# Willie Nelson's "Red Headed Stranger" is one of the greatest "concept" albums of all time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 8, 2020, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelsons-red-headed-stranger-is-one-of-the-greatest-concept-albums-of-all-time/849091 "2020-03-08T07:03:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelsons-red-headed-stranger-is-one-of-the-greatest-concept-albums-of-all-time/849091/1 "2020-03-08T07:03:06Z")
And there is Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain. Love is like a dying ember and only memories remain and all through the ages I will remember blue eyes crying in the rain. Love me some Willie. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelsons-red-headed-stranger-is-one-of-the-greatest-concept-albums-of-all-time/849091/2 "2020-03-09T02:53:29Z")
It’s been 20 years since I’ve listened to it. My memory is not reliable, but my recollection is that the Red Headed Stranger murdered his missus, and there wasn’t much interesting beyond that. Except for Blue Eyes Crying which is just a wonderful song — that Willie didn’t write. I only listened to the album 2 or 3 times — to try to figure out why I should view Red Head as anything besides a monster, and why Willie would want to sorta be identified with the monster. I could not figure out any worthwhile point to the song cycle, and none of the other songs stood out. Murder songs like Hey Joe and (Neil Young’s) Down By The River can entertain me a little because they rock, and they don’t take up an entire album. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelsons-red-headed-stranger-is-one-of-the-greatest-concept-albums-of-all-time/849091/3 "2020-03-09T10:41:05Z")
Red Headed Stranger is also a pretty good cannabis strain, a cross between Tom Hill’s Haze and William’s Wonder. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelsons-red-headed-stranger-is-one-of-the-greatest-concept-albums-of-all-time/849091/4 "2020-03-09T16:59:14Z")
> [@Baal\_Houtham](#): > > I only listened to the album 2 or 3 times — to try to figure out why I should view Red Head as anything besides a monster… Uh, yeah, it’s a story. I don’t think you’re supposed to be rootin’ for him. He does settle down in the end though. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelsons-red-headed-stranger-is-one-of-the-greatest-concept-albums-of-all-time/849091/5 "2020-03-09T20:11:27Z")
**Moderator Action** Moving thread from IMHO to Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelsons-red-headed-stranger-is-one-of-the-greatest-concept-albums-of-all-time/849091/6 "2020-03-11T02:14:46Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > Uh, yeah, it’s a story. I don’t think you’re supposed to be rootin’ for him. He does settle down in the end though. Yeah, I never got the idea that he was supposed to be a hero, or even really an anti-hero. It’s about a broken person who lives beyond their multiple mistakes and presumably learns not to be that wrathful person anymore. And whether he wrote the songs or not, the versions on that record are probably the most beautiful versions of them. He strung them into a coherent story that I think is more successful than most concept records written entirely by the band that recorded them - at least I understood what was going on when I first heard it as a young adult. So yeah, it’s one of the greatest “concept” albums, I’ve often wondered if it was the best. Of course, I’m from Texas, and it was recorded about 50 miles or so from where I’m sitting, so I might be a little biased. Take that into account. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelsons-red-headed-stranger-is-one-of-the-greatest-concept-albums-of-all-time/849091/7 "2020-03-11T04:54:07Z")
It’s a fantastic album. It holds up well. One of my faves. I still strum one of those songs on my guitar every now and then. Just this morning I played “Remember Me”… that’s on that album, right? 🙂