart as a guest artist on a further nine occasions, with five of those tracks making the Number 1 spot. In the UK his only charting single to date is his 1984 collaboration with Julio Iglesias on the Number 17 hit ‘To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before.’
‘Funny How Time Slips Away’ which has never been issued as a single by Willie Nelson is track 4 on side 1 of his debut studio Album ‘…And Then I Wrote,’ from September 1962, the song was written by Willie Nelson, with the production being by Joe Allison, who was born Joe Marion Allison on October 3rd, 1924, in McKinney, Texas, United States, he died on August 2nd, 2002, of lung cancer, at the age of 77. Joe Allison worked in the genre of ‘Country Music’ as a songwriter, Disc Jockey, business executive, and music producer. He wrote hit singles for a number of well known ‘Country’ artists, with his most successful being his co-write with his wife Audrey of ‘He’ll Have to Go’ (1960-Billboard Number 2 & UK Number 12) for Jim Reeves (1923-1964.) In the 1970’s Joe Allison was head of ‘Paramount Music,’ and ‘Capitol Records’ ‘Country divisions.’ In 1976, he was inducted into the ‘Disc Jockey Hall of Fame,’ and in 1978, into the ‘Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame,’ he is also an inductee in the ‘Country Music Hall of Fame.’
Willie Nelson recorded three studio Albums between 1985-1995 as part of the American Country Music ‘supergroup’ ‘The Highwaymen,’ who were made up of Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, (1932-2003) (see also best songs 857-428 and 199) Waylon Jennings, (1937-2002) and Kris Kristofferson (1936-2024) (see also best songs 341.) The genre of ‘Country’ music the quartet produced became known as ‘Outlaw Country.’ The group recorded ‘Country Music’ with more of a ‘Rock’ orientated slant, as opposed to the slick production style, of the ‘Nashville Sound.’
‘Funny How Time Slips Away’ was written by Willie Nelson in 1961, with the first recorded version being by the American Country Music singer Billy Walker in 1961, (1929-2006) whose recording peaked at Number 23 on the Billboard ‘Hot Country Songs’ chart. The most commercially successful version of the song was by Jimmy Elledge (1943-2012) who took his recording to Number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1961, and it has since gone on to sell in excess of one million copies. In 1964 the American Soul singer Joe Hinton (1929-1968) took his version to Number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100, and in 2017 Willie Nelson recorded a duet of the song with Glen Campbell, (1936-2017) which appeared on Campbell’s final Album ‘Adios.’
‘Funny How Time Slips Away. is a song of bitterness. The narrator bumps in to his ex girlfriend, and he tells her that he is doing fine. He says that he has heard that she has told her new love that she will be with him until the end of time, the same thing she once said to him. He hints to her that one day she may also get dumped the way he was by her. With the passing of time the narrator has got over his broken heart, hence the songs title,’Funny How Time Slips Away.’
‘I gotta’ go now, guess I’ll see you hanging around. Don’t know though, oh no, never know when I’ll be back in town. But I remember what I told you, that in time your gonna pay.’