About The Song
“Desperado Love” was written by Michael Garvin and Sammy Johns and recorded by Conway Twitty for his 1986 album *Fallin’ for You for Years*. Warner Bros. released it as a single in June of that year. The record became Twitty’s thirty-fifth and final solo number-one hit on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, holding the top position for one week in September 1986 and remaining on the chart for a total of thirteen weeks. It also reached number one on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks chart.
The lyric frames intense romantic desire through the image of an outlaw. The singer admits he is prepared to break the rules and “steal” the woman he wants, even though she belongs to another man. He describes the feeling as a desperado’s love—reckless, determined, and unwilling to respect conventional boundaries. Twitty delivers the lines in his familiar smooth style, with harmony vocals provided by Vince Gill.
Producers Conway Twitty, Dee Henry, and Ron Treat oversaw the recording. The arrangement is concise and direct, clocking in at just over two minutes, which suited the radio formats of the mid-1980s. The B-side of the single was a re-recording of Twitty’s earlier hit “I Can’t See Me Without You.”
By 1986 Twitty had already compiled one of the most extensive runs of number-one singles in country music history. “Desperado Love” marked the end of that solo streak on the Billboard chart, though he continued to place records in the upper ranks for several more years. The album *Fallin’ for You for Years* itself produced another strong single in its title track.
The song’s commercial success confirmed that Twitty’s audience remained solid well into the decade. Its combination of a clear narrative, polished production, and the outlaw metaphor gave it a distinctive place among his later releases. It has since appeared on numerous compilations of his work from the Warner Bros. period.
Within Twitty’s long catalogue of chart-topping records, “Desperado Love” stands as a late-career milestone. It closed his run of solo number-one hits on Billboard while demonstrating that the same controlled delivery and storytelling approach that defined his earlier successes still connected with listeners in the mid-1980s.
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Lyric
Should I just ride in and steal you away
Don’t know what else to do
I got a desperado love for you
They say you belong to another man
The first time we met I knew
That I’d have a desperado love for you
I know that it breaks every law
To feel the way I’m feelin’
But I want your love so desperately
I don’t see the wrong in stealin’
So hold on I’m gonna shoot for the heart
Like desperadoes do
I got a desperado love for you
It’s so wrong to take what isn’t mine
And head out for the border
But I can’t look at you and have
Respect for law and order
So hold on I’m gonna shoot for the heart
Like desperadoes do
I got a desperado love for you
I got a desperado love for you