Townes Van Zandt Pancho and Lefty

Live - Rear View Mirror CD

Living on the road my friend
Was gonna keep you free and clean
Now you wear your skin like iron
Your breath's as hard as kerosene
You weren't your mama's only boy
But her favorite one it seems
She began to cry when you said goodbye
And sank into your dreams

Pancho was a bandit boys
His horse was fast as polished steel
Wore his gun outside his pants
For all the honest world to feel
Pancho met his match you know
On the deserts down in Mexico
Nobody heard his dying words
That's the way it goes

All the federales say
They could have had him any day
They only let him hang around
Out of kindness I suppose

Lefty he can't sing the blues
All night long like he used to
The dust that Pancho bit down south
Ended up in Lefty's mouth
The day they laid poor Pancho low
Lefty split for Ohio
Where he got the bread to go
There ain't nobody knows

All the federales say
They could have had him any day
They only let him slip away
Out of kindness I suppose

The poets tell how Pancho fell
Lefty's livin' in a cheap hotel
The desert's quiet and Cleveland's cold
So the story ends we're told
Pancho needs your prayers it's true,
But save a few for Lefty too
He just did what he had to do
Now he's growing old

A few gray federales say
They could have had him any day
They only let him go so wrong
Out of kindness I suppose

TVZ Records, LLC, dist by Fat Possum Records
www.fatpossum.com

Category:

Music

Tags:

• tvz
• Townes
• Van
• Zandt
• Pancho
• and
• Lefty

[mistascott007]

I once sang this song with a buddy of mine at karaoke. A German couple visiting the US came up to us barely speaking English and wanted to know what song it was and who wrote it. They said it was one of the most beautiful songs they had ever heard. That right there shows you how powerful this song is. It could be the best song ever written.

[sartorious56]

@BrooklynJackBlue

I'm a huge Dylan fan-- and I'll still stand on his coffee table and call Townes his equal.

Astounding songwriter-- I mean, astounding.

[sigmundfloyder]

@mistascott007 it is a great song, almost as good as dark globe.

[akryeguy]

Heard a halting version of this done by the Scottish balladeer, Dick Gaughan. It's on "Redwood Cathedral", 1996.

[TheBluesDixonary]

Surely miss TVZ. One of the best song writers this world has known.

[foredeck100]

I love this song. Maybe one of the greatest ever written.

[henricusregius]

Great song by a great song-writer, but Willie & Merle made it their own. Like Kris Kristofferson, you listen to Townes Van Sandt for the songs, but it's often best when great singers perform his music. Still, nice to have his version here. (I love Emmylou, too, but this one is Willie & Merle's, as long as you listen to a version before Willie started rushing his lines so much.

[fozmanOU869]

@mistascott007 indeed! very powerful, very beautiful song. definitely one of the best ever written...

[rkoorse]

@holymackerel013 Hey to you holy...first version I heard was EmmylouHarris while livin' out in Cental Valley California gave me goosebumps...and out there in the dry heat I could feel my breath as hard as kerosene. Then I heard Willie and Merle's version, now this...all real nice...may your memories of your Dad always be good and true...

[SpahnRanch1969]

@LookerQQ4 Look to your right, dude. It was Merle.

Either way, nobody can touch TVZ.

[JuanOlmedo3rd]

Shut up and enjoy the music!