此曲為美國鄉村歌手、詞曲作者及演員的Kris Kristofferson所寫，首由Ray Price於1971錄唱發行，唯是作為另首《I Won't Mention It Again》的B面，故並未有排行榜的名次。Kristofferson自己的版本則是收錄在1972的專輯《Border Lord》中。部分樂評對該專輯的評論不佳，像「滾石雜誌」的Ben Gerson說Kristofferson是個生活放蕩不羈的傢伙，在玩樂和打架之餘，他只有一點點時間寫下一兩首歌。他是個粗俗的哲學家……Kris對男子氣概的頌揚是他最愚蠢的見解。話雖如此，但此專輯在告示牌鄉村榜的成績 並不差，獲得了第6名。

歌曲說的是一位浪蕩不羈、歷經風雨的老兄，回顧一生，對自己曾經作過的選擇全盤接受、毫無怨尤，並認為已償還了大部分應付的代價，坦然地來面對生命的終點。

1978，Kristofferson主演了一部電影《Convoy》( 台譯 : 車隊 )，講的是當時流行的大卡車及車用無線電相互通話的文化，也滲雜了受到不肖警長欺 壓而群起反抗等等的故事。其實該片和此曲並無相關，巧的是Kristofferson在片中演的是類似的悲劇英雄，影音上傳者就將兩者結合在一起，也確實讓人感受到了那種不畏死的悲壯的氛圍。

Kristofferson在超過50年的演藝生涯中，總共演出約90多部電影，加上電視電影、紀錄片等，則超過了百部。能寫歌、唱歌及演戲，也算是位多方位的藝人了。

I never had no regrets, boys;
Not for nothing I've done.
I owed the devil some debts, boys,
Paid them all up but one.
And I don't even regret the living
That I'll be leaving behind.
I've gotten weary of searching
For something I couldn't find.
I'm going down to the shade
By the river one more time,
And feel the breeze on my face before I die.
I'm gonna leave whatever's left of my luck to the losers,
Then bend me down and kiss the world goodbye.
Come to lucky-in-lovin'
I never had no complaints.
They never said I was evil,
But then, I wasn't no saint.
I'm just a river that rolled forever
And never got to the sea.
I ain't blaming nobody;
I had it coming to me.
I'm going down to the shade
By the river one more time,
And feel the breeze on my face before I die.
I'm gonna leave whatever's left
Of my luck to the losers,
Then bend me down, and kiss the world goodbye.