Written by: Kris Kristofferson
Performed by: The Highwaymen (Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash & Kris Kristofferson)
Apears on: Highwayman 2-1990, The Highwayman Collection-2000, et al.
[Nelson:]
Was it bitter then,
With our backs against the wall?
[Kristofferson:]
Were we better men,
Than we'd ever been before?
[Nelson:]
Say, if she came again today,
Would you still answer to the call?
[Kristofferson:]
Tell the truth my friend,
Don't it matter anymore?
[Nelson:]
We were simple men,
By her side when she was born.
[Cash:]
(Talkin' about the dream.)
It was simple then,
Like the freedom when you fall.
And we were smaller then you see,
But soon we gathered like a storm.
They don't understand
What that thunder meant at all.
[Instrumental break.]
[Jennings & Nelson:]
Was he crucified,
Was he done in by the law?
[Kristofferson & Cash:]
Are you satisfied,
That he'll never ride again?
[Jennings & Nelson:]
Some people say he got away,
They say he never died at all.
[Cash:]
If that story's true,
Does it bother you my friend?
[Kristofferson:]
Was it bitter then,
With our backs against the wall?
(Say, two thousand years ago.)
[Nelson:]
Were we better men,
Than we'd ever been before?
(Or two hundred years.)
[Kristofferson:]
Say, if she came again today,
Would you still answer to the call?
[Cash:]
(Or tomorrow.)
[Kristofferson:]
Tell the truth my friend,
Don't it matter anymore?
