The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #95454   Message #4115712
Posted By: GUEST,#
07-Aug-21 - 09:54 AM
Thread Name: Loop and Lil (Van Zandt's 'If I Needed You')
Subject: RE: Loop and Lil (Van Zandt's 'If I Needed You')
I presume that the post from GUEST,Jim on 11 Oct 06 - 02:54 PM Is from the following which may be found at

http://insurgentcountry.net/class5.htm

"Steve [Earle] plays the second best known Townes tune, "If I Needed You". He cites the lyric "You will miss sunrise / if you close your eyes / that would break my heart in two" as a lyric you only have to ever write one of in a lifetime. He says, there are only so many original melodies out there and they've all been used up. "That's what I keep telling myself so I don't end up quitting." He believes there are still some new melodies out there, but they are gifts given to a very few and that's where the rest of us get them from. Townes was one of those people. He says that the lyrics were changed in the Emmylou and Doc Watson version to "Who could ill agree / she's a site to see / and a treasure for the poor to find." The original lyric was "Loop and Lil agree" and Loop and Lil were Townes' two parakeets. Loop was named after the North Loop drugstore in Austin where they used to buy codeine cough syrup and Lil was named after a girl Townes knew."