THE SONG WILLIE NELSON WROTE THE SAME WEEK AS “CRAZY” — AND THAT ELVIS PRESLEY EVENTUALLY RECORDED
By the late 1950s, long before he became an outlaw icon, Willie Nelson was living a far quieter — and far more uncertain — life. Based in Pasadena, Texas, Nelson regularly drove to Houston to perform at the Esquire Ballroom, using the long commute to write songs for his label, D Records.
During one remarkable week on that road, Nelson unknowingly changed the course of American music.
In the span of just a few days, he wrote three songs that would go on to become standards: “Crazy,” “Funny How Time Slips Away,” and “Night Life.” At the time, they were simply ideas scribbled down between gigs — not future classics.
“Crazy,” of course, became immortal when Patsy Cline recorded it in 1961, turning Nelson into one of Nashville’s most sought-after songwriters. But the other two songs would take longer, stranger paths.
“Night Life” was the first to hit resistance.
D Records owner Pappy Daily rejected the song outright, telling Nelson it wasn’t country enough. Its bluesy feel, late-night mood, and conversational phrasing didn’t fit the Nashville formula of the time. Nelson later recalled the frustration clearly.
“They wouldn’t record it because they said it was too bluesy,” Nelson said in 2019. “It wasn’t country.”
Rather than give up, Nelson made a quiet act of defiance. He recorded the song under the title “Nite Life”, using the alias Hugh Nelson, on another label across town — simply to prove a point. He later said he still considers that version the best recording of the song, featuring top Houston jazz musicians like Paul Buskirk and Herb Remington.
The third song written that week, “Funny How Time Slips Away,” would go on to be recorded by dozens of artists — including Ray Price — but its most unexpected destination came years later.
In 1973, more than a decade after Nelson wrote it on those Texas drives, Elvis Presley recorded “Funny How Time Slips Away” during his Stax Studios sessions in Memphis. By then, both men were veterans of the industry, carrying the weight of success and disappointment. In Elvis’s voice, the song sounded less like heartbreak and more like resignation — a weary reflection on love and time passing.
Looking back, Nelson has often marveled at that single week of songwriting.
“In one week, I wrote ‘Crazy,’ ‘Funny How Time Slips Away,’ and ‘Night Life,’” he once said. “That’s when I decided maybe to go to Nashville.”
Soon after, he packed up his 1946 Buick and drove straight to Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, having heard it was where songwriters gathered. It was there that Nelson began the next chapter of his life — still unaware of how far those songs would travel.
“I wish I had known then what they were going to do,” Nelson later admitted. “Maybe it’s better that I didn’t. I had no idea these songs would be as successful as they have been.”
That single week captures Willie Nelson’s genius in its purest form: not calculated, not polished, not chasing fame — just a songwriter listening closely to life. One song became a country masterpiece. One became a late-night blues anthem. And one eventually found its way into the hands of the King.
All written on the road.
All written before Willie Nelson knew who he was about to become.