Friday, November 12, 2010

Road Song: Pancho and Lefty

Two versions of this classic Townes Van Zandt song: Emmylou Harris, 1977. For the next one, you'll have to turn the sound down (compared to the first one). Merle Haggard / Willie Nelson, 1983 Livin' 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 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 He 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 And nobody heard his dyin' words Ah, but that's the way it goes. (Lyrics from Emmylou Harris, 1977, as heard by myself.) Originally recorded on the "Tucson to Tucumcari" road-song 90 minute tape back in the 1980's.

4 comments:

Garry Hayes said...

Wonderful song! It has always been one of my favorites; and I never had heard Emmylou's version. Thanks....

Silver Fox said...

Hard to know which version is best, but you can see which one I put first! :)

Dan McShane said...

It was not until I clicked play that I realized I knew all the words. And reading Tucson to Tucamcari got Commander Cody playing in my head as well

Silver Fox said...

Dan, I'm not familiar with the Commander Cody song you might be thinking of (and sorry for taking so long to reply).