Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground

Nelson wrote it alone and produced it. It was the soundtrack's second single, released in January 1981 on Columbia with "I Guess I've Come to Live Here in Your Eyes" on the B-side, 4:27 as a single. It reached number one on Hot Country Songs for one week, his seventh solo country number one, and number one in Canada. Nelson has said you could relate it to someone who has died, love affairs, or whatever, a quote we have only second-hand. American Songwriter reports that Amy Irving says it was written about her character in the film and is her favorite song; a different belief, that it was about Charlie Magoo Tinsley, is unconfirmed.

Bob Dylan recorded it during the Infidels sessions in 1983 (April 27 or May 2, by different accounts); it was a B-side on four international singles and is on The Bootleg Series Vol. 16. Others who have recorded it include Cross Canadian Ragweed, Raul Malo (2006), the Smoking Popes, Beth Rowley (2008) and Alison Krauss (2017), and Nelson sang it with Mark McGrath on the King of the Hill soundtrack. Amy Irving recorded it with Nelson on Always Will Be (2025). We found no recording date or studio, setlist.fm count, video, or word on which version our upload is.