Desperados Waiting For A Train

In this classic Country song, Guy Clark tells the story of a boy who idolizes an old man who showed him the ropes. As he watches the man grow older, he sees him become just like all the other old men. Throughout the song, he compares this man and himself to desperados waiting for a train - something that seems exciting and dangerous, but in the end is quite mundane.

In our 2011 interview with Guy Clark, he told us, "It's a true song about someone in my life - I mean, you couldn't have made that up. It's just as true as you could make it. It was about a guy who was like my grandfather. And when I started writing songs, that was one of the songs I knew I was gonna write at some point."

The Country supergroup The Highwaymen, consisting of Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson, did this song on their debut album Highwayman. Jerry Jeff Walker and Nanci Griffth are among the other artists to record it.