lyrics to "if he came back again" mp3 clips of "the highwaymen" reviews press release
If He Came Back Again You'd have thought a king had died the way those people cried Instead of one more broken entertainer It struck those in his trade he could have had it made If he'd only been a little saner They traveled far to see him Oh, the humble and the high They said goodbye as if he were a friend Now somewhere he is smiling On those who idolized him But would they even recognize him If he came back again? He was born of modest means but had outrageous dreams They never let him rest till he fulfilled them While he rode that train of song his devils tagged along The whiskey and the pills just couldn't kill him He didn't mean to be a rebel Ah, the real ones never do They're born apart from ordinary men Now somewhere he is smiling On those who sanctified him But would they even recognize him If he came back again? It's an old familiar story But it's a damn shame none-the-less They don't forgive his kind Till they lay them down to rest Now somewhere he is smiling On those who idolized him But would they even recognize him If he came back again? Oh, if he came back again Copyright 1994 Barry Alfonso and Craig Bickhardt Almo Music Corp/Craig Bickhardt (ASCAP) and Universal Music/BMG Songs(ASCAP) TOP
Listen Out of respect for the copyright laws these files when spliced together will contain gaps in the recording. if he came back again (first verse: waylon and kris) if he came back again (second verse: willie and johnny) if he came back again (bridge to end: all four highwaymen) TOP
Reviews countrymusic.about.com The Highwaymen - The Road Goes On Forever from Kathy Coleman "Once upon a time four of the greatest country music singers in the world got together to produce an album. They were good buddies, and each in their own way had rocked the country world more than once, but they didn't know they'd do it again when they all sang together. They did three albums together. This one was number three, and it's celebrating its tenth anniversary with this brand-new edition. I felt a tremendous surge of sorrow and irony as I listened to the second track on this disc, which is Billy Joe Shaver's incredible "Live Forever." Two of the four Highwaymen have left us in the last few years: Waylon Jennings in 2002, and Johnny Cash in 2003. But their voices live forever here, with buddies Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson, as The Highwaymen. The road indeed does go on forever and the party never ends. I already had this disc, but it was worth getting for the bonus tracks, including Waylon's witty and acerbic "I Ain't Song" and Johnny Cash's solo acoustic take on the Shaver "Live Forever." Also included is the never-before-released "If He Came Back Again," truly a wry commentary on today, even pitched from ten years ago. Great classics never go out of style. The Highwaymen, individually and together, have produced some of the greatest country music ever recorded. Between the four of them, they practically ARE country music. There's only one problem with this disc, and it's a marketing problem rather than anything wrong with the music. Next month they're going to release this material AGAIN, this time in a limited edition with DVD extras. Frankly, I'd wait on purchasing it until the DVD is out. There may never be another Waylon or Johnny, but as long as we have these discs we'll always have a part of 'em. The party never ends." Guide Rating - TOP Review by Scott Fraley Plan Nine Music: x9 Online Review Since Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings are now singing in the great Grand Ol’ Opry in the Sky, and the “baby” of the group, Kris Kristofferson, is turning 70 (!) this year, it seems fitting that the last album by this country super group receives a fitting reissue. Along with Willie Nelson, Cash, Jennings and Kristofferson wrote some legendary country songs, created a new musical paradigm in Nashville and helped to bring a wider audience to unjustly ignored songwriters such as Townes Van Zandt and Billy Joe Shaver. In their third and final album they continued to do more of the same. Billy Joe Shaver’s gospel tinged “Live Forever” is made all the more poignant by Cash’s and Jennings’s passing. These grey haired musical outlaws pay tribute to those they influenced with an all knowing version of Steve Earle’s “The Devil’s Right Hand,” the tale of a fascination with guns that ends all too badly. Robert Earl Keen’s title song of two star crossed lovers is imbued with the right amount of humor and heartache. This edition adds four acoustic demos that give us some insight into the recording studio as well a fully produced “If He Came Back Again” a mystical take on both Jesus Christ and Hank Williams that should have been included on the original release. But none of it would have worked without the sympathetic production of Don Was who keeps the pickers in the background and lets these four warhorses trade verses as no one else can. While it may not rank with the classic albums each of them made individually, it’s worth picking up the second time around. TOP Country Music News Canada THE HIGHWAYMEN The Road Goes On Forever Capitol / EMI This re-issue is billed as the “10th Anniversary Edition” of The Highwaymen’s album, originally released in 1995.Not sure what the significance might be, other than perhaps to trade on the current interest in the music of the late Johnny Cash, part of the Highwaymen foursome which also featured the now departed Waylon Jennings, along with Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson. The album, the last in the trilogy of The Highwaymen recordings, features the exact same ten songs as the original 1995 release, none of which earned charted single status, and likely the reason why the act shut down after three outings. What is interesting here is the add-on of six bonus, previously unreleased tracks. The only legitimate song among the extras is a full-blown studio effort in "If He Came Back Again", a song which presumably was not deemed strong enough to make it onto the original release, but certainly should have been, given the intriguing story line, which may (or may not) refer to Hank Williams. The other five bonus items here are funny outtakes from the recording session, the best of these being Waylon Jennings’ tongue-in-cheek demo of the Kristofferson-penned “I Ain’t Song”; which incidentally, was eventually properly recorded by Jennings under the title of Living Legend- Part II on his solo album Right For The Time. TOP	;
Press Release 9.27.05 Barry Alfonso and Craig Bickhardt waited ten years to hear the recording of their song, “If He Came Back Again” by The Highwaymen (Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson). The decade-long wait has been a reward and a vindication of sorts for the two writers. Originally recorded in 1995, the controversial track was deleted from the CD “The Road Goes On Forever” only to be recently rediscovered in the vaults of Capitol EMI records. Veteran producer Don Was stepped in to completely re-master the anniversary edition of the CD, which includes “If He Came Back Again”, and five other previously unavailable recordings by the supergroup. What makes the inclusion of "If He Came Back Again" in the Re-Mastered Edition of the CD so remarkable is the prophetic nature of the lyric. The chorus of the song sums up the irony of cultural iconography as lived out in the careers of the likes of Cash, Jennings, Hank Williams and Elvis Presley to name just a few; “Somewhere he is smiling on those who idolized him, but would they even recognize him if he came back again.” Cash sings the chilling lines, “While he rode that train of song his devils tagged along, the whiskey and the pills just couldn’t kill him.” Later, he delivers the knockout punch in the song's bridge, “They don’t forgive his kind till they lay them down to rest”. The slightly ragged but inspired performance ends with the four laughing together, as if they’ve planned a good practical joke and can’t wait to see it unfold. “If He Came Back Again” is the sort of tough-minded yet poetic song that these legendary artists loved to record. The song raises a lot of provocative questions. Says lyricist Alfonso: “It was inspired by a simple idea – if Hank Williams were re-born in these times, they would kick him out of the Grand Ole Opry all over again. And if Jesus Christ came back, mankind would probably crucify Him all over again as well. That’s the way it is, I’m afraid.” It remains to be seen if country radio will embrace this message from the Highwaymen, two of whom are now smiling down on their idolizing fans. Co-writer Bickhardt adds, “For all the posthumous accolades heaped on Cash and Jennings, and those that will undoubtedly be lavished on Willie and Kris one day, it can’t be forgotten that cookie-cutter radio has largely ignored their music since the late-1980s. Has anything changed in spite of the accolades?” “If He Came Back Again” is far more timely now than when Cash, Jennings, Nelson and Kristofferson first recorded it. The song is one of the most important and historic releases of the year. this page is maintained by friends.highwaymen copyright 2005 craig bickhardt	;