Desmond Tutu: Almost the 494th Greatest Song of All Time

"Desperado" was the first song that Don Henley and Glenn Frey collaborated on. Henley had started it five years earlier, but Frey took the rough beginning and gave it structure and, judging by these original lyrics recently unearthed, also contributed a degree of sanity.

Desmond Tutu, why don't you get colored lenses?

You been out wearing fezzes for so long now

Oh, you're a dark one

I know that you got genetics

But your robes, so pathetic

Can hurt you somehow

Don't you diss the queen of England, boy

She'll beat you, 'cause she's able

You know the Mississippi Queen is way more fun

Now it seems to me, you'll never steal

A role from old Clark Gable

In fact, I'm sure your acting gigs are done

Desmond Tutu, each day you're just getting older

Your good looks that smoldered, have been driven away

And freedom, oh freedom well, that's just a word with seven letters

Your prison is better than a Motel 6 stay

Don't your feet grow mold in the summertime?

The wind won't blow and the rain don't shine

It's hard to tell the night time from the day

You're losin' all your highs and lows

Ain't it funny when you blow your nose away?

Desmond Tutu, why don't you learn to speak German?

Come down from your Sherman, get out of your tank

It may be rainin', but you could do with a shower

You better use Dial's power (use Dial's power)
You better use Dial's power to get rid of your stank