Willie never changed. The road didn’t change. But some of the riders did. There’s a sadness in knowing that the old outlaws warned us about all this. That Cash sang about the prisoner, not the warden. That Waylon fought Nashville because he knew control disguised as tradition was still control. That Kristofferson wrote about soldiers used up and thrown away. That Willie still stands for something more than cheap slogans and red hats with empty promises. And yet, the ones who used to ride with them now pull the wagons for the very things they once swore they hated. Willie is still out there, rolling his own, playing his songs, and staying free in a world that would rather put a price on everything — including freedom itself. He’s the last Highwayman, and when he goes, something goes with him. So maybe, before the last chords fade, it’s worth remembering what they stood for. And what they stood against.
Willie Nelson has always been the same man — steady, unbending, and true to the...