(Emmylou Harris/Paul Kennerley)

I hear the sound of sorrow in the wind
Blowing down from every mile I've ever been
Calling me out on some road that just won't end
Where the sweetheart rides the rodeo again

A thousand nights a thousand towns I took the bows
But there is no compensation for me now
Out along the highway where the west was won
No matter how fast I ride or far I run

Waiting for the sweetheart of the rodeo
They're comin' down from Tonopah to Tupelo
She'll come to town to ride the radio
Like she's slidin' down the walls of Jericho
There goes the sweetheart of the rodeo

I stepped into the light you left behind
I stood there where all the world could see me shine
Oh I was on my way to you to make you mine
But I took the longest road that I could find