Highwayman

The song follows a speaker through several lives: first a highway robber, then a sailor, then a dam builder, and finally a traveler in space. Each life ends in a reported death, but the speaker insists on returning. The mood shifts from danger and loss toward a more reflective sense of endurance and possibility.

Several images connect the lives to their different settings: a sword and pistol suggest the robber’s violent trade; broken ship’s yards show the sailor caught in a storm; and wet concrete becomes a silent “gray tomb” for the builder. The repeated claim “I am still alive” does not necessarily mean the same body survives. It may suggest that the speaker’s spirit, identity, or story continues beyond one lifetime.

The ending leaves that continuation open. The speaker might become a highwayman again, return as a small drop of rain, or take some other form. “Again and again” gives the song a feeling of endless renewal, but it is not purely joyful: the speaker has repeatedly faced death and seems to hope for a place to rest. The lyrics allow both readings—that life keeps beginning anew, and that the speaker longs for peace within an endless cycle.