Riding North on Interstate 75 With a nervous fading beauty sitting by his side And a 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 ? about 12 o'clock Took the east road with the lights off to avoid the road block 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 said she'd be his hostage if he needed one Her momma 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 poorman'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 siren's starting howling like hell houndogs Ray popped that Firebird into overdrive And swore he'd never let them take him alive He was a desperate rider, he was Jesse James The best that he'd ever hope for was a household name The morning papers didn't say too much But his obituairy read, notorious The caption by his picture didn't say too much But his obituairy read, notorious The caption by his picture didn't say too much But his obituairy read, notorious