About the song
Few collaborations in country music—or indeed in all of American popular music—have the weight, gravitas, and mythic aura of **The Highwaymen**. A supergroup composed of four of country music’s most iconic figures—**Johnny Cash**, **Waylon Jennings**, **Willie Nelson**, and **Kris Kristofferson**—**The Highwaymen** represented not just a union of great voices but a meeting of distinct worldviews, songwriting traditions, and personal journeys. Nowhere is that fusion more potent than in their signature song, **“Highwayman.”**
Originally written by **Jimmy Webb**, a master craftsman of the American songbook, **“Highwayman”** had already seen life through other artists before finding its most famous incarnation in the voices of these four legends. What makes the **Highwaymen’s** version so special isn’t just the lyrical depth or haunting melody—it’s the way the song becomes a vessel for their larger-than-life personas. Each member takes on a verse, portraying a soul moving through time and space: a highwayman, a sailor, a dam builder, and finally, a starship pilot. Each figure symbolizes a different era and archetype of American striving and sacrifice, mirroring the long, winding roads these musicians themselves had traveled.
There’s an almost spiritual resonance in the way **“Highwayman”** unfolds. **Johnny Cash’s** deep, weary gravitas grounds the song in something ancient and biblical. **Willie Nelson’s** reedy, plaintive tone evokes the wandering soul. **Waylon Jennings** brings rugged authority, while **Kris Kristofferson’s** poetic edge lends philosophical weight. Together, they don’t just sing a song—they embody an enduring American mythos of survival, transformation, and legacy.
To older listeners especially, **“Highwayman”** may evoke a profound nostalgia—not merely for a bygone era of music, but for a time when artistry, rebellion, and reflection coexisted so powerfully in the mainstream. It’s a song that dares to suggest that the human spirit is unkillable, that the stories we carry endure beyond death and distance. In many ways, it is a farewell, an epitaph, and a quiet reassurance that nothing truly meaningful is ever lost.
Video
Lyrics
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 bastards hung me in the spring of twenty-five
But I am still alive
I was a sailor
I was borne upon the tide
And with the sea, I did abide
I sailed a schooner round 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
I was a dam builder
Across the 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 great 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
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
I’ll be back again and again and again and again and again and again
