Songfacts®:

• This is the first single from The Traveling Kind, the second collection of duets between Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell, who was a rhythm guitarist in the songstress' Hot Band during the mid-'70s. "I wrote the song with Larry Klein about 23 years ago and I was looking for a way to do it," Crowell told Billboard magazine, prior to the track's release. "I played for Emmy and she really liked it."
• Crowell takes the first verse while Harris narrates the second. Both voices merge on the chorus. Crowell said that he had previously recorded the song, but "this time we discovered Emmy could do the real oration - that's when it became a worthwhile song."
  
  Harris added, "It was my second time doing a recitation. The first was 'Jerusalem Tomorrow' from Cowgirls Prayer."