I've mentioned this above, but to add greater detail:

The song origin story that I heard (from Maddy in concert in San Francisco) was that Rick wrote it for her to distract himself from worry as he waited for her to arrive from a gig late one stormy night. The idea, I understood, was that he wanted the knowledge that he (Rick) was waiting for her at home to be a talisman for her as she navigated the dangerous country roads.

That could have been just a stage story, of course, and yet I rather like seeing the song as more connected with this world and not so much the next.

C