Songs:Pancho And Lefty (86365)
From WWR
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Trivia, story behind the song, etc.
Songwriter
Lyrics and melody written by Townes Van Zandt
History
"Pancho and Lefty" is a folk song written by Townes Van Zandt. Van Zandt first recorded it for his 1972 album, The Late Great Townes Van Zandt. Emmylou Harris then covered the song for her 1977 album, Luxury Liner and the song became a number one country hit in 1983 when Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson adopted it as the title track of their duet album Pancho & Lefty.
The song tells the story of a Mexican bandit named Pancho and a more enigmatic character, Lefty. The song tells of Pancho's death and implies that he was betrayed by his associate Lefty who was paid off by the Mexican federales.
Although many people initially assume that the song is about the famous Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa, Van Zandt has denied this, and the lyrics are not easily reconciled with the historic details of Villa's life and death.
Lyrics
by Townes Van Zandt 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
External links
Listener comments about this song
One of my favorite songs, when sung by Townes Van Zandt! -Anagram 18:53, May 10, 2006 (AKDT)
One of my favorite songs to play and sing Chili 16:03, January 24, 2008 (AKST)
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 | Ballad 177 items |
 | Live 1,912 items |
 | Storytelling 151 items |
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 | Solo vocalist 10,035 items |
 | Acoustic 9,442 items |
 | Chili 45 items |
 | Hoonahs Pure Platinum 29 items |
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on the album
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Listener rankings: 5 stars=sparx ♦ Dean ♦ Kelli ♦ Phillip ♦ LuAnna ♦ Anagram ♦ dolcefarniente ♦ DogNut ♦ Reed ♦ Peterdale ♦ RickHap ♦ Dale G ♦ 65strat ♦ Chili ♦ Atuuschaaw ♦ perroduke ♦ Sharpston ♦ countrydave ♦ chinook ♦ Kazookid ♦ Pyrite ♦ NitroSavage884 ♦ Kingfisher ♦ Hoonah 4 stars=Artmarcia ♦ Fred ♦ Fine-line ♦ Bisbonian ♦ JC ♦ Amishlaw ♦ E.D. Egg ♦ Mert ♦ DBB ♦ Scobey 3 stars=12-stringer ♦ Otis ♦ Rocky 2 stars=CooleyBufo |
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Categories: Country | Ballad | Live | Storytelling | Sparkit singulars | Solo vocalist | Acoustic | Chili | Hoonahs pure platinum
