The Philosophy of Modern Song: the most wonderful, eternal and simple, “Midnight Rider”

Posted on February 28, 2026 by Tony Attwood

 

A list of the other songs nominated by Bob within his “Philosophy of Modern Song” book, which we have already covered, is given at the end.   Each article has at least one recording of the song within it.

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By Tony Attwood

Sometimes the lyrics of a song mean everything to me, sometimes nothing, and occasionally it is just one line that stays with me.   As with “ain’t gonna let them catch the midnight rider.”  It’s there in my head, as it has been since the song was first released in 1970.

One line in my head for at least 55 years – given that I probably didn’t hear the song when it was first written.   55 years of wondering what the midnight rider is or was but really not caring too much.

I was of course, a midnight rider in my days of playing with (rather unsuccessful) rock bands in the 1970s, as well as when motorcycling around the country to see whoever it was I felt I wanted to see.   And then suddenly, I wrote a book that people actually wanted, and it is amazing what a bit of money and a publisher demanding a follow-up can do for changing one’s life.  But driving back from somewhere late at night, I never lost the though of the midnight rider.   Those two words seemed to symbolise who and what I was.

And then, rather later, I took up dancing modern jive; I once more found myself doing those long drives in the darkness; it all came back to me.  Funny how one song can be so much a part of one’s life over such a long period of time.

I am sure that for Bob this is not to think of the man on the run, but the essence of moving on, and exploring, as of course Bob has done through this concerts year after year.   And this song surely takes him back to the early days.   Just the line I’ve got one more silver dollar, is enough to tell us where we are and what the song is

Yet I think there is more.   As for me, the essence of the song has always been that I am not going to compromise on issues that seem important to me.   By which I don’t mean that I will be deliberately beligerent or difficult and never compromise, but there are some things that seem to be worth standing up for.  Not to die pointlessly for, but not to give up on.  Those things that just seem important have always done and always will do.

It is, however, one of those songs in which somehow, some of the lyrics have passed me by. Which is odd since it is such a simple song. I mean I know the opening “Well, I’ve got to run to keep from hiding” and what follows about the silver dollar, which is rather irrelevant to me being in the UK, but not much more.   And that is because each of the three verses (which are finally followed by a coda) have just two original lines followed by the repeated

And I've got one more silver dollar
But I'm not gonna let 'em catch me, no
Not gonna let 'em catch the midnight rider

It is, in fact, a simple but complete expression of individualism.   And it works because it appears without any explanation of why that individualism is important.   It just is, and it rang true at a time when musicians, and their fans (in their teens and 20s) were expressing their individuality.

Thus it was and is the simplest possible expression of the vision of the individual in society at the time.   When our individuality seemed more important than anything else.

Yes, of course, the arrangement helps enormously, and I suspect you can probably hear it in your head as you kindly take a moment to read these jottings, but still, in essence, this is utter simplicity.   I am me, leave me alone.

And the proof of the power of the lyrics and the music behind them is that I suspect most of us who were alive and listening the music in 1970 felt that it said all that needed to be said.   Who cares who or what the midnight rider is or was, we just are….

And for once, I agree with the general consensus.  That version above is a sensational version, and ultimately, as I have tried to express my own individuality in my work, that is the recording that I have held on to.

Eventually, of course, the band couldn’t resist making the song much longer with a long jam session based on the simple chord sequence, and that worked because by then (maybe 30 years later) everyone knew that this song symbolised them, and their resistance to the old ways.   There is also the rather fun story that the two originators of the song “broke into Capricorn Sound Studios to complete a demo of the song.”

It is also one of those fascinating songs in which the cover versions seem to have become much more popular than the original, particularly Gregg Allman’s solo version of the song, released in 1973.

There is also a good story about the band’s road manager Kim Payne, who wrote two lines o the third verse.

"'I've gone past the point of caring
some old bed I’ll soon be sharing.

And although the history of pop and rock is notorious for musicians and songwriters not acknowledging the odd line offered by someone else, in this case, the roadie did get his five per cent for those two lines. 

Previously in this series

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