Glen Campbell Makes Rare Appearance With The Highwaymen (WATCH)

Farm Aid's YouTube Account

The original bad boys of country decided one day to all join forces and make the supergroup The Highwaymen and it might have been one of the best things to happen in country music history! 

Another great move? Inviting Glen Campbell to join them onstage for their signature song “Highwayman“. 

The song, which is about a highwayman, a sailor, a dam builder and a “spaceman”, was originally written and recorded by Jimmy Webb in 1977. In 1979, Glen Campbell recorded his own version, which didn’t do so well on the charts. 

In 1984, longtime friends Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash listened to the song together and knew they wanted to record it. They loved the song so much, they named themselves The Highwaymen. They released “Highwayman” in the spring of 1985. 

The song gained so much popularity, and ended up topping the charts! In September 1985, the group performed at the very first Farm Aid concert with Glen Campbell standing in for Kris Kristofferson. 

Watch the amazing performance below!

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 born 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

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..