Listen to Desperados Waiting for a Train by Highwaymen, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings & Kris Kristofferson

Desperados Waiting for a Train

Highwaymen, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings & Kris Kristofferson

Country

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OVERVIEW

LYRICS

Music Video

Desperados Waiting for a Train (American Outlaws: Live at Nassau Coliseum, 1990)

Watch Desperados Waiting for a Train (American Outlaws: Live at Nassau Coliseum, 1990) on YouTube

Featured In

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Credits

PERFORMING ARTISTS

Willie Nelson

Vocals

Johnny Cash

Vocals

Waylon Jennings

Waylon Jennings

Vocals

Kris Kristofferson

Kris Kristofferson

Vocals

Paul Davis

Keyboards

Johnny Rodriguez

Johnny Rodriguez

Background Vocals

Chips Moman

Guitar

Reggie Young

Guitar

J.R. Cobb

Guitar

Marty Stuart

Mandolin

Bobby Emmons

Keyboards

Bobby Wood

Keyboards

Mike Leech

Bass

Jimmy Tittle

Bass

Mickey Raphael

Harp

Gene Chrisman

Drums

COMPOSITION & LYRICS

Guy Clark

Songwriter

PRODUCTION & ENGINEERING

Chips Moman

Producer

David Cherry

Engineer

Larry Greenhill

Larry Greenhill

Assistant Engineer

Denny Purcell

Mastering Engineer

Ken Criblez

Assistant Engineer

Lyrics

[Verse 1]

I played the Red River Valley

And he'd sit out in the kitchen and cry

And run his fingers through seventy years of living

And wonder Lord, as ever, will that drill run dry?

We were friends, me and this old man

[Chorus]

Like desperados waiting for a train

Like desperados waiting for a train

[Verse 2]

He's a drifter and a driller of oil wells

And an old-school man of the world

He'd let me drive his car when he's too drunk to

And he'd wink and give me money for the girls

And our lives were like some old western movie

[Chorus]

Like desperados waiting for a train

Like desperados waiting for a train

[Verse 3]

From the time that I could walk, he'd take me with him

To a bar called the Green Frog Cafe

And there were old men with beer-guts and dominoes

Lying about their lives while they played

And I was just a kid they called his sidekick

[Chorus]

Like desperados waiting for a train

Like desperados waiting for a train

[Verse 4]

One day I looked up, and he's pushing eighty

And there's brown tobacco stains all down his chin

To me he's one of the heroes of this country

So why's he all dressed up like them old men?

Drinking beer and playing Moon in 42

[Chorus]

Like desperados waiting for a train

Like desperados waiting for a train

[Verse 5]

The day before he died, I went to see him

I was grown and he was almost gone

So we just closed our eyes and dreamed us up a kitchen

And sang another verse to that old song

Come on Jack, that son-of-a-gun's a-coming

[Chorus]

Like desperados waiting for a train

Like desperados waiting for a train

Like desperados waiting for a train

Like desperados waiting for a train

Written by: Guy Clark

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