Pancho was hung by the federales, Townes even talks about this aspect of the song in interviews. "They only let him hang around, out of kindness, I suppose." They let lefty go, because he sold out pancho "where he got the bread to go..." and they let him slip away. Townes was always a bit elusive when asked about anything, but he and a lot of his friends "guy clark, steve earle etc. have talked about the meaning of this song quite a bit." Lefty didn't kill pancho, but he was the reason for pancho being caught and killed.
Many years ago an international music industry magazine aimed at professional songwriters and music producers held a poll (in five languages!), asking their subscribers to submit what they thought was the greatest song ever written and why. "Pancho and Lefty" placed first with 48% of the poll. The most common reason why was "in an intro, 3 verses and 3 choruses, Townes tells you everything you need to know about the relationhsip between these two men without telling you anything about the relationship between these two men." Townes left it to the listener to decide for themselves. John Lennon's "Imagine" place 2nd with 25%.
Lefty is the one who eventually shot down pancho. Escaped from the area up to ohio, but has to live with the guilt. Thats my interpretation at least. "Pancho needs your prayers it's true, but save a few for Lefty too. He just did what he had to do, and now he's growing old" Also please do more townes
My interpretation is just a bit different. I think Pancho and Lefty were compadres, and Pancho was wanted by the Federales, with a price on his head. Lefty led the Federales to Pancho to claim the reward money, and the Federales killed him. Lefty used the money to move to Ohio, and his betrayal of his friend haunts him there.
I’m not one to tell anyone how to interpret anything in a song, but I always felt ‘the dust that Lefty bit down south’ was just that lefty was killed, aka ‘biting the dust’. My 2 cents
Check out his song, ‘The Hole.’ Creepy and outta sight.
Fingerpicking is also common in Delta blues …
My Daddy played that style, as well as bottleneck slide 😌
Pancho was hung by the federales, Townes even talks about this aspect of the song in interviews. "They only let him hang around, out of kindness, I suppose." They let lefty go, because he sold out pancho "where he got the bread to go..." and they let him slip away. Townes was always a bit elusive when asked about anything, but he and a lot of his friends "guy clark, steve earle etc. have talked about the meaning of this song quite a bit." Lefty didn't kill pancho, but he was the reason for pancho being caught and killed.
Many years ago an international music industry magazine aimed at professional songwriters and music producers held a poll (in five languages!), asking their subscribers to submit what they thought was the greatest song ever written and why. "Pancho and Lefty" placed first with 48% of the poll. The most common reason why was "in an intro, 3 verses and 3 choruses, Townes tells you everything you need to know about the relationhsip between these two men without telling you anything about the relationship between these two men." Townes left it to the listener to decide for themselves.
John Lennon's "Imagine" place 2nd with 25%.
Lefty is the one who eventually shot down pancho. Escaped from the area up to ohio, but has to live with the guilt. Thats my interpretation at least.
"Pancho needs your prayers it's true, but save a few for Lefty too. He just did what he had to do, and now he's growing old"
Also please do more townes
My interpretation is just a bit different. I think Pancho and Lefty were compadres, and Pancho was wanted by the Federales, with a price on his head. Lefty led the Federales to Pancho to claim the reward money, and the Federales killed him. Lefty used the money to move to Ohio, and his betrayal of his friend haunts him there.
@@laynestj You got it. ,,,"Lefty split for Ohio
Where he got the bread to go
There ain't nobody knows..."
@@laynestj I've always thought the same but for the difference that I think Lefty did it himself.
Good review. Great song and story. Give 'Waitin Around to Die' a try. Great song
i subscribed because of townes
Haha I appreciate that! I hope you stay because of me :)
Finger picking commonly used in folk music.
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Right back at ya🤞❤️
the feds payed off pancho so he got bread to go ,
The 'dust' that Pancho bit down south was gold dust. Lefty shot him and took it....then he lived a life of regret.
Ahh thanks for sharing! Sounds similar to the kind of mistakes we all make !
i think it was more lefty sold him out to the "federales" and collected the money for doing so, and he was off before they got to pancho
I’m not one to tell anyone how to interpret anything in a song, but I always felt ‘the dust that Lefty bit down south’ was just that lefty was killed, aka ‘biting the dust’. My 2 cents
I always thought that was just an analogy for the choking guilt that left him unable to sing and enjoy himself.
Pancho is lefty
Oh, and its Van Zandt, Pronounced like can't
Thank you Sean! You could tell I was stumped 😅
@@charliefrmdamoonNames are tricky for sure