About the Song

Released in March 1967 on the album Waylon Sings Ol’ Harlan, “The Everglades” finds Waylon Jennings interpreting a song written by the renowned songwriter Harlan Howard. The album is dedicated entirely to Howard’s material.

In “The Everglades,” Jennings uses vivid imagery of the southern swamp—the vastness, the hidden shadows, the natural danger—to draw a parallel with a man on the run, a life in flight, and the relentless passage of time. With lyrics like “Sent him on the run through the Everglades, running like a dog through the Everglades…” you can feel the urgency mingled with resignation.

Musically, the track is straightforward and uncluttered, typical of Jennings’ mid-60s work: the instrumentation supports the voice rather than competing with it. The arrangement allows Jennings’ baritone to inhabit the story—not overshadowed by big production, but grounded in the storytelling. The album credits list the song duration as about 2 minutes 10 seconds.

For listeners who have lived through restless nights, regrets, and roads that don’t lead back home, “The Everglades” offers something familiar: that sense of carrying a distance inside you, even when you’re still standing. Jennings doesn’t dramatise; he reflects. He doesn’t shout; he whispers with weight.

Within the context of “Waylon Sings Ol’ Harlan,” the track fits with songs of heartache, regret and hidden lives—Howard’s themes brought to life by Jennings’ willingness to go deep and quiet. It’s a record that reminds us country music is as much about the shadows as about the bright lights.

If you revisit “The Everglades,” listen for the spaces between the words, the measured phrasing that sounds like someone who knows the road. It might not be the most famous song of Waylon Jennings’ catalog, but it’s one of those gems—subtle, grounded, and lasting.

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