Quality Americana

“It all began in Jacksonville, Florida in 1946, officially known as the Navy Flight Exhibition Team,” Willie Nelson says in the intro to his latest single “Still is Still Moving to Me.”

Our Song of the Day takes a look back at the incredible 2009 version of this song. An updated bluegrass version of this song has reached the top 30 of the Americana Music Association singles chart. 

“Four Navy pilots fresh from the war dubbed themselves the Blue Angels and a legend was born,” Nelson said. 

We see vintage footage of World War II and a montage of the team throughout the years. 

“This song is dedicated to all the men and women of the Blue Angels, past and present,” Nelson said. “For over 47 years their uncompromising pursuit of excellence has typified all the best things about being an American. I salute them and their counterparts in today’s Navy and Marine Corp, who’s patriotism and dedication to duty are still so very moving to me.” 

We see the Blue Angels take fight as the iconic Spanish guitar from Nelson comes in. This video is steeped in nostalgia with its square framing and vintage stock footage and really brings you back to that Top Gun era. Nelson is shown in front of the footage like an old public access show. It really hit my heart while watching this and reminded me of a simpler time. It could serve as a segment on Reading Rainbow. 

“It’s hard to explain how I feel,” Nelson 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.” 

It’s incredible that Nelson can release a single and still be so relevant at 90 years old. With the fashion trends heading back towards the early 90s with baggy jeans and thrifted tees from old tours, Nelson’s video puts you back in your old living room with a stack of Blockbuster rentals. Nelson is wearing a Greg Norman cowboy hat that was popularized in the same era, and the rhythm guitar effects have the lost desert vibe. 

Micah Nelson said that his father wrote the song while riding bikes with the family on a European tour in an interview with Texas Monthly.

“It’s really kind of a road song too, I think, about being on the road, because on tour you’re in this big metal spaceship, and you’re sitting there but you’re constantly moving, even when you’re sitting still,” Micah Nelson said. “And I like the idea of the kind of mystical aspect of it too; you could be sitting with yourself in a room, and because you have consciousness and you have an imagination and you could travel space and time, you’re still moving. Even just sitting in your room, you can go anywhere.”

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