About The Song
“Desperado Love” is a song written by Michael Garvin and Sammy Johns, and recorded by American country music artist Conway Twitty. It was released in June 1986 as the first single from his album Fallin’ for You for Years. The song was Twitty’s 35th and final solo number one country hit on the Billboard chart and 51st overall (he also reached number 1 five more times on Billboard in duets with Loretta Lynn during the 1970s, giving him an overall total of 40 Billboard number ones) The single went to number one for one week and spent a total of 13 weeks on the country chart.
The thing about Conway Twitty is that he never stopped being a great stylist with good taste in material.
A lot of conversation will go on as we get to the late eighties, and many reliable superstars will fade at country radio. A handful of them, like Twitty, would still be getting airplay into the nineties. In Twitty’s case, it was really his premature death that ended his run at country radio, long after most of his peers had moved on.
“Desperado Love” would be the last time he topped the Billboard country singles chart, but he has another two No. 1 singles on the way that went to No. 1 on Radio & Records. Not that this would’ve been a low mark for his run to end on, because it’s a charming and clever record that plays around with the desperado concept.
Applying desperado imagery to stealing another man’s woman, as he puts it, makes for some playful lyrical moments, as Twitty confesses that law and order be damned, he’s going to follow his heart. Sure, it doesn’t have the smoldering intensity of “You’ve Never Been This Far Before” or the crippling shame and guilt of “Linda On My Mind,” but when you’ve done so many cheating songs before, you have to find some fresh angles to approach it from.
Twitty does that well here, making for another late career highlight. Its parent album, Fallin’ For You For Years, would be his swan song for Warner Bros. Records before reuniting with Jimmy Bowen at MCA Nashville. The title track will appear in this feature toward the end of 1986.
Video
Lyric
Should I just ride in and steal you away
Don’t know what else to do
I got a desperado love for you
They say you belong to another man
The first time we met I knew
That I’d have a desperado love for you
I know that it breaks every law
To feel the way I’m feelin’
But I want your love so desperately
I don’t see the wrong in stealin’
So hold on I’m gonna shoot for the heart
Like desperadoes do
I got a desperado love for you
It’s so wrong to take what isn’t mine
And head out for the border
But I can’t look at you and have
Respect for law and order
So hold on I’m gonna shoot for the heart
Like desperadoes do
I got a desperado love for you
I got a desperado love for you