Song features on country artist’s upcoming Last Leaf on the Tree album, out this fall
The producer of Willie Nelson‘s upcoming Last Leaf on the Tree album — Nelson’s son, Micah — has said that the through line for the LP is “facing death with grace.” On the surface, Nelson’s latest single, a cover of the Flaming Lips‘ existentialist psychedelic rocker “Do You Realize??,” fits that rubric only with the line, “Do you realize that everyone you know someday will die?” but otherwise is a beautiful celebration of life, especially when Nelson sings it.
The country firebrand sings the song, which will feature on the record, due out Nov. 1, over campfire acoustic guitar, his nasal voice slowly realizing each lyric. Violins, shaker, and piano adorn his voice as he sort of chokes out, “And instead of saying all of your goodbyes, let them know/You realize that life goes fast.” But the truly touching moment is hearing Nelson sing, “Do you realize that you have the most beautiful face?”
Of course, the Flaming Lips‘ Wayne Coyne and Steve Drozd loved Nelson’s interpretation. “He’s just such a unique singer,” Coyne said in a statement. “You hear one second of his voice, and you go, that’s him.”
Drozd said he regrets that his father will never hear Nelson’s rendition. “I wish he was still alive to see this happening, that Willie Nelson is doing a Flaming Lips song I had a part in co-writing,” he said. “He’d be very proud.” The two Lips expounded more on their feelings about the cover in a video interview.
The single follows Nelson’s cover of Tom Waits’ “Last Leaf.” The record includes a few of Nelson’s original songs, as well as covers of tunes by Neil Young, Nina Simone, Keith Richards, and others.