15-01-2016
"They only let him hang around
Out of kindness I suppose"
Wiki: "Tijdens zijn leven had Townes Van Zandt een kleine maar toegewijde groep fans. Hij slaagde er echter nooit in om door te breken en kon zijn opnames slechts met veel moeite op de markt brengen. Dat Willie Nelson en Merle Haggard in 1983 een hit scoorden met hun cover van Van Zandts 'Pancho and Lefty', zes jaar nadat Emmylou Harris haar cover van dat nummer had uitgebracht (hier live tijdens Farm Aid 2003), kon het tij niet keren (ook Bob Dylan en Willie Nelson vertolkten later 'Pancho and Lefty'). Van Zandt leefde doorgaans in goedkope motels, bij vrienden of in blokhutten en leed aan een drugs- en alcoholverslaving. Hij had een bipolaire stoornis en was door de insulinetherapie veel van zijn langetermijngeheugen kwijt."
"Townes Van Zandt stierf op nieuwjaarsdag 1997 door gezondheidsproblemen ten gevolge van zijn drugsgebruik. In de jaren 2000 groeide de interesse in het werk van Van Zandt en verschenen er twee boeken, een documentaire en een aantal tijdschriftartikels over de zanger."
Van Zandt speelt hier 'Pancho and Lefty' tijdens de opnames van de documentaire Heartworn Highways, eind 1975 begin 1976.
Een generatie later komt Ashley Campbell met een mooie ontroerende versie van 'Pancho and Lefty'.
Hieronder de lyrics van 'Pancho and Lefty' en 'If I Needed You' (1975).
'Pancho and Lefty' 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
If I Needed You Townes Van Zandt
If I needed you
Would you come to me,
Would you come to me,
And ease my pain?
If you needed me
I would come to you
I'd swim the seas
For to ease your pain
In the night forlorn
The morning's born
And the morning shines
With the lights of love
You will miss sunrise
If you close your eyes
That would break
My heart in two
The lady's with me now
Since I showed her how
To lay her lily
Hand in mine
Loop and lil agree
She's a sight to see
And a treasure for
The poor to find
Out of kindness I suppose"
Wiki: "Tijdens zijn leven had Townes Van Zandt een kleine maar toegewijde groep fans. Hij slaagde er echter nooit in om door te breken en kon zijn opnames slechts met veel moeite op de markt brengen. Dat Willie Nelson en Merle Haggard in 1983 een hit scoorden met hun cover van Van Zandts 'Pancho and Lefty', zes jaar nadat Emmylou Harris haar cover van dat nummer had uitgebracht (hier live tijdens Farm Aid 2003), kon het tij niet keren (ook Bob Dylan en Willie Nelson vertolkten later 'Pancho and Lefty'). Van Zandt leefde doorgaans in goedkope motels, bij vrienden of in blokhutten en leed aan een drugs- en alcoholverslaving. Hij had een bipolaire stoornis en was door de insulinetherapie veel van zijn langetermijngeheugen kwijt."
"Townes Van Zandt stierf op nieuwjaarsdag 1997 door gezondheidsproblemen ten gevolge van zijn drugsgebruik. In de jaren 2000 groeide de interesse in het werk van Van Zandt en verschenen er twee boeken, een documentaire en een aantal tijdschriftartikels over de zanger."
Van Zandt speelt hier 'Pancho and Lefty' tijdens de opnames van de documentaire Heartworn Highways, eind 1975 begin 1976.
Een generatie later komt Ashley Campbell met een mooie ontroerende versie van 'Pancho and Lefty'.
Hieronder de lyrics van 'Pancho and Lefty' en 'If I Needed You' (1975).
'Pancho and Lefty' 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
If I Needed You Townes Van Zandt
If I needed you
Would you come to me,
Would you come to me,
And ease my pain?
If you needed me
I would come to you
I'd swim the seas
For to ease your pain
In the night forlorn
The morning's born
And the morning shines
With the lights of love
You will miss sunrise
If you close your eyes
That would break
My heart in two
The lady's with me now
Since I showed her how
To lay her lily
Hand in mine
Loop and lil agree
She's a sight to see
And a treasure for
The poor to find