Townes Van Zandt - Pancho and Lefty. Heartworn Highways

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  • Опубліковано 24 гру 2024

КОМЕНТАРІ • 6 тис.

  • @Halffastpaddler
    @Halffastpaddler 3 роки тому +621

    Willie Nelson has described this song as the best song ever crafted. That's one Hell of a compliment.

    • @L.C.Sweeney
      @L.C.Sweeney 3 роки тому

      Willie Nelson is a hack.

    • @Tyler-ry3lk
      @Tyler-ry3lk Рік тому +3

      Life.and great music

    • @Nubenhoofer
      @Nubenhoofer 11 місяців тому +6

      Damned right! I pray that the world sees song writing like this again.

    • @markysf
      @markysf 11 місяців тому +5

      @@Nubenhoofer colter wall has crafted some great stories. and he's still in his 20's. and i think he was only 20 when he wrote kate mccannon.

    • @markysf
      @markysf 10 місяців тому +4

      @user-gz1kv1us8r he's a Canadian western singer songwriter. he's really a story teller though. there is quite a bit of his stuff on youtube.

  • @p-sz
    @p-sz 3 роки тому +4085

    My uncle made this film in 1975. Glad you all enjoy it!

    • @Daniel-tx8un
      @Daniel-tx8un 3 роки тому +36

      Really?

    • @p-sz
      @p-sz 3 роки тому +91

      @@Daniel-tx8un Yes, really.

    • @melissaraejackson3447
      @melissaraejackson3447 3 роки тому +102

      That's amazing! God Bless your uncle for making sure that incredible moment was immortalized for future generations like myself who are just discovering it. Just magical.

    • @jamescarroll3759
      @jamescarroll3759 3 роки тому +21

      @@Daniel-tx8un NO! (Father Dick Byrn)

    • @ThunderboltWisdom
      @ThunderboltWisdom 3 роки тому +45

      Thanx to your uncle I am seeing TVZ sing and play for the very first time. And I love it. One man and one guitar is pure magic in my opinion. 🤓🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿👍

  • @VASailpwr
    @VASailpwr 4 роки тому +437

    Gold. There is more grit and honesty in that room than in 95% of country music today.

    • @lassehaggman
      @lassehaggman 2 роки тому +26

      Whenever people mock country music, I send them the link to this video. It is a true masterpiece. Nothing to do with your regular Nashville crap.

    • @lukecollett5944
      @lukecollett5944 Рік тому +10

      There's more grit and honesty in these cats hats.. than 95% of country music today

    • @michaelrogers1328
      @michaelrogers1328 Рік тому +1

      You damn right!

    • @chopcitycustoms6451
      @chopcitycustoms6451 Рік тому +8

      I’m glad a few artists are bringing real country back to life! It took 5 musicians to write Jason Alden’s last hit 😂 what a joke.

    • @Mojo32
      @Mojo32 Рік тому

      ​@@chopcitycustoms6451😂 very true

  • @yungun8677
    @yungun8677 3 роки тому +1934

    Townes is one of several that I was privileged to see shortly prior to his demise, along with Gregg Allman and John Prine. In the summer of 1996, a friend and I saw Townes at a venue in small town South Carolina. He was in delirium tremens and did not seem well at all. One or two songs into his third set he said “F*** it” and left the stage. I felt sorry for him. On the way to the car afterwards, we saw him out at his travel trailer. We went over to speak to him. By this time he had had a few drinks and was in better spirits. He invited us into the trailer and offered us a beer. His J-200 was there and I asked if I might play it. His answer was “sure”. I started playing one of his songs and at a point he began singing “Flyin’ Shoes”. He was extremely nice to us. Fond memory!

    • @natalliaf6387
      @natalliaf6387 3 роки тому +12

      "my friend and me"...."not my friend and I" (this liar went back and edited his post)....in his original made up story, he wrote "Townes handed a bottle to my friend and I".

    • @yungun8677
      @yungun8677 3 роки тому +79

      Thank You Mack. BTW, it’s Mac not Mack

    • @yungun8677
      @yungun8677 3 роки тому +15

      😉

    • @gabrielgilliland
      @gabrielgilliland 3 роки тому +19

      This is such a cool story

    • @DrStich
      @DrStich 3 роки тому +12

      You're a lucky man Rick.

  • @gunsofaugust1971
    @gunsofaugust1971 5 років тому +1987

    Clips like this is what makes the internet great.

  • @kevinjohnwood6233
    @kevinjohnwood6233 2 роки тому +539

    If Townes Van Zandt can't break your heart, you ain't got one

    • @dropkickirish4449
      @dropkickirish4449 Рік тому +8

      Oof. Well said, my man.

    • @glenmartin2230
      @glenmartin2230 Рік тому +3

      Amen, brother.

    • @ulrichwill496
      @ulrichwill496 Рік тому +2

      Yessss ❤❤❤❤🇨🇭

    • @johndoppleguard
      @johndoppleguard Рік тому

      🤚You have a high probability of being correct.😮 yes you. Whatever😴 your👉 fake tuber👈 name is🙈
      Ever heard the term, "psychological operations" ? 🤥My guess is u have.😳😮🐑🙊😴
      Hmmm, thats ironic, don't you think?
      Peace love hair
      Be more like a Monk.....

    • @Nubenhoofer
      @Nubenhoofer 11 місяців тому +4

      Agreed. Any time I'm feeling detached from my true feelings, I play Townes. 3 or 4 songs is all it takes to scroll through my entire soul like an old secretary's rolodex. Same with John Prine. These 2 men have done more to get me through life than my own dad, and for that I am truly grateful.

  • @eilishoshea3349
    @eilishoshea3349 2 роки тому +243

    'You weren't your mother's only son,
    but her favorite one, it seems.
    She began to cry when you said goodbye, and sank into your dreams.'
    The man was a poet. Pure genius.

    • @melorafoy7109
      @melorafoy7109 Рік тому +16

      I also love "The dust that Pancho bit down south, ended up in Lefty's mouth." I loved the Willie Nelson versions of this for years before I realized what Federales are.

    • @Dannyleerankins
      @Dannyleerankins 3 місяці тому +2

      @@eilishoshea3349 He wore his gun outside his pants for all the honest world to feel & Lefty, he can't sing the blues all night long like he used to, the dust that Poncho bit down south ended up in Lefties mouth. Townes was a great poet! This okie's Shakespeare

  • @kpurvis4595
    @kpurvis4595 День тому +2

    More country in that room than in all of Nashville!

  • @Sondie
    @Sondie 3 роки тому +740

    I'm a 24 year old asian-american and not what most people would expect a country music lover to be. That said, I was born in Texas and grew up my entire life exposed to Southern culture and music. I've come to love old country and grew up listening to Hank Williams Sr., Waylon Jennings, David Allan Coe, Merle Haggard and etc with my father. When I first heard Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson's rendition of the song it quickly became my favorite. Then I learned that the original song was by this gentleman right here and it has become my new favorite. I was heartbroken to hear about his struggles with drugs; but he's at peace now and left an amazing legacy. I really wish I could have watched him perform this live.

    • @edwardkay2743
      @edwardkay2743 3 роки тому +48

      My girlfriend grew up in Maoist-era China and had to toe the line not to end up on the wrong side of the Red Guards (though it happened anyway). She loves all this music too. Although when I sang her "Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys", her first comment was, "As a parent, that sounds like good advice." But my point is, it's what's in your soul that counts, not your ethnicity, and clearly, you got it.

    • @dylanstringer6609
      @dylanstringer6609 3 роки тому +47

      Race doesnt define your taste in good music man, this is mericana, all colors accepted, its cool to know theres people that appreciate this kinda music, NOSTALGIC, and cheers to texas with that being said, one of the best places iv ever lived and experienced

    • @awarewolves1712
      @awarewolves1712 3 роки тому +13

      @@edwardkay2743 "As a parent, that sounds like good advice." Lmao, that's awesome!

    • @awarewolves1712
      @awarewolves1712 3 роки тому +32

      "I'm a 24 year old asian-american and not what most people would expect a country music lover to be." Why not, because you're only 24? Shoot man, that don't mean nothin'.... : )

    • @lvait957
      @lvait957 3 роки тому +7

  • @brt-jn7kg
    @brt-jn7kg 3 роки тому +622

    "The dust Pancho bit down South ended up in up in Lefty's mouth" is quite possibly the greatest lyrics in all of American songwriting.

    • @jperry060
      @jperry060 3 роки тому +89

      Followed only by "Now you wear your skin like iron, and your breath's as hard as kerosene." Christ.

    • @stefanhenderson1177
      @stefanhenderson1177 2 роки тому +1

      I agree

    • @roijax801
      @roijax801 2 роки тому +1

      It is good

    • @kaisersozay99
      @kaisersozay99 2 роки тому +3

      100%

    • @tomcorcoran6926
      @tomcorcoran6926 2 роки тому +18

      Guy Clark’s “I have seen the David, seen the Mona Lisa too, and I have heard Doc Watson play Columbus Stockyard Blues” is right up there too.

  • @stevefaure415
    @stevefaure415 5 років тому +2194

    Townes was the best of America, in the old sense---poetic, rustic, funny as hell, a little drunk, sad, and a stranger. Those days are long gone.

    • @jamiewilliams685
      @jamiewilliams685 4 роки тому +137

      Unfortunately America is being devoured whole by authoritarian globalism much like the rest of the Western world.

    • @hanibalsmith2116
      @hanibalsmith2116 4 роки тому +33

      maybe for you. sorry but they are not. all in the looking glass

    • @11Hasaan
      @11Hasaan 4 роки тому +41

      100% People ask me if I like country and I typically say no. As to the mainstream stuff going on today, but this, this poetic greatness, incredible song writing, yes I absolutely love everything TVZ ever did. I wish There was more documentary's about this legend.

    • @brotherjohn2002
      @brotherjohn2002 4 роки тому +25

      Check out Tyler Childers friend

    • @cityfarmerjack
      @cityfarmerjack 4 роки тому +17

      Those days just got a little farther now that John Prine when & joined that Musical Skyway to the Stars,...

  • @thanman11
    @thanman11 3 роки тому +64

    My 4 yr old little boy burst into tears when he heard this song and couldn't stop crying.

    • @randysutton2120
      @randysutton2120 3 роки тому +6

      I heard Willie and Merle's version at around that same age, and had a similar reaction. I'm 44 now, and this song still has that same power.

    • @larmclock9097
      @larmclock9097 7 місяців тому +4

      My dad sang it to me when i was that age. I did too

    • @Jason-eh3uj
      @Jason-eh3uj 5 місяців тому +3

      Your boy must be "an old soul" to be so moved .

    • @moragmacgregor6792
      @moragmacgregor6792 3 місяці тому +1

      Ask him about that when he's grown.

  • @garyowen2846
    @garyowen2846 10 років тому +3005

    I find it hard to understand why Townes Van Zandt has not been inducted in the Nashville song writers hall of fame. He is one of the greatest ever

    • @mossymoose8920
      @mossymoose8920 6 років тому +133

      charles owen any hall of fame seems like a popularity contest, especially the R’n’R HoF.

    • @Kursebi
      @Kursebi 6 років тому +112

      Fixed in 2016 )

    • @borisblvd5354
      @borisblvd5354 6 років тому +45

      MONEY & POLITICS...That's why

    • @johnsieger6197
      @johnsieger6197 6 років тому +99

      Go to Nashville, it will be obvious.

    • @TheGrouchDnD
      @TheGrouchDnD 6 років тому +72

      Because Nashville is garbage

  • @rickwolfe3623
    @rickwolfe3623 5 років тому +842

    Someone ask him why he didn't write any Happy Song. He replied that these were the Happy Songs.
    Another star that was too bright for this existence.

    • @jasonvanorsdol1755
      @jasonvanorsdol1755 5 років тому +10

      Even under the Texas big Skies.

    • @DimaSins549
      @DimaSins549 5 років тому +7

      Hell this song makes me happy.

    • @SSHitMan
      @SSHitMan 5 років тому +23

      He said there were 2 kinds of music, the blues and zippedy-doodah.

    • @thanosdarkseid8695
      @thanosdarkseid8695 5 років тому +12

      like me he suffered bipolar awful mental illness back then no meds why he did every drug every drink man!! damn sad! to us despair sadness loneliness is happiness we hate it the feeling but it wont leave our brains!!!

    • @thomaswalz3515
      @thomaswalz3515 5 років тому +1

      This quote is worth repeating:

  • @jcpennington183
    @jcpennington183 4 роки тому +383

    How the hell have I gone 31 years without knowing who this guy is? He's great.

    • @ethangrant4168
      @ethangrant4168 4 роки тому +6

      my feelings today exactly

    • @photojoeva
      @photojoeva 4 роки тому +15

      Youre here now.....welcome home

    • @nvrgvnup4346
      @nvrgvnup4346 4 роки тому +1

      i grew up with my moma listening to this music , it will never fade once u hear it , it sticks . luv the name btw , my baby son, my 18yr old is named after me & my dad pennington garan ☮️!!

    • @chrismarshall5014
      @chrismarshall5014 3 роки тому +6

      I know how you feel I’m 47 and just started listening to country. From now on I’ll give any kind of music or art a chance and I’ll try my best to have an open mind. Townes and Blaze Folley should be right up there with Dylan! They are to me and I’m a big Dylan fan.

    • @trevorlahey1956
      @trevorlahey1956 3 роки тому +2

      You are really fucked up no doubt

  • @mrjasonrowland
    @mrjasonrowland 3 роки тому +72

    The simplicity is the complexity.

  • @stabbedwestward725
    @stabbedwestward725 4 роки тому +4619

    This song is a great example of why country music fans should be angry about the bastardization of the genre.

    • @CBTlongboarding
      @CBTlongboarding 4 роки тому +101

      alex freeman I couldn’t have said it any better myself, brother.

    • @green917
      @green917 4 роки тому +23

      Amen

    • @humpy936
      @humpy936 4 роки тому +18

      Yep

    • @UrbanPanic
      @UrbanPanic 4 роки тому +244

      There's still great country being written and played, just gotta turn off the radio to find it.

    • @marsharupe8112
      @marsharupe8112 4 роки тому +158

      Country radio is just pop now. Sad. Country has lost its folk and mountain music roots.

  • @missbritt288
    @missbritt288 4 роки тому +373

    This video has an ambiance thats hard to describe its musical but it feels silent and still , like a picture come to life

    • @harrywilliams6049
      @harrywilliams6049 2 роки тому +2

      Hello miss Britt, I'm harry all the way from Texas, how are you doing today

    • @basedchris8784
      @basedchris8784 2 роки тому

      @@harrywilliams6049 hi Harry

    • @MrAbehensley
      @MrAbehensley 2 роки тому

      You should listen to Tecumseh Valley then. One of my favorite Townes songs.

    • @ninapannell2122
      @ninapannell2122 2 роки тому +1

      Only know to well of the connection between alcohol and intellectual behavior

    • @jasongreene8992
      @jasongreene8992 2 роки тому +6

      Your description is almost as beautiful as the song Miss Britt. Songs written by a man's soul are only heard by the souls of those who invite him in. The ears only hear silence but the spirit hears a beautiful story with no beginning or end, of life lived and lost, one of peace .

  • @sunnyvaledrunk6688
    @sunnyvaledrunk6688 4 місяці тому +56

    Townes Van Zandt...a tortured soul, with a knack for writing songs from the heart....brings a tear to my eye! RIP Townes!

  • @FasterFaster196
    @FasterFaster196 3 роки тому +45

    There will never be another Townes. There was never one before him. He wasn't america. He was loved and adored, always alone, forever an outcast.

  • @parkersummers860
    @parkersummers860 3 роки тому +48

    That's Uncle Seymour Washington in the back. Born 1896, died 1977 (the year after this was filmed)

  • @trevscribbles
    @trevscribbles 3 роки тому +165

    "The dust that Pancho bit down South, ended up in Lefty's mouth"
    I only wish Townes truly understood how great he was before he passed.

    • @Dandroid5000
      @Dandroid5000 3 роки тому +17

      Don't think it would've mattered all that much to him, and could possibly have been detrimental to his writing.......genius tends to thrive on self-doubt, after all.
      Besides, he wrote the most beautifully bitter sweet songs, and his own sad story only adds to the melancholy when we listen, don't you think? I'm welling up just thinking about it....

    • @warshipsatin8764
      @warshipsatin8764 3 роки тому +4

      he knew he was great, only realized too late he didnt need to destroy himself for it

    • @joemarshall4226
      @joemarshall4226 3 роки тому +3

      @@warshipsatin8764 Steve Earle said that Townes knew how good he was. He was probably nicotine and alcohol addicted as a young teenager, and then the insulin shock therapy made it worse. Most of the guys his age struggled with these things at one time or another...

    • @johnmckay6254
      @johnmckay6254 3 роки тому +1

      @@Dandroid5000 Any songs in particular of his you'd recommend? I just realized he wrote Dead Flowers and Poncho and Left by Willie and Waylon is one of my favorite all time songs and I just learned he wrote that too. Thinking there's probably a lot of great stuff from him that I need to start uncovering but I'm easily discouraged and not really sure where to start.

    • @gourmetfoodreviews2879
      @gourmetfoodreviews2879 3 роки тому +1

      @@johnmckay6254 One I'd highly recommend is Waiting Around to Die. Powerful song.

  • @charlesbrown4483
    @charlesbrown4483 Рік тому +27

    With all due respect to Mr.Prine, Townes Van Zandt is the greatest American songwriter ever. Across all genres, across all eras, Townes is the best to ever do it.

  • @davidgarza1301
    @davidgarza1301 3 роки тому +121

    “Pick it and it won’t ever heal” got to love Townes sense of humor.

    • @coocoocachooglin
      @coocoocachooglin 2 роки тому +1

      Psoriasis has joined the chat

    • @Luxowell
      @Luxowell Рік тому +4

      I think about that one liner way too often. It's funny, but fuck if it ain't truth I could have used a few times in my life.

  • @annamariehewitt3173
    @annamariehewitt3173 4 роки тому +220

    I'm 70 and 'Pancho and Lefty' is my all time favourite song to play and sing on my Guitar.

    • @rmellencamp
      @rmellencamp 4 роки тому +2

      That’s awesome man

    • @notmyname3681
      @notmyname3681 4 роки тому +4

      I only discovered Townes a couple of months back at 43, this is my favourite song to play now along with Waiting Around to Die. I wish I had heard his music earlier, but I found it at a really important time to me.

    • @lesliegmn3927
      @lesliegmn3927 4 роки тому +3

      Years ago I was in a jam group. This was known as “my song.” Thanks, guys.

    • @stevenstewart6349
      @stevenstewart6349 4 роки тому +4

      Excellent. I have a hard time singing it, but I love it anyway.

    • @heinstrijbos3769
      @heinstrijbos3769 4 роки тому +4

      Seeing him 4 times in the Netherlands. I'll never forget he was singing this song live in a small Dutch music cafe

  • @ntdemott
    @ntdemott 4 роки тому +358

    This song makes me cry. A good friend of mine who passed in July used to always play parts of it when we'd be hanging out way too drunk. He was so shy of his voice so ended up singing everything in this really subdued and haunting way. I don't have any recordings of him but it's fresh enough I can still hear him singing this and I fucking miss it.

    • @fredleber2432
      @fredleber2432 3 роки тому +8

      R.i.p

    • @shoepixie
      @shoepixie 3 роки тому +10

      I'm so sorry. I lost my brother recently, and I wish I could sing with him again. I'm so glad you have this memory!

    • @parkerj1232
      @parkerj1232 2 роки тому +6

      I'm pretty much the last one that survived out of my good friends, even lost my brother and mother of my kids. This song reminds me of my brother. I doubt he ever heard it but he would love it

    • @jessedevilbiss8436
      @jessedevilbiss8436 2 роки тому +11

      An alcohol friend of mine would text me a song each morning telling me how great the day was going to. All the while he was in his wheelchair with his dog looking out the window at his bird feeder. This was one he sent a few times. RIP Eric.

    • @ModestCasanovaa
      @ModestCasanovaa Рік тому +2

      @@jessedevilbiss8436 RIP

  • @rafaelotani7444
    @rafaelotani7444 5 років тому +191

    That's the kind of thing that makes you miss something you never had.

    • @danielswierczynski2001
      @danielswierczynski2001 4 роки тому

      True that!

    • @turrafirmaguitarchannel
      @turrafirmaguitarchannel 4 роки тому +5

      The American tragedy. An ocean of grief in a stolen land.

    • @rottenrobb2583
      @rottenrobb2583 4 роки тому +1

      Depressing to see him halfway nodding out and shit. Buried too many people I love. Watched too many buried alive to slowly rot away in the concrete tombs of some penitentiary. This song feels like my own bad choices and decisions in life staring at me in my face.

    • @chercharl
      @chercharl 4 роки тому

      This.

    • @johneato
      @johneato 4 роки тому

      You dont want it

  • @jackiesmallwood8448
    @jackiesmallwood8448 3 роки тому +88

    What impresses me so much is how vast townes influence spreads. From traditional country to doom metal. To me he's like the Bob Dylan for us in Appalachia

    • @harrywilliams6049
      @harrywilliams6049 2 роки тому +1

      Hello Jackie, I'm harry all the way from Texas, how are you doing today

    • @eliseintheattic9697
      @eliseintheattic9697 Рік тому +3

      Dylan's alright, I guess. He wrote some good songs, but I don't know that he really felt it the way TVZ did. Dylan always seemed a little pretentious and aloof. TVZ is relatable and a genius.
      Then again, Dylan did inspire one of the best songs ever written, Diamonds and Rust.

    • @Thin_Mercury
      @Thin_Mercury 5 місяців тому +1

      @@eliseintheattic9697There is nothing “pretentious” about something as heartwrenching and honest as Blood on the Tracks. Dylan is one of the greatest songwriters of all time and anybody who knows a damn thing about songwriting will tell you the same

    • @Thin_Mercury
      @Thin_Mercury 5 місяців тому +1

      ⁠@CaptainTrips560what a reductive and limited way to view Dylan. You seem to be stereotyping him as just the guy who sang protest songs in the early 60s with a guitar while ignoring the instrumental genius of the electric trilogy which is musically light years beyond anything that Townes has achieved and this is coming from a fan of Townes

    • @steveperreira5850
      @steveperreira5850 5 місяців тому

      Both of them are great. Others have road far on their great time

  • @artpatten1279
    @artpatten1279 4 роки тому +334

    We tend to focus on his songwriting, but "a medley of my hit" is a hell of a quip. :)

    • @rej727
      @rej727 4 роки тому +41

      "Pick it and it won't ever heal" is a good quip too.

    • @coachhannah2403
      @coachhannah2403 4 роки тому +6

      "Medley of our hit" - Crosby Stills and Nash (Nash talking?) put that one out there at Woodstock, in '69. It is on the video and audio products from the event.

    • @jmccullough
      @jmccullough 3 роки тому +2

      I've heard Tom Rush say that when introducing "No Regrets/Rockport Sunday".

    • @gregchildress7474
      @gregchildress7474 3 роки тому +6

      Townes told jokes between songs on stage.

  • @rikkitikkitavi997
    @rikkitikkitavi997 Місяць тому +6

    I love it when a songwriter sings their songs. That’s the rendition as it’s meant to be. This is great.

  • @jimw.4161
    @jimw.4161 11 місяців тому +15

    Unappreciated genius...
    One of rhe best songwriters of any era.
    Left us way too soon - but his music, and his legacy, endures.

  • @3DCGdesign
    @3DCGdesign 2 роки тому +50

    His breath's as hard as kerosene and horse as fast as polished steel. Who else can make similes like these? No one. Thanks for this masterpiece, TVZ!

    • @JeffMTX
      @JeffMTX Рік тому +3

      TVZ was a roaring freight train of similes... Hell maybe they was metaphors.

  • @suyashgautam8396
    @suyashgautam8396 4 роки тому +391

    Townes has been my life support during the covid pandemic. Endless hours listening to him in the lockdown, i wish i could have said thank you, i miss him like that
    Love from Nepal

    • @danfarmer9743
      @danfarmer9743 4 роки тому +9

      Say "thank you", he'll hear you. I miss him too!

    • @snugglepusmcgee1252
      @snugglepusmcgee1252 4 роки тому +3

      Me too, and some Guy Clark, they were good buddies back in the day check it out is good!

    • @mom2adragon677
      @mom2adragon677 4 роки тому +7

      Amazing that my old Austin neighbor is being heard in Nepal!

    • @shailesdahal8742
      @shailesdahal8742 3 роки тому +5

      Suyash, i have been listening to him since ages man ! What a coincidence, its Saturday morning here and with my milk tea i am hooking up with TVZ.
      Cheers. Dherai khusi lago !

    • @joemarshall4226
      @joemarshall4226 3 роки тому +4

      Are you a native to that part of the world? amazing to me that Townes speaks to you so clearly......but then again, I like Ravi Shankar!

  • @bryanthayer1795
    @bryanthayer1795 5 років тому +857

    It boggles my mind that Townes doesn’t even realize he’s playing to 4.5 million people through that camera he’s looking at

    • @elnafinn
      @elnafinn 5 років тому +12

      5.7m now Bryan

    • @elultimosonador3958
      @elultimosonador3958 4 роки тому +59

      i think of this type of thing often. hes way back there in the 70s. i dont think anyone from that long ago really ever dreamed of anything like the internet happening . Im not sure where they thought these videos would go. But they certainly never dreamed, i dont think, that the videos would be sitting here for us all to watch daily, at any hour, of day or night. Its wild man.

    • @FurtzdeBooty
      @FurtzdeBooty 4 роки тому +19

      The greatest artist has the most humble heart.

    • @musek5048
      @musek5048 4 роки тому +13

      @@FurtzdeBooty this cannot be overstated enough. a humble poor person will forever be above a rich greed asshole.

    • @larrymartell5411
      @larrymartell5411 4 роки тому +10

      @@musek5048 Townes came from a wealthy family.....

  • @shinyribs2178
    @shinyribs2178 2 роки тому +52

    1:20
    That older fella just watching and listening with a stone wall face. Suddenly one lyric brings up a memory and a huge smile grows on his face. That's why music like this is so great.

    • @hamcheesecola
      @hamcheesecola 2 роки тому +15

      look up "waiting around to die" from this same video. The lyrics hit him hard and he starts to cry. Really moving

    • @dwighthamilton3943
      @dwighthamilton3943 2 роки тому +7

      @@hamcheesecola Yes that is a remarkably authentic moment. I think this is Austin. I lived there in the 70's and that beautiful girl is classic 70's Austin Hippie Chick.

    • @tnimbus
      @tnimbus 5 місяців тому

      read the book 'A Deeper Blue' - there's a section about when they stayed with him. He was a retired blacksmith

  • @gabrielgamboa3982
    @gabrielgamboa3982 2 роки тому +35

    I’m 27, my name is Gabriel and I wish more people around me appreciated this as much as I do.

  • @leonelsierra3822
    @leonelsierra3822 Рік тому +4

    The old black gentleman knew that was a legend in the making...his face expressions says it all

  • @loadi2865
    @loadi2865 9 років тому +1335

    He wrote it , he sang it , nobody can improve on that. That's the way it should be sung.

    • @lukasjackson958
      @lukasjackson958 8 років тому +9

      Same as Bobby McGee....

    • @lostdoggy6965
      @lostdoggy6965 7 років тому +31

      Then we wouldn't have Dead Flowers, Dirty Old Town, or Cocaine Blues to say the least.

    • @roadkil2
      @roadkil2 7 років тому +2

      loadi2 AMEN !

    • @bobjob66
      @bobjob66 7 років тому

      loadi2 why?

    • @loadi2865
      @loadi2865 7 років тому +13

      its like trying to improve the monalisa or a picaso painting,

  • @RugbyDemon6789
    @RugbyDemon6789 8 років тому +381

    uncle seymour is too cool .. just chilling in the back taking in the song - the whole atmosphere seems so peaceful and quaint - pure Americana right here

    • @noelbenoit8088
      @noelbenoit8088 8 років тому +27

      +RugbyDemon6789 I miss those kinds of settings, many in my youth, not so many now. If I live long enough I'm gonna buy me a cabin in the woods.

    • @Miguel_Travels
      @Miguel_Travels 5 років тому +15

      You can see Uncle Seymore say a little something to his mother in heaven @1:19 so cool.

    • @petercunnius4028
      @petercunnius4028 5 років тому +4

      Agreed. I thought that was dereus Rucker

    • @danedonovan5787
      @danedonovan5787 4 роки тому +1

      Townes is so good. This guy Brett McDaniel is great too. He's an up-and-comer for sure. ua-cam.com/video/nWpwnKcJzrY/v-deo.html

  • @kieranbrennanmusic9261
    @kieranbrennanmusic9261 Рік тому +3

    The world is empty without song writers like this . Straight off the cuff. He used the gifts God gave him. No regrets. Better to die broke and have tried rather than follow the sheep.

  • @jeddyhi
    @jeddyhi 5 років тому +171

    I never wanted to step into a video before. I strangely want to be there.

    • @strawberryseason
      @strawberryseason 4 роки тому +2

      me too

    • @danedonovan5787
      @danedonovan5787 4 роки тому

      Townes is so good. This guy Brett McDaniel is great too. He's an up-and-comer for sure. ua-cam.com/video/nWpwnKcJzrY/v-deo.html

    • @shaanp9796
      @shaanp9796 3 роки тому

      Yup.

    • @katherinestiletto
      @katherinestiletto 3 роки тому +3

      I want to do drugs with all of these people

  • @grahampeterson3293
    @grahampeterson3293 5 років тому +280

    I watched an interview with Steve Earle about Townes, the interviewer asked him, "Virtually everyone agrees that Townes was an exceptionally talented songwriter and performer, why wasn't he more successful?" Earle replied, "Townes kept shooting himself in the foot, he was a good shot, and his foot was right there."

    • @VoxGothica
      @VoxGothica 4 роки тому +16

      Steve Earle knows a thing or two about that as well. Cut from the same cloth.

    • @jamesbondaygee
      @jamesbondaygee 4 роки тому +1

      Just discovered him. Love him, but he isn't a virtuoso singer.

    • @w1ndwr1t3
      @w1ndwr1t3 4 роки тому +4

      @@jamesbondaygee Towns was an excellent singer before the drugs and alcohol. Listen to his first two albums.

    • @grahampeterson3293
      @grahampeterson3293 4 роки тому +30

      @@jamesbondaygee I don't think you have to be a virtuoso singer to be an excellent performer. When you write exceptional songs that comes from two things: talent and your experiences. Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson, John Prine none are very good singers but they are great performers because they are exceptional song writers who lived and experienced the songs they sing. Others can sing their songs well, because they may have similar experiences, but those experiences didn't move them to the point where they had to write it down and record it and I think that makes a difference in your ability to perform a song. Townes was cut from the same cloth as those guys.

    • @shanoinoz
      @shanoinoz 4 роки тому

      @@VoxGothica yes.... indeed he was 👍

  • @upaharsimkhada3108
    @upaharsimkhada3108 3 роки тому +112

    The scene is set sooo perfectly- uncle seymour, the girl, townes van zandt. It just reminds you of a past that didnt exist. Something.

    • @smasco6447
      @smasco6447 3 роки тому +3

      Patriots are subscribing to thesonsoflibertymedia.com
      To get our country out of socialism and soon to be communism.

    • @Anthony-hu3rj
      @Anthony-hu3rj 3 роки тому +19

      @@smasco6447 Sit down, close your mouth, listen, go back to school, think, don't follow asses.

    • @diamondsprince
      @diamondsprince 3 роки тому +14

      @@smasco6447 how dare you desecrate this song with that. the master is playing sit down, shut up, and grow out of that crap

    • @myronlarimer1943
      @myronlarimer1943 2 роки тому +2

      Disagree, totally. This image is a true picture of what parts of our country were and still are really like…

    • @tomcorcoran6926
      @tomcorcoran6926 2 роки тому +1

      You haven’t spent much time in Texas, have you?

  • @jparachin3737
    @jparachin3737 Рік тому +6

    i am hispanic and i listen to this at 4am in Austin Tx . Rip this spiritual mentor and i hope he out grows his wrongs in the afterlife

  • @bonniebuckner3399
    @bonniebuckner3399 6 років тому +203

    The grandpa in the background looks like the sweetest ole man.

    • @hanibalsmith2116
      @hanibalsmith2116 4 роки тому +12

      sorry to rain on your parade but probably Townes smack dealer.

    • @hw8140
      @hw8140 4 роки тому +4

      @@hanibalsmith2116 holy shit that's funny

    • @dingleydb
      @dingleydb 4 роки тому

      i wondered who he was

    • @Cisco-dy8dl
      @Cisco-dy8dl 4 роки тому

      Look how long he holds that drag from his cigarette.

    • @markthompson118
      @markthompson118 4 роки тому +4

      If I'm not wrong that's the man Blaze Foley was protecting when he got shot.

  • @DonnSeib
    @DonnSeib 8 місяців тому +42

    When country music was really country.

    • @steveperreira5850
      @steveperreira5850 5 місяців тому

      Those days are mostly gone. But I got the live room in my prime!

    • @flatheadcatfish8017
      @flatheadcatfish8017 3 місяці тому +1

      Pretty sure this isn't country music. It's Folk music if anything.

  • @lukasnummer1
    @lukasnummer1 8 років тому +371

    It´s so harrowing that nobody could help this man. What a tortured soul he was. And what an amazing poet.

    • @numerum_bestia
      @numerum_bestia 8 років тому +74

      some of us come to understand that we will always drift away from the ones who only want to love and help us. some of us tire of seeing expressions of disappointment in the faces of those who have tried so hard to save our souls and failed.

    • @PBRninjas
      @PBRninjas 8 років тому +13

      Very wise words, and it should be wise for parents to remember them when dealing with their children

    • @pidi8443
      @pidi8443 8 років тому +4

      Riley Everson

    • @SKOJCV
      @SKOJCV 8 років тому +6

      You know what you're talking about for sure brother...

    • @SuperBierfisch
      @SuperBierfisch 8 років тому +21

      My aunt and TVZ were a couple for the last 2 years of his life, she says that he did not really show his depressions that hard in his private life, so maybe there just was nobody who tried to help him. I'm sorry if i'm talking bullshit right now, I don't know that much about him^^

  • @mistascott007
    @mistascott007 2 роки тому +6

    Uncle Seymour cried some grown ass man tears to this, that shows the power in these lyrics.

  • @HeideePetersen
    @HeideePetersen 4 місяці тому +7

    The absolute LOVE of my life, chose death over me 😢 my love for him was/is the strongest I've ever felt for another human. I would have conquered ANY obstacle to have been with him forever 😢❤

  • @dagnabbit6187
    @dagnabbit6187 8 років тому +117

    A genius ! Read his bio and he was a straight A student in school. He chose to be a drifting troubador sleeping on couches and writing excellent songs and performing in small venues which some people call dives but I call just call them more modest surroundings where great music also comes into the world

    • @smwrbd
      @smwrbd 8 років тому +4

      yep

    • @sistersmileyvibes5551
      @sistersmileyvibes5551 8 років тому +7

      Agreed, well said.

    • @HandleGF
      @HandleGF 8 років тому +15

      I'd prefer to go with the medical diagnosis, Sigmund ("acute manic depressive").

    • @numerum_bestia
      @numerum_bestia 8 років тому +1

      lets play the romantic version. the real version. death will always be a far more romantic concept than love. Death will never leave you. it will only inch slowly closer.

    • @b.a.peters5534
      @b.a.peters5534 8 років тому +11

      justsaying it's not a choice it's an illness.

  • @gabrielgamboa3982
    @gabrielgamboa3982 4 роки тому +14

    My grandma passed the other day. I was able to be with her during her early days of hospice. I listened to this a bunch while I was visiting, Dandridge Tennessee. A beautiful place to be during a hard time. Beauty in life in death and in pain. Thank you Townes Van Zandt. RIP my Geema, Kathy.

    • @shittysunglasses
      @shittysunglasses 8 місяців тому

      Thanks for sharing, I miss mine like crazy.

  • @Atezian
    @Atezian 3 роки тому +4

    Wrote this for 2 bandits i saw on tv after i wrote this song lol

  • @peterpedersen1641
    @peterpedersen1641 5 років тому +249

    When Townes was sick and getting sicker. He hit the road with Guy Clark and the new young guy, Robert Earl Keen, dark black hair, in his twenties. I got a call from a friend that they were playing in Pipersville, PA at a restaurant there. My other friend lived down the street from Guy Clark in Austin Texas in the 70s, We show up, Guy is at the pool table with a tall glass of vodka, pretty hammered at that. We shot a couple of games a pool and talked about the old days. Major amazing storyteller, whether in music or just a chat. Townes was quiet until they started playing. Not the best of singers, but one hell of a singing storyteller as The Ballad Of Poncho and Lefty is. They played for two hours solid, They were tired. We weren't. Helped them load up their stuff. Townes passed away a few months later. Now we lost Guy a few months back. Two of the best fingerpicking songwriters that ever lived. RIP guys.

    • @tundraastorm7444
      @tundraastorm7444 5 років тому +3

      Peter Pedersen great story 😊 Great Experience

    • @lastnamefirst4035
      @lastnamefirst4035 5 років тому +1

      Good story. I bet Townes was in rough shape at that point. Guy passed in 2016 and Susana before. Still sad that they are gone

    • @dr.johnpaladinshow9747
      @dr.johnpaladinshow9747 5 років тому +10

      Drying my tears now. I first met Townes at a party when he walked into the kitchen and announced that Blaze Foley was coming over. Half the party cheered. Half groaned. Miss em both.
      Back in the hill country now, but that Austin scene is long gone. Most have passed, retired or moved to Nashville. Robert Earl has a place next door to my friends ranch and he still plays a small town venue from time to time.
      Willie is still around, but he's really gettin on in years now.

    • @lastnamefirst4035
      @lastnamefirst4035 5 років тому +1

      @@dr.johnpaladinshow9747 rodney crowell, emmy lou...yer right. Not many left from that great group

    • @dr.johnpaladinshow9747
      @dr.johnpaladinshow9747 5 років тому +3

      @@lastnamefirst4035 I just fell into a dive into the old Austin music. Have known most all of these folks. Trying to sing along but the tears make it hard.

  • @briscoesjug1026
    @briscoesjug1026 4 роки тому +49

    I'd love to hear the music that the older gentleman behind townes has heard in his day

    • @photojoeva
      @photojoeva 4 роки тому +7

      Uncle Seymour'

    • @traviswade5208
      @traviswade5208 3 роки тому +4

      You can tell he really likes townes music. Says a lot about townes. Watch the waiting around to die from this same session and you will see how hard townes music hits him.

  • @johnnycraig8219
    @johnnycraig8219 10 років тому +259

    the guys who write the songs never get nothing.
    Townes was a great guy and a lot of fun to be around.
    wish I could have got to know him better.
    Didn't matter if you owned the joint or swept the floors he treated you the same.
    May the earth rest light on his grave.

    • @walterkersting9922
      @walterkersting9922 7 років тому +3

      Johnny Craig druggies are a pain in the neck...

    • @gusdupree9076
      @gusdupree9076 7 років тому +2

      Johnny Craig unless you were his kids he deserted

    • @skynyrdnemoy2418
      @skynyrdnemoy2418 7 років тому +10

      gus dupree
      Eh, dosent matter who you are somebody’s always going to criticize you in a comment section somewhere

    • @bluesriot2
      @bluesriot2 7 років тому +1

      'May the earth rest light on his grave.' thanx for that Johnny

    • @markrush5013
      @markrush5013 7 років тому +1

      in the old days songwriters got it all....roger miller said he got rich after he wrote ONE hit....

  • @williamharper9356
    @williamharper9356 9 днів тому +3

    Pick it! And it won’t ever heal 💔

  • @dr.johnpaladinshow9747
    @dr.johnpaladinshow9747 5 років тому +99

    Drying my tears now. I met Townes at a party when he walked into the kitchen and announced that Blaze Foley was coming over. Half the party cheered. Half groaned. Miss em both.

    • @leonelsierra1384
      @leonelsierra1384 4 роки тому

      Fk dude that was some great memories in the end.

    • @keownfinefolders
      @keownfinefolders 4 роки тому +1

      You had the pleasure of meeting them both?

    • @dr.johnpaladinshow9747
      @dr.johnpaladinshow9747 4 роки тому +3

      @@keownfinefolders yes, as well as most of the folks around then.

    • @dr.johnpaladinshow9747
      @dr.johnpaladinshow9747 4 роки тому +5

      @@keownfinefolders Austin was tiny back then.

    • @dangerdan2592
      @dangerdan2592 3 роки тому

      @@dr.johnpaladinshow9747That's really cool. Do you have any stories from that party?

  • @doUcare4music
    @doUcare4music 4 роки тому +24

    I saw him in Ireland, Cork, ... and again in Galway. Genuine Genius 🎶

  • @kicksyyarosh5708
    @kicksyyarosh5708 4 роки тому +18

    Wow,i cant believe the two people in background sat through the whole song without looking at there phones,Pure Magic

    • @ozrics62
      @ozrics62 4 роки тому +2

      It, s a sad world today hate wretchad phones at least what you say doesn, t make me feel alone

    • @nate9092
      @nate9092 4 роки тому +1

      they didnt have cellphones back then

    • @ozrics62
      @ozrics62 4 роки тому +1

      @@nate9092 you Don, t say that's my view point

    • @jimw.4161
      @jimw.4161 4 роки тому

      Well, I guess there are a few of us left.... not much consolation, is it?

  • @randywestvalley
    @randywestvalley 10 місяців тому +4

    one of the most beautifully crafted storytellers songs of all time

  • @MarkSmith-nw4os
    @MarkSmith-nw4os 5 років тому +28

    I love the way he picks that guitar. If there is a better version of this song, I don't care.

    • @DSM20T927
      @DSM20T927 5 років тому +3

      There isn't.

    • @tonygibson8277
      @tonygibson8277 4 роки тому +2

      Agreed

    • @wilhelmvg9978
      @wilhelmvg9978 4 роки тому +3

      The version on Live at the Old Quarter is possibly better but you can’t watch him perform so..

  • @SeattleShelby
    @SeattleShelby 3 роки тому +21

    Cheers to all the folks listening to this song that travel the road, living out of a suitcase like me.

    • @moose2934
      @moose2934 3 роки тому +1

      Jerald?

    • @SeattleShelby
      @SeattleShelby 3 роки тому

      @@moose2934 Nope. Not Jerald, but I do hope he’s living life free and clean, wherever he is.

  • @Matty18795
    @Matty18795 5 років тому +72

    When im drinking alone i always listen to his music. The pain in his voice and the way he expresses emotion through poetry is incredible. I only dicovered him about 6 months ago but he is my favourite now

    • @Julian-bq9qv
      @Julian-bq9qv 5 років тому +1

      A sad, tragic, broken man who managed to pur so much of his pain and confusion into song. I know the was a total drug and alcohol addict, BUT I cannot but wonder if those damnable insulin shock treatments set all of it in motion.

    • @enigmawyoming5201
      @enigmawyoming5201 5 років тому +1

      Julian -can't argue whether or not the shock treatments brought all of us towards Townes. I also wonder if weed would have helped him then and kept him with us today now. Like it did Willie. I've watched this video many time in my past. Ken Burns brought me back here now. I'm weak with emotions after every episode of "History of Country Music" on PBS.

    • @cosmyccowboy
      @cosmyccowboy 4 роки тому +1

      I discovered Townes about 10 years ago myself and am sad it took me so long, at least the music lives forever!

    • @wallgod663
      @wallgod663 4 роки тому +1

      Positivity brother . Control it and raise another one !

    • @icu-81too
      @icu-81too 3 роки тому +1

      Sittin' here drinking alone and just read this comment. Yup, I reckon so.

  • @georgelevin6134
    @georgelevin6134 Місяць тому +1

    Lord we lost so many great ones at a way too early age Townes Van Zandt was certainly one of them.

  • @mattconnor8677
    @mattconnor8677 3 роки тому +17

    The older I get the more I appreciate Towne's poetry/music. I just turned 66 and first heard his stuff back in the 1970's.

  • @imout671
    @imout671 4 роки тому +69

    "Best song writer in the world and I'll say that standing on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots." I think I heard Steve Earl say that in an interview

    • @hespheiden1
      @hespheiden1 3 роки тому +1

      Yeah, opinions are like...well anyway, just like everyone gets an opinion, we also get to dismiss out of hand other people's opinions if we want, which I will do to the opinion of a commie heroin addict.

    • @charlieparkmusic
      @charlieparkmusic 3 роки тому +3

      Townes' reply to steve's statement was that he'd seen Bob Dylans body guards and didn't think steve had any chance of making it past the front door

    • @albertramones3842
      @albertramones3842 3 роки тому

      @@hespheiden1 commie?

    • @stephenbowyer7269
      @stephenbowyer7269 3 роки тому

      You are a man of deep character. Long may you ride.

    • @Matt.Willoughby
      @Matt.Willoughby 3 роки тому +1

      @@hespheiden1 You don't get it and you never will.

  • @austingass
    @austingass 4 роки тому +79

    “pick it, and it won’t ever heal”

    • @jamesfloyd1864
      @jamesfloyd1864 4 роки тому +3

      Flashback seventy-five years and my Missouri Grandma's very words. (chicken-pox)

    • @vaman5591
      @vaman5591 4 роки тому +1

      @@jamesfloyd1864 Amen y'all

    • @jamesfloyd1864
      @jamesfloyd1864 4 роки тому

      @@vaman5591 You been there.

  • @mbrawthen
    @mbrawthen 9 місяців тому +1

    Merle Haggard covered this song after one of his friends brought it to him. At the time they said it was the best song written in the past decade or more.!!! Townes Van Zandt, You’re one of the greatest song writers of all time, RIP Townes❤️

  • @mjcau
    @mjcau 4 роки тому +134

    "Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." -Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Airman's Odyssey

  • @jasonpinnix1905
    @jasonpinnix1905 7 місяців тому +928

    Any one still here in 2024 ?

  • @dowadiddy2002
    @dowadiddy2002 2 роки тому +17

    One of the best-crafted country songs ever written! So sad that Townes struggled so tremendously with substance abuse. Died far too soon.

  • @jasongiordano4716
    @jasongiordano4716 3 місяці тому +1

    I'm sure people are still here and don't comment. Townes was such a talented song writer that unfortunately dealt with so many demons like so many others that have brought incredible gifts to us through art. So many people need outlets that aren't the traditional type. RIP Townes

  • @snmthecloser
    @snmthecloser 3 роки тому +111

    For all those aspiring young songwriters out there, this is a magnum opus in pure poetic perfection. Each line crafted of the finest rhythmic silks, the lyrics flowing like the swiftest currents on a back bending river bank. Both Homeric and Proustian, the illusory language is the archetypal Western ballad at its absolute finest, transmigratory and truthful. Townes reaches deep into his understanding of the human condition and runs right through the trappings of Western cliches into a world with far more depth, utterly and painfully realistic. He taps into that place in our souls we dare not explore. Death, and selling one’s system of values for the trappings of a quick dollar, force a reckoning with those decisions. The shame of that traitorous choice proves to eat you from the inside out. What must be remembered is that Townes felt the human condition, and human suffering so personally, so deeply. He saw in himself and in the world a heart-wrenching melancholy that pervaded his every breath. Living on the road my friend, was gonna keep you free and clean. And now you wear your skin like iron, and your breath’s as hard as kerosene. It is so painfully rare that a song grabs your very breath one stanza in. It’s as close to perfection as the human mind can hope to strive for. As if he’s peering out from behind the page and grabbing you by the neck, suffocating you with your own thought dreams. The world aches for minds as strikingly brilliant as that of Townes Van Zandt. He is dearly, sorely missed.

    • @Jerry-hv5nq
      @Jerry-hv5nq 3 роки тому +7

      I agree very much with everything you said and I appreciate your analysis. It seems almost unattainable for a song to be this perfect both in melody and words, but he did it. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a better song and the way he plays guitar is like the way an orchestra plays a classical piece. Every note from the guitar is very intentional. And just his effortless charisma the mysterious smile as he starts the song and his emotions laid bare on his face as he sings without the exaggeration which has become so common. I honestly think this is the greatest song ever written better than anything bob dylan Neil young hank Williams any of those guys ever did even though they were great obviously but this song is something else entirely.

    • @wargeocarl
      @wargeocarl 2 роки тому +6

      You sir, have a gift of putting thoughts into words. Fantastic breakdown of a man and his music. Thank you.

    • @danmiller5902
      @danmiller5902 2 роки тому +3

      Other than your slightly pedantic opening sentence, this is a brilliant analysis - I couldn't agree more. I saw TVZ in Crested Butte, right around the time this video was filmed, in a small community hall-type venue. I was 12 or 13, and that performance has stuck with me my entire life. I usually automatically dislike most artists' most popular songs, but with Townes, as you say, this was perfection; every line, every note, every nuance of pathos and melancholy is soul-wrenching.

    • @posljednjilist4400
      @posljednjilist4400 Рік тому +1

      Gay

    • @VoltWrangler
      @VoltWrangler Рік тому

      @@wargeocarl The analysis of poetry is in its own turn, poetry

  • @NazarethSandoArt
    @NazarethSandoArt 2 роки тому +8

    Something about Townes' music makes change... loss... endings... aging... death... a little easier to make peace with. We're all just trying our damned best to make it through life in as little misery as possible. I'm glad he was able to leave behind a legacy that helps bruised hearts and minds navigate life a little more surefooted. Thank you man, for all you left us.

  • @lukewschneider
    @lukewschneider 5 років тому +187

    who comes up with the lyric "horse as fast as polished steel" then sets it up with those lonesome minor chord string pickens?? Amazes me.... The songs full of chills, you feel it. Amazing job, needs inducted for sure.

    • @ferrallderrall6588
      @ferrallderrall6588 5 років тому +2

      The covers tell the story as well ,led me here Steve Earle was one but I thought I heard an earlier version,

    • @caseyjoanz
      @caseyjoanz 5 років тому +11

      Luke Schneider - Yeah, after such a literal description of “breath as hard as kerosene”,
      He was a truly gifted writer.
      You know he didn’t worry about what it meant because he did know it was part of the story.

    • @hobartchapel9515
      @hobartchapel9515 5 років тому +12

      How bout "the dust that Poncho bit down south...." Seriously....gem after gem.

    • @iainrobertson5075
      @iainrobertson5075 5 років тому +10

      'wore his gun outside his pants, for all the honest world to feel'
      Brilliant!

    • @frankf684
      @frankf684 4 роки тому +10

      He doesn’t need a hall of fame.Nashville especially doesn’t deserve him.

  • @ndotl
    @ndotl 2 роки тому +2

    If I could I would thank Townes for being a friend of that black man. I never met either of them, but I can imagine the hard life the black man lived based on the not-as-hard life I have lived.

  • @alanburns4787
    @alanburns4787 3 роки тому +67

    Another accolade on this unforgettable video. The cameraman panning slightly to Uncle Seymour’s hands at 3:23 creates a memorable picture of both their hands. Whoever filmed this did an amazing job.

    • @iwillregretthis5127
      @iwillregretthis5127 2 роки тому +6

      i thought so too. such a subtle moment but it was very beautiful - which i guess could sum up the whole video haha

    • @RCScorch
      @RCScorch 2 роки тому +3

      Literally just screenshotted that shot. Amazing

    • @christopherecatalano
      @christopherecatalano Рік тому

      Magnificent…❤️

  • @shanehipsher4390
    @shanehipsher4390 3 роки тому +6

    "Pick it.!, and it won't ever heal." Love it.

  • @Milleymusic
    @Milleymusic 8 років тому +8

    Had lunch with Townes Van Zandt at the Edmonton Folk Fest a few years before he died. One of the sweetest men I have ever met. Pancho and Lefty is one of my favorite songs to play. "The most missed man the world never knew, TVZ"

    • @fffanman
      @fffanman 9 місяців тому

      Lucky you. I just found him 2 days ago by chance. I’m in Edmonton as well.

  • @drpavel_
    @drpavel_ 3 місяці тому +2

    one of the things I really love about townes van zandt is how often he'd have some corny little joke or anecdote, and then right after just play one of the most beautiful haunting songs ever written.

  • @jjohnston73
    @jjohnston73 3 роки тому +37

    This is so plain and beautiful that I can’t listen to the Willie & Merle version now without thinking how over produced it sounds.

    • @connormcclenny9681
      @connormcclenny9681 3 роки тому +1

      Willie's version could be accused of being overproduced, but the production is the highest quality of any song I've ever heard.

    • @kwilkinson5470
      @kwilkinson5470 2 роки тому

      Yeah… I get that

    • @k.g.alatore355
      @k.g.alatore355 2 роки тому +3

      yeah i'm admittedly not a fan of it -- this song was meant to sound bleak with a hint of despair, and no one conveyed that better than Townes

    • @ernestomoreno4409
      @ernestomoreno4409 2 роки тому

      I personally love Merle's voice with this song

    • @danmiller5902
      @danmiller5902 2 роки тому

      @@k.g.alatore355 Agree 100% No cover of this song (and there are a ton of them) sounds remotely close to Townes' versions with just his guitar.

  • @Seanybiker
    @Seanybiker 4 роки тому +7

    Uncle Seymour Washington looks like a bit of a legend . He looks like he got some stories to tell.

  • @travelerinthyme
    @travelerinthyme 7 років тому +246

    back in the day, I learned this song from another girl, jammin' on the porch. I was singing on the Drag in Austin, when a scuzzy bum wandered up and tried to sing along (messing up my song awful), he tossed $10 in my guitar case and said "Love the way you sing my song." and wandered off up the street. Everyone came running up saying "Wow, that was Townes Van Zandt!" "Who?" says me, "never heard of him." Still one of my fave songs, ever.

    • @lbraun8492
      @lbraun8492 5 років тому +16

      Cool story. 😁. Thanks for sharing 🤗

    • @ArcoZakus
      @ArcoZakus 5 років тому +46

      Marcia Cash,
      By that time he was probably waiting around to die. You playing his song might have meant more to him than you could have guessed. Thank you for sharing your story, and for keeping real music alive.

    • @dennisalvarado5134
      @dennisalvarado5134 5 років тому +5

      Right.

    • @CardozaComedy
      @CardozaComedy 4 роки тому +14

      Then the Alamo clapped

    • @dano5866
      @dano5866 4 роки тому +7

      I will smile every time I think of this, especially when I hear one of Townes' songs. Thanks.

  • @nmpatriot7165
    @nmpatriot7165 Рік тому +1

    Every time I hear this song I think of my young son who has passed on. He love this song and Townes' music.. I have wonderful memories of Kendrik and I listening to this song in the truck.

  • @seanwallace396
    @seanwallace396 8 років тому +92

    Always make my eyes water. His honesty, his purity, almost too much to handle. He was a genius. I will forever be grateful for Townes.

  • @robsmith5526
    @robsmith5526 2 роки тому +7

    Thank you Willie and Merle for making me curious enough to look up Van Zandt and discover this gem of an artist in 2022.

  • @MaghoxFr
    @MaghoxFr 8 років тому +117

    I think Willie and Merle's version is very carefully arranged. It's great. But I always liked stripped down, raw versions better. This video right here is so beautiful. Just Townes, a guitar, and the people behind him, completely haunted by that song. Amazing.

    • @soulCracka1
      @soulCracka1 8 років тому +4

      MaghoxFr Absolutely.

    • @whentherope
      @whentherope 8 років тому +2

      Legendary!

    • @soulCracka1
      @soulCracka1 8 років тому +4

      whentherope Indeed. Have you ever seen him perform "Waiting Around To Die" in this same movie Heartworn Highways? The old man starts crying and it's very emotional. Man, what a great songwriter!🙏🙏🙏

    • @MaghoxFr
      @MaghoxFr 8 років тому +3

      Hurricane Jones Yeah! Man that clip is powerful.

    • @whentherope
      @whentherope 8 років тому +2

      I looked it up after you mentioned it. My eyes watered a bit. Powerful

  • @vincefalcone171
    @vincefalcone171 Місяць тому +1

    Yep...still brings tears to my eyes...deserts quiet and Cleveland's cold...

  • @ronnie5129
    @ronnie5129 7 років тому +7

    I THINK THAT MR. TOWNES VAN ZANDT WAS ONE OF THE MOST UNDERRATED SONGWRITER OF ALL TIME, THE PEOPLE WHO SAW HIS SKILLS DID HIS SONGS, THANK ALL OF YOU WHO DID HIS SONGS, SOME ARE STILL WITH US, SOME ARE NOT.. R.I.P. MR. Van Zandt, COUSIN FIGEL

    • @timhanson8556
      @timhanson8556 5 років тому

      Cousin Figel not under appreciated for the last 15 years... another great was “Guy Clark”, hundreds of songs ( most all hits)

  • @brendaluna173
    @brendaluna173 4 роки тому +11

    He was so cool. He died at 52, still had a lot to live.
    Rest in peace Townes

  • @definitiveenergy1
    @definitiveenergy1 3 роки тому +4

    That man sitting in the back just watching speaks volumes.

  • @johnsquires387
    @johnsquires387 2 місяці тому +1

    This song always resonates, but the writer playing it is something else. A level they couldn’t match.

  • @christopherecatalano
    @christopherecatalano Рік тому +18

    Every single thing about this video needs to be taught in both music and film schools. I am transported to a place that feels so far away yet so much like the home we all love to be inside of on one of those soft, perfect nights we have all experienced in a lifetime, somewhere, surrounded by those we love to be around. And what an amazing and timeless piece of music. It transcends any musical genre specifics I can think of because it so not show biz. I cannot stop watching this beautifully captured moment in human history. This is a work of art. So much understated emotion and power in the lyrics, and yet it is the little touches of humour that break my heart each time I see it.

  • @from-Texas
    @from-Texas 6 років тому +15

    Every rebel knows this story. Legends come and legends go but the story goes on forever.....

  • @texlongone
    @texlongone 3 роки тому +10

    Townes was a real talent who could not handle general life. There are many who cannot. Rest in peace cowboy!

  • @gwenechotaylor96
    @gwenechotaylor96 2 роки тому +1

    Outstanding. So, my brother Dave we called "Dudes" was ferociously private and always a rebel. He died suddenly last October and my sister played this song in remembrance of him. I found this song again because my fifteen year old niece has fallen in love with the songwriting of Townes Van Zandt and just sent me some of his songs. Good Karma.

  • @jamesobrien7338
    @jamesobrien7338 7 років тому +312

    I love at up until 1:20 the guy in the back was still but nodded and smiled at 'she began to cry when you said goodbye' like he'd lived it or something, ahh I love music

    • @russellwilliams7589
      @russellwilliams7589 5 років тому +27

      You should check out that guys reaction when Townes plays "waiting around to die" also from the heartworn highways film. It's on UA-cam also. Seriously, that guy HAS lived it. I'd like to hear some of his stories.

    • @louispconstant6624
      @louispconstant6624 5 років тому +4

      @@russellwilliams7589 Just watched it, and wow... so good.

    • @louispconstant6624
      @louispconstant6624 5 років тому +3

      There is a similar clip by Reverand Gary Davis where a room fool of hardened looking guys just melt and weep listening to blind Gary play Death don't have no mercy. ua-cam.com/video/TGNcDLFqLUk/v-deo.html

    • @louispconstant6624
      @louispconstant6624 5 років тому

      ​@Varnce No he is getting emotional over the song. Watch waitin around to die from the same session and you will understand.

    • @91Kingscrib84
      @91Kingscrib84 5 років тому +10

      Uncle Seymour Washington is the 'old guy' sitting in the back. Townes, Guy Clark, Rodney Crowell all knew Uncle Seymour. He died in 1977 at age 81.

  • @joshuas193
    @joshuas193 2 роки тому +25

    Wow, I never knew this was the original until today. I always loved the Willie Nelson/Merle Haggard version but this has a really different feel to it. Glad I finally got to hear the original.

    • @sparky6086
      @sparky6086 2 роки тому +4

      Emmylou Harris's version which predated Willie & Merle's version & may have been the first version released is very good too.

    • @joshuas193
      @joshuas193 2 роки тому +2

      @@sparky6086 Ooh, thanks for letting me know. I'll have to check out her version as well.

    • @paulhall170
      @paulhall170 2 роки тому +1

      @@joshuas193 You'll love it. Also check out a fabulous new version by Glen Campbell's daughter Ashley!! ua-cam.com/video/WpNrcAmmTxE/v-deo.html

    • @herbertquain6875
      @herbertquain6875 Рік тому

      Can't recommend enough checking out Live at the Old Quarter 1973. It has a little bit better version of this imo, along with around 10 other songs that are among the best ever written

    • @lucasmeijer9111
      @lucasmeijer9111 4 місяці тому

      Check out Gillian Welch and David Rawling’s rendition if the song.

  • @cherylpostlethwaite8089
    @cherylpostlethwaite8089 9 років тому +192

    he was as cool as fuck !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • @TheSamoht67
      @TheSamoht67 9 років тому +1

      Right on, he lived it

    • @cherylpostlethwaite8089
      @cherylpostlethwaite8089 9 років тому +4

      yesssssssssssssssss

    • @bngibbs7494
      @bngibbs7494 7 років тому +1

      without trying.

    • @markuspernusch
      @markuspernusch 7 років тому +9

      He was a deep character with a destroyed but creative soul, a tragic genius - reducing this to "cool as fuck" seems to me the wrong message

    • @virtualjones
      @virtualjones 7 років тому +5

      Brilliant analysis Markus. And I know cheryl meant well, so we'll forgive her for her over simplified characterization of Townes. This song is typical of his melancholic, touching raw nerves style of writing. I would say the same thing about him that Kristofferson said of John Prine, "Prine is 24 years old and he writes like he's 224". What ever Townes age, I'll bet Kris would say the same thing of him. Townes was a tortured, old soul.

  • @familiarsting4108
    @familiarsting4108 3 роки тому +2

    She is so in love with him. This video is so beautiful and raw.