About the Song

Released in 1967 on the album Love of the Common People, “Two Streaks of Steel” is a poignant, early-career ballad from Waylon Jennings—a song that quietly captures the ache of separation and the heavy silence that lingers after love has gone. Long before he fully broke from the Nashville machine and carved his name into the outlaw movement, Waylon was already proving he could tell stories that didn’t need rhinestones or grand arrangements—just truth, melody, and that unmistakable voice.

The song’s title, “Two Streaks of Steel,” refers to railroad tracks—cold, unbending lines that stretch across the landscape like a symbol of distance and finality. And in this song, those tracks become more than just a setting; they become a metaphor for heartbreak. A train carries someone away, and there’s no chasing it. No stopping it. Just the hum of what used to be.

Waylon’s voice here is restrained, almost reverent. He doesn’t plead or cry out. Instead, he reflects. That calm delivery makes the sadness hit even harder—because it feels real. Not theatrical, not exaggerated—just honest. The kind of heartbreak that doesn’t leave in a flash, but lingers in the empty chair, the quiet morning, the echo of footsteps.

As part of Love of the Common People, this song showcases the emotional depth Waylon was already capable of in the late 1960s. Even while producers still tried to mold him into the smoother, polished sound of the Nashville establishment, Jennings found space to inject his own style—raw, lonesome, rooted in real experience.

“Two Streaks of Steel” may not be one of his biggest hits, but it remains a favorite for listeners who appreciate the quieter songs—the ones that speak not to the radio, but to the heart. It’s the sound of parting, of roads not taken, of lives divided by more than just miles. And it’s one more example of why Waylon Jennings was always more than a country star. He was a storyteller of the soul.

Video