Heaven forbid I speak ill of Townes Van Zandt but I've always been irritated by the end of "Tecumseh Valley" where she "turned to whoring/out on the streets/with all the lust inside her". There isn't anything at all lustful about the rest of the song--the whole story is that she's a poor, uneducated girl trying to make ends meet. My friend always replaces it with "she turned to whoring/out on the streets/in all her desperation/and many a man returned again/for empty consolation".

One assumes that your friend consulted with Townes prior to his death and obtained permission to change the words to his song, since if he didn't, he's doing something at least mildly illegal, unethical, and to be condemmed by all right-thinking people. And why is lust in a woman so evil? Are only men allowed lust?

And there's a whole raft of nineteenth century pop songs that are good tunes but much better off without words ("Rose of Alabama", "Kingdom Coming" ["Year of Jubilo"], "Old Zip Coon", etc.).

True enough in general, but did you ever really listen to "Kingdom Coming," beyond the fake dialect and the constant references to "Darkies" (which is simply the language of the time)? It's a celebration of the end of slavery and the slaves getting some of their own back. Not a put-down. What's wrong with that?

Peter.