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Highwayman
performed by Jimmy Webb, Glen Campbell, Finn Kalvik, but made popular by The Highwaymen (Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash)
written by Jimmy Webb
released initially in May 1977 by Jimmy Webb
[Verse 1: Willie Nelson]
I was a highwayman
Along the coach roads I did ride
With sword and pistol by my side
Many a young maid lost her baubles to my trade
Many a soldier shed his lifeblood on my blade
The b*stards hung me in the spring of ’25
But I am still alive
[Verse 2: Kris Kristofferson]
I was a sailor
I was born upon the tide
And with the sea I did abide
I sailed a schooner around the Horn to Mexico
I went aloft and furled the mainsail in a blow
And when the yards broke off they said that I got killed
But I am living still
[Verse 3: Waylon Jennings]
I was a dam builder
Across a river deep and wide
Where steel and water did collide
A place called Boulder, on the wild Colorado
I slipped and fell into the wet concrete below
They buried me in that gray tomb that knows no sound
But I am still around
I’ll always be around
And around, and around, and around
And around, and around, and around…
[Verse 4: Johnny Cash]
I fly a starship
Across the Universe divide
And when I reach the other side
I’ll find a place to rest my spirit if I can
Perhaps I may become a highwayman again
Or I may simply be a single drop of rain
But I will remain
And I’ll be back again
And again, and again, and again
And again, and again…
____________________________
This weird country music songs is one of my all-time favorite songs. I don’t support the message obviously (young maids should not be robbed of their baubles) but the fact that four industry legends formed a supergroup, like they were a professional wrestling stable, was completely awesome to me. [Someone quick, go round up Travis Tritt, Alan Jackson, Clint Black, and Dwight Yoakam.]
This is how I imagine The Highwaymen came together as a group and I will not be persuaded otherwise:
It’s probably not obvious that this song is about one person being reincarnated over and over, though once I tell you that, it should seem obvious. To tell the background more fully, I direct you to the wiki article:
According to Webb, he wrote the song in London while he was finishing up work on his album El Mirage. After a late-night round of “professional drinking” with his friend Harry Nilsson, Webb went to sleep and had “an incredibly vivid dream”:
I had an old brace of pistols in my belt and I was riding, hell-bent for leather, down these country roads, with sweat pouring off of my body. I was terrified because I was being pursued by police, who were on the verge of shooting me. It was very real. I sat up in bed, sweating through my pajamas. Without even thinking about it, I stumbled out of bed to the piano and started playing “Highwayman”. Within a couple of hours, I had the first verse.
Webb included the phrasing in the line “Along the coach roads I did ride” to convey a kind of “antique way of speaking”. Not sure of where the song was leading him, Webb realized that the highwayman character does not die, but becomes reincarnated, and the three subsequent verses evolve from that idea. In the second verse he becomes a sailor, in the third verse a dam builder, and in the fourth verse Webb switches to future tense and the character becomes an astronaut who will someday “fly a starship across the universe divide”.
With a stable of superstars and a great backstory like that, how could this song not go on (eventually) to greatness?
Chart positions
| Chart (1985) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Hot Country Songs (Billboard) | 1 |
| Canadian RPM Country Tracks | 1 |
| Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks | 19 |
Awards
The Highwaymen’s version of the song earned songwriter Jimmy Webb a Grammy Award for 1985‘s “Best Country Song”.
Despite the big names, the supergroup never really proved to be “super” other than their namesake song. Their next biggest hit topped country charts in the #15 spot. The group existed from 1985 until about 1995, which means they were initially stymied by a Nashville that resisted Outlaw Country and then they were next stymied by a youth-led country music renaissance that really began in the late 80s and early 90s. However, the latter event opened the door for the members of the group to eventually have solo success again.
The official music video for this song is also epic. It was filmed in black and white and depicts the individual verses of the song, with the singers appearing in the sky in each scene.
♫Or I may simply be a single drop of rain
But I will remain
And I’ll be back again
And again, and again, and again
And again, and again…♫