Roll Me Up And Smoke Me When I Die: Musings
from the Road, by Willie Nelson
What a title. In reading the book I
discovered that Roll Me Up And Smoke Me is the name of a song. I’m not sure about the saneness of this first half of the title, but the second part, Musings from the Road, makes a lot of sense. It’s like a quick
biography written through the eyes of Willie Nelson himself, and through the
eyes of his family. Willie Nelson’s life can be defined by the road, where he
has spent a good deal of his life. The story of his life is the road.
The whole book is a concoction of song
lyrics, awful jokes, memories written out by his family and friends, and Willie’s
personal memories, as well as his opinions on many subjects like wars for oil,
guns, the environment, and marijuana.
Every Willie Nelson fan knows about his
history with pot. At one point in the book, Willie describes how he decided to
quit smoking regular cigarettes because the smoke was bad for his lungs.
Apparently he emptied a cigarette carton, rolled a bunch of joints and filled
up the carton. Whenever he reached for a cigarette, he had a joint instead.
On page 114, before he quotes the lyrics
to the song for which the book is titled, he shares his opinion on the
legalization of marijuana: “If you make pot legal, and tax it and regulate it
like alcohol and tobacco, you will stop the dealing on the borders and save thousands
of lives!” I guess I can understand his point, but in my opinion pot’s not good
for anybody. Willie says it’s natural, but in opposition, a lot of things are
natural but that doesn’t mean they’re good for consumption. Besides, getting marijuana
out of the picture for smuggling won’t stop the smuggling of other things.
Then there are his ideas on religion. He
talks about karma, reincarnation and God like they go hand in hand. I don’t see
eye to eye. Karma is bull and reincarnation is a fairy tale. That’s just the
way I feel.
I may not agree with all of Willie
Nelson’s ideologies, but I will say he’s one hell of a singer, a songwriter and
a dedicated artist. I admire him for these things.
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