Desperados Waiting for a Train - Wikipedia Desperados Waiting for a Train `` Desperados Waiting for a Train '' Single by The Highwaymen from the album Highwayman B - side `` The Twentieth Century Is Almost Over '' Released September 14, 1985 Genre Country Label Columbia Songwriter ( s ) Guy Clark Producer ( s ) Chips Moman The Highwaymen singles chronology `` String Module Error : Match not found '' ( String Module Error : Match not found ) `` Desperados Waiting for a Train '' ( 1985 ) `` Silver Stallion '' ( 1990 ) `` Highwayman '' `` Desperados Waiting for a Train '' ( 1985 ) `` Silver Stallion '' ( 1990 ) `` Desperados Waiting for a Train '' is a song written by Guy Clark and originally recorded by Jerry Jeff Walker for his 1973 album Viva Terlingua. It subsequently appeared on Rita Coolidge 's 1974 album Fall into Spring, David Allan Coe 's third album, The Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy ( 1974 ), Tom Rush 's album Ladies Love Outlaws the same year, before Clark 's own rendition was released on his first LP, 1975 's Old No. 1. Clark has stated that the song is about his grandmother 's boyfriend named Jack who was a grandfather figure to him. The song was also covered by Slim Pickens in 1981 on his self - titled album ( Picc - A-Dilly PIC - 3484 ). The American country music group the Highwaymen released it as a single in September 1985. It was the second single from the album Highwayman. The song reached # 15 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. Nanci Griffith recorded it for her 1998 album Other Voices Too ( A Trip Back to Bountiful ), accompanied by Clark, Jerry Jeff Walker, Steve Earle, Rodney Crowell, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Eric Taylor. Jason Isbell covered the song for Guy Clark 's induction into the 2015 Austin City Limits hall of fame ceremony. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time. Chart performance Chart ( 1985 ) Peak position US Hot Country Songs ( Billboard ) 15 Canadian RPM Country Tracks 20 References Jump up ^ Guy Clark, `` Desperados Waiting For A Train '' performance on YouTube Jump up ^ Whitburn, Joel ( 2004 ). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits : 1944 - 2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 246. Jump up ^ Jason Isbell `` Desperadoes Waiting on a Train '' 2015 Austin City Limits Hall of Fame Jump up ^ Western Writers of America ( 2010 ). `` The Top 100 Western Songs ''. American Cowboy. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Jump up ^ `` The Highwaymen Chart History ( Hot Country Songs ) '' Billboard. Jerry Jeff Walker Studio albums Viva Terlingua Songs `` Mr. Bojangles '' `` Desperados Waiting for a Train '' `` Trashy Women '' Related Circus Maximus Django Walker H.R. Stoneback The Highwaymen Johnny Cash Waylon Jennings Kris Kristofferson Willie Nelson Studio albums Highwayman Highwayman 2 The Road Goes On Forever Singles `` Highwayman '' `` Desperados Waiting for a Train '' `` Silver Stallion '' `` It Is What It Is '' This 1980s country song - related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Desperados_Waiting_for_a_Train&oldid=804920649 '' Categories : 1985 singles Jerry Jeff Walker songs Rita Coolidge songs The Highwaymen ( country supergroup ) songs Johnny Cash songs Waylon Jennings songs Kris Kristofferson songs Willie Nelson songs Songs written by Guy Clark Song recordings produced by Chips Moman Columbia Records singles 1973 songs 1980s country song stubs Hidden categories : Music infoboxes with Module : String errors Singlechart usages for Billboardcountrysongs Singlechart called without song All stub articles Talk About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 11 October 2017, at 23 : 00. About Wikipedia

Question: who wrote the song desperados waiting for a train
Answer: Guy Clark