3 songs written and re-recorded by Kris Kristofferson with his fellow outlaws The Highwaymen

After a night of drinking with Harry Nilsson, Jimmy Webb wrote the song “The Highwayman”. Released in 1977, the song was born in the dream of Webb, the singer-songwriter behind Glen Campbell's “Wichita Lineman,” “Galveston” and “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” Art Garfunkel's 1973 hit “All I Know” and others . “The Highwayman” told the story of an outlaw on the run from the law, which later inspired the formation of Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson's outlaw supergroup The Highwaymen.

Over the course of the Highwaymen's decades-long success story and a total of three albums, most of which are predominantly characterized by cover versions Highwayman in 1985, until Highwayman 2 (1990), which contained six of the ten original titles by Nelson, Jennings, Kristofferson and Cash, as well as their final unification, The road goes on forever In 1995, all four highway robbers contributed songs from their catalogs as well as some newly written tracks.

Highwayman 2 Nelson's “Two Stories Wide” and the closing “Texas” were featured, while Cash wrote “Songs That Make a Difference” and Jennings contributed his “Angels Love Bad Men”, first recorded by Barbra Mandrell in 1987. Jennings' “I Do Believe,” Nelson's “The End of Understanding,” and Cash's “Death and Hell,” co-written with son John Carter Cash, also found their way onto the band's final album.

Kristofferson also revisited three songs from his past Highwayman 2 And The road goes on forever. Here's a look behind the three songs Kristofferson wrote and re-recorded with his fellow Outlaws on their last two albums.

[RELATED: The Political Commentary Behind Kris Kristofferson’s 1990 Single “Don’t Let the Bastards (Get You Down)”]

“Anthem '84”

Written by Kris Kristofferson

On his 1986 album Taken backWith backing band Borderlords, Kristofferson reflects on the state of America in 1984. At the time, Kristofferson was at a crossroads as his film career took off in the early '80s. He also focused more on political activism, which is also embedded in it Taken backincluding his criticism of the then government of President Ronald Regan and its policies towards El Salvador and the Contra rebels in Nicaragua, as well as some family ties to “The Heart”, a tribute to his father Lars Henry Kristofferson (1905-1971). ) – and later covered by Highwaymen Jennings and Cash.

As a former Army captain, Kristofferson recognizes the need to fight for freedom but questions the government's sending troops out of self-interest –If you are looking for a fighter who will defend you / and love you for your freedom, I am your man… But the vision slowly faded like the wonder from your eyes / And you traded your compassion for your pride.

Kristofferson's “Anthem '84” was never released as a single, but he returned to reinterpret it with a more electric, keyboard-driven version four years after its initial release on the Highwaymen's second album in 1990.

If you are looking for a fighter to defend you
And love you for your freedom. I am your man
And I won't leave you because of the crazy things you do
But don't ask me to help you

As I remember, you were such a beautiful dream
You were young and strong and God was on your side
But the vision slowly faded like the wonder from your eyes
And you traded your compassion for your pride

But I still believe in everything we believed in
And I pray to God that you do it in the end
And you will see the golden opportunities that you waste
And be the loving beauty that you can