Highwayman 53
Words and music by
Stephen Wayne
Late summer; 1994.
Charlton County Georgia.
For Debra...
"When she kissed me, there was thunder and lightening, a
sudden storm rolled violently across the black waters of the St.
Mary's River... And I'll always remember... How her sunset scarlet
hair, and her summer freckles, and the warm sweet taste of her
lips, and her breath... Took my breath away... Forever."
I was born a highway man way back in fifty three...
In a shack below the Mason Dixon line...
Rode a south bound freight for Birmingham just me and Bobby
Mac Gee...
Got high on Jane and drunk on summer wine...
I met a man Bo jangles at the Memphis county fair...
He danced a jig till the day the music died...
Said life is good and life is bad man I've been everywhere...
Whoever said its easy damn sure lied...
If you got to get the girl then you've got to do the dance...
If you got to hurt then boy you've got to cry...
If you got to fall in love then you've got to take a chance...
If you got to live then boy you've got to die...
I fell in love with love when I was only seventeen...
And killer weed was once a friend of mine...
I prayed to God above won't you take away this need...
He said my son you've got to do your time...
Lived forty years of pain before I ever knew her name...
But time and miles took her away from me...
This life is bitter sweet like the sunshine in the rain...
Like a soul at peace upon a raging sea...
I've been everywhere since the Memphis county fair...
And happiness is just a state of mind...
I've known a lot of fears and I've cried a lot of tears...
I tried to see the light when I was blind...
I won the game of life but I lost it all one night...
To a queen of hearts down by the Georgia line...
I strapped on my sweet gun and I rode toward the sun...
Thank God this highway man is doing fine...