Watch Willie Nelson’s Son Play a Snippet of His Dad’s 1986 Chart-Topper “Living in the Promiseland”

Lukas Nelson has released a deep catalog of music with his band Promise of the Real. So far, they’ve made nine albums together. The most recent of which was Sticks and Stones in 2023. However, he has a much deeper well from which to draw in the form of his father’s discography. He regularly covers Willie Nelson classics live and, as a new social media post shows, while he’s alone at home.

Earlier this week, Nelson took to social media to share a snippet of his rendition of his dad’s 1986 chart-topper “Living in the Promiseland.” In the video, he sings a line from the song before going into a guitar solo. “Here’s a little piece of ‘Living in the Promised Land’ written by David Lynn Jones and performed by Dad,” he wrote in the caption. “Great solo in the middle by Clint Strong I (tired) to learn,” he added.

[RELATED: Willie Nelson and Lukas Nelson Team up for a “Simply Amazing” Duet of “Living in the Promiseland”]

Lukas Nelson’s Timely Willie Nelson Cover

“Living in the Promiseland” is a song about immigrants coming to America to find a better life. As the debate around immigration in the United States rages on, it seems that Lukas Nelson picked a good time to cover the song. It’s also a great way of following in his dad’s footsteps.

Willie Nelson released the song as the lead single from his 1986 album The Promiseland. It went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs Chart, giving Nelson his eleventh chart-topper as a solo artist. Then, nearly two decades later, he dusted it off while at the Library of Congress.

In 2015, Nelson received the Library of Congress Gershwin Award. According to Songfacts, he performed “Living in the Promiseland” during the ceremony in response to the then-heated debate about immigration policy in the United States. “I think this is one of the most appropriate songs that we could do for this period in America,” Nelson said at the time. “Many years ago, I recorded this song and I felt like this might be a good time to kind of try to bring it back.”

The Story Behind “Living in the Promiseland”

David Lynn Jones started writing “Living in the Promiseland” in 1980 when an influx of immigrants from Cuba caused a population explosion in Florida. “The Cuban thing was goin’ on and the Cubans were supposed to get all these things and they weren’t getting’ anything,” Jones recalled. “It was all the boat people from Viet Nam, too. And I suppose subconsciously, that’s what inspired the song. The song isn’t America the Great or America the Beautiful. It’s America the Dream, and it’s whatever you make it,” he added. “A lot of people come here thinkin’ it’s one thing and find something else.”

Featured Image by Adam McCullough