Willie Nelson: Moment of Forever

Label: Lost Highway
Sound/Style: far-reaching country, rock and classic American hybrid

By Steve Morley

Despite Willie Nelson’s pivotal role as a country songwriter in the ’60s, his biggest success didn’t come until he broke with country music traditions in the mid-’70s. When Nelson took the bandana from old-time country’s neck and tied it around his head of long, stringy hair, his transformation into a country-rock outlaw was complete. In the years that followed, the restless renegade left a legacy of stylistic experimentation that made him impossible to categorize. On his newly released Moment of Forever, he expertly navigates a country and rock-strewn terrain that would prove too uneven for most artists. Country star and project co-producer Kenny Chesney’s modern sensibilities leave their own footprints on the collection, but it’s ultimately Nelson’s singular thumbprint that unifies the disc, which is one of his freshest and most well-rounded in years.

The opener, "Over You Again," is a striking collision of old and new, revisiting Nelson’s ever-present romantic unrest while framing his trademark vocal in atmospheric guitars that echo the spacious sound of Irish rockers U2. The Kris Kristofferson-penned title cut that follows is a hushed and moving ballad that philosophically contends that even a momentary connection can prove permanently meaningful. Like most of Willie’s best work, the track respects, yet somehow transcends, country boundaries, as does "Keep Me From Blowing Away," which ranks alongside quintessential Willie numbers like "Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground." Writer Paul Craft’s words appropriately describe the state of an aging man who cannot avoid facing his own fragility, while Willie—who will turn 75 in April—sings them like a long overdue prayer. ("There are times when I tremble/ When my mind remembers/ The days that just crumbled away/ With nothing to show but these lines that I know/ Are beginning to show in my face/ Oh, Lord, if you’re listening/ I know I’m no Christian/ I ain’t got much coming to me/ So send down some sunshine/ And throw out your lifeline/ And keep me from blowing away.")

The subject of mortality hits closer to home still on a version of Dave Matthews’ "Gravedigger," which strolls past tombstones to affirm that people of all ages are equally vulnerable to the Reaper. In contrast, "I’m Alive" counts the blessings of a beating heart and oxygen-filled lungs, regardless of the scars life has inflicted: "It’d be easy to add up all the pain/ And all the dreams you sat and watched go up in flames/ Dwell on the wreckage as it smolders in the rain/ But not me, I’m alive."

"When I Was Young and Grandma Wasn’t Old" not only takes a look at the continuum of time from the other side, but also recalls the relative innocence of olden days. ("Story tellin’ of days long ago/ And the only place she’d ever been/ Singin’softly ‘This World is Not My Home’/ Memories take me back again/ When I was young and Grandma wasn’t old/ When she guided me as I watched life unfold…")

The sweet, image-laden song is emotionally resonant, and, while not a Nelson original, rings autobiographical: he was raised by his churchgoing grandmother, a stalwart Methodist who was intent on raising Willie on the Bible despite the urge to perform that led him into bar rooms while still a teen.

That same duality of spirit and flesh is evident throughout the eclectic album, from the honky-tonking drinking song "Worry B Gone" to a lengthy, horn-fueled cover of Bob Dylan’s gospel-rocker "Gotta Serve Somebody." Nelson may be too self-styled to stand for any particular thought or belief, and while that clouds the message, the musical scope and character found on Moment of Forever make it a Willie record for the ages.

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