Written by: John R. (Johnny) Cash
Performed by: The Highwaymen (Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash & Kris Kristofferson)
Apears on: Highwayman 2-1990, Super Hits-1999, The Highwayman Collection-2000, et al.
[Cash:]
Hey Babe, do you remember,
Back in nineteen sixty-nine?
We gathered round the room.
You sang yours and I sang mine.
We took turns with the guitar,
In the front and center seat.
Shel[1] and Kris[2] and Dylan,[3]
And a couple off the street.
Joni Mitchell cried on, "Both Sides Now."
We sang songs that made a difference.
And we can again somehow.
Everybody knew that this,
Was quite a special night.
[Nelson:]
Graham Nash[4] was nervous,
In the hot seat, in the light.
[Kristofferson:]
Joe South[5] was total magic,
And we all walked in his shoes.
[Cash:]
Orbison[6] and Rabbit[7] cried,
And they rocked the country blues.
Newberry's,[8] "San Francisco Maybel Joy."
We sang songs that made a difference.
June[9] was pregnant with my boy.
[Jennings:]
Oh, I could make a livin',
Drivin' nails or drivin' trucks.
Sleep beneath the bridge,
Or in the streets, down on my luck.
[Nelson:]
I'd stand the cold and hunger,
If they'd let me hear the songs.
Everybody write one,
That us bums can sing along.
[Kristofferson:]
Keep it from the heart and down to earth,
Sing the songs that make a difference.
Give us all our money's worth.
[Cash:]
Hey, Keep it from the heart and down to earth.
Sing the songs that make a difference.
Give us all our money's worth.
[1]Refers to Shel Silverstestein, an American poet, songwriter, musician, composer, cartoonist, screenwriter and author of
children's books. His musical style is laid-back and conversational, occasionally employing profanity, and slang.
[2]Refers to Kris Kristofferson, a prolific and influential American country singer/songwriter and member of The Highwaymen.
He is best known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee," "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down," and "Help Me Make It Through the
Night." Kristofferson is the sole writer of most of his songs, but he has collaborated with various other figures of the
Nashville scene such as Shel Silverstein.
[3]Refers to Bob Dylan, a Pulitzer Prize-winning American singer-songwriter, author, musician, poet, and, of late, disc
jockey who has been a major figure in popular music for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s,
when he became an informal chronicler and a reluctant figurehead of American unrest. A number of his songs, such as "Blowin'
in the Wind," and "The Times They Are a-Changin,' became anthems of the anti-war and civil rights movements.
[4]Graham Nash is an English-born, singer-songwriter known for his light tenor vocals and songwriting contributions in pop
group The Hollies and folk-rock band Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and as a photography collector and photographer.
[5]Joe South is a Grammy Award winning, singer-songwriter with a distinctive guitar sound.
[6]Refers to Roy Orbison, an influential, Grammy Award-winning American singer-songwriter, guitarist and a pioneer of rock
and roll whose recording career spanned more than four decades.
[7]Refers to Eddie Rabbitt, a country music singer who enjoyed much pop success in his career, helping develop the
crossover-influenced sound in country music during the 1970s and 80s. During his career, he scored 26 number-ones on
Billboard's country chart.
[8]Refers to Eddy Newberry, country singer-songwriter who wrote the song, "San Franciso Mabel Joy." about a woman he met in
San Franciso in the '60s.
[9]Refers to June Carter Cash, Johnny Cash's real-life wife.
