Riding north on Interstate 75 With a nervous fading beauty sitting by his side And the pistol that he used to pave the way Down the long black stretches of a dark highway Ray bought his future with a pound of lead When he robbed a liquor store and left the clerk for dead That kid should've put the money in the sack But he didn't and now there ain't no turning back
He's a desperate rider, he's a Jesse James The best that he could hope for is a household name There ain't nobody that a man can trust When all his headlines read 'Notorious' There ain't nobody that a man can trust When all his headlines read 'Notorious'
They pulled out of Soddy Daisy 'bout twelve o'clock Took the heat stroke with the lights off to avoid the roadblock Ray killed the motor at the county line Changed his Tennessee plates to a 'lost tag' sign She would never ask what the boy had done But she said she'd be his hostage if he needed one Her mama raised her to be loyal and true And she figured that's the least that she could do She was lost and lonely on a midnight ride Reluctant Bonnie to a poor man's Clyde It ain't too easy when the man you love Has got a reputation that's notorious It ain't too easy when the man you love Has got a reputation that's notorious
They were just outside of Knoxville when the lights flashed on And the sirens started howling like hell hound dogs Ray popped that Firebird into overdrive He swore he'd never let them take him alive He was a desperate rider, he was Jesse James The best he'd ever hoped for was a household name The morning papers didn't say too much But his obituary read, 'Notorious'
The caption by his picture didn't say too much But his obituary read, 'Notorious' (repeat to fade-out).