Born For Adventure
Born For Adventure
Written by Dennis DeYoung
Lead Vocals by Dennis DeYoung
I am the thief of the highway
Rich man you better take hold
'Cause last night while you lie sleeping
I came to steal all your gold
All the King's horses
All the King's men
Surrounded the chapel
To trap me within
A Lady in waiting
Lips red with rouge
She offered me pleasures
I could not refuse
No, no, no
For I was born
Born for adventure
Women whisky and sin
No I'll never surrender
Live by the sword till the end
All the King's horses
All the King's men
Were drinking and dancing
At Fezewig's Inn
They spoke of my capture
And of my escape
They called it misfortune
But I called it fate
No, no, no
For I was born
Born for adventure
Women whisky and sin
No I'll never surrender
Live by the sword till the end
A "highwayman" was an outlaw who would lay in wait for rich travelers. They would stop carriages and take the jewelry from the ladies and whatever else of value they could find.
The "lady in waiting" is not a lady in the normal sense of the term, but rather a prostitute, possible hired to seduce the highwayman so the authorities could capture him. If that was the case, the lyrics suggest he was captured but managed to escape, much as Robin Hood in the 1973 Disney adaptation of the legend.
The innkeeper, Fezewig, is probably named after Mr. Fezziwig, a character from A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens. In the story, Fezziwig is the man under whom Ebenizer Scrooge had apprenticed. As the "Ghost of Christmas Past," Dickens used Fezziwig to represent a set of communal values and a way of life which was quickly being swept away in the economic turmoil of the early nineteenth century.
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