Willie Nelson‘s 153rd overall album, Last Leaf on The Tree, comes out on November 1, and he’s given us another preview of it with his cover of The Flaming Lips‘ beloved Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots single “Do You Realize??” It’s a stripped down rendition, burnished with harmonica, and you can hear it below.
“He’s just such a unique singer,” Flaming Lips vocalist Wayne Coyne says of the cover. “You hear one second of his voice, and you go, that’s him.” Co-writer Steven Drozd adds his wish that his late father were alive to hear the track. “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’d be very proud.” They’ve also shared a video of Coyne and Drozd reacting to hearing Willie’s rendition, which you can watch below.
Willie has a few shows coming up, including one more date of his Outlaw Music Festival tour, Farm Aid, and three stops in Texas. See all dates below.
We recently caught The Flaming Lips supporting Weezer at Madison Square Garden.
WILLIE NELSON: 2024 TOUR DATES
09.20.2024 Gilford, NH OUTLAW FEST: BankNH Pavilion
09.21.2024 Saratoga Springs, NY FARM AID: Broadview Stage at SPAC
10.19.2024 Corpus Christi, TX Concrete Street Amphitheater
10.20.2024 Beaumont, TX Ford Park
10.23.2024 Helotes, TX Floore’s Country Store