Energy Follows Thought: The Stories Behind My Songs

Prolific singer/songwriter Nelson, with coauthors David Ritz (The God Groove) and Nelson’s longtime harmonica player, Mickey Raphael, fill this book with stories and reflections, although it’s not entirely a memoir. The lyrics in each chapter are thematically linked with accompanying commentary, autobiography, and late-night philosophy. Some of the chapters are album titles, and some link together Nelson songs that feature similar characters or themes—love and heartbreak feature heavily. Some are more conceptual or abstract, such as “Lonely Places” or “Abandoned Houses.” Nelson writes, “If there are rules for storytelling, I never learned them,” but his songwriting has consistently been indicative of a born storyteller. It’s fun and, at times, illuminating to read about where some of those stories stemmed from. The photos are great too.