Lyr ADD: Pancho and Lefty (Townes Van Zandt)

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Rapparee
Date: 15 Jan 08 - 09:57 PM

Is there any significance to the fact the both "Spaw" and "Hawk" have the letters "aw" in them? Hmmmmmmmmmm.........

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: catspaw49
Date: 15 Jan 08 - 09:51 PM

And I assume you too caught the line at the end I quoted above?   Tragic life that he almost seemed to enjoy Hawk...............

Spaw

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Charley Noble
Date: 15 Jan 08 - 09:48 PM

Amos claims that Spaw would know
You don't need much bread to reach Ohio;
A slice or two at the most,
Any more and you'd end up toast!
But wiser heads like ol' Rapaire's,
Have to shake in deep despair –
The notion would appear half-baked,
But that's the way it goes.

Yet a few old bro will have their say,
Try to shut 'em up an' you'll be blown away;
You don't learn such wisdom any day,
It's all a public service, I suppose.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Little Hawk
Date: 15 Jan 08 - 09:41 PM

Have just been watching the movie about Townes Van Zandt, "Be Here To Love Me".

Man, what a tragic life! But he sure could play those songs.

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Amos
Date: 15 Jan 08 - 09:28 PM

According to Spaw's earlier reports his coiled reproductive organs would have provided plenty of cushioning.

Come to think of it, Guest, you may be right. An ordinary guy doesn't need much bread to split for Ohio, but Spaw needs to hire a damned flatbed.


A

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Rapparee
Date: 15 Jan 08 - 09:25 PM

Okay, here's the way I see it now:

Pancho was Lefty's father. Lefty shot him in a fit of Oedipal jealousy and took off back to Mom in Ohio, which (take it from one who's lived there!) one mother of a state. Now, as we all know a "Lefty" is also known as a "Southpaw"...or "S'Paw."

Motive, opportunity...it's all there.

Come clean, Spaw. Admit it. Get it off your chest. Once you do it will stop eating away at your innards.

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: GUEST,Observer
Date: 15 Jan 08 - 09:15 PM

Wait a minute....

Lefty ended up in Ohio...

A guy supposedly called Spaw lives in Ohio...

You don't suppose...?????

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Bert
Date: 14 Jan 08 - 11:43 PM

...my jaw dropped open onto the floor...

I dunno guys, there ain't nobody on Mudcat got a gob like our Spaw.

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Little Hawk
Date: 14 Jan 08 - 10:47 PM

Gad, Amos! That was the very thought that immediately came to my mind as well.

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Amos
Date: 14 Jan 08 - 10:35 PM

That doesn't jive with prior assertions about your anatomy, Spaw...


A

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: catspaw49
Date: 14 Jan 08 - 09:16 PM

Pretty much my thoughts on it too Charley {:<))......I was afraid I'd done myself an injury because my jaw dropped open onto the floor.

Spaw

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Charley Noble
Date: 14 Jan 08 - 09:12 PM

wow!

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: catspaw49
Date: 14 Jan 08 - 09:09 PM

Well, not quite done yet...............

I just finished watching Be Here to Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt on The Sundance Channel.........one helluva' piece of work, both the film and TVZ. Its one of those documentaries that is simply worth seeing and gives us a wonderful insight into people in their own words. Listening to his sons(2) and wives(3) and others like Guy Clark and of course Townes himself, you get a superb if tragic and intricate portrait of the guy.

There were all the reasonably famous TVZ quotes like, "There are only two kinds of songs; there's the blues, and there's zip-a-dee-doo-dah," but right toward the end was this:

"I'd like to write a song so great that nobody'd know what it meant......not even me."

Well, there ya' go. Pretty well sums up what we were talking about earlier.................

Spaw

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Charley Noble
Date: 14 Jan 08 - 02:00 PM

Amos-

Thanks for the sentiment.

Be advised that you best be out of town by sunset, or a mighty wind might just blow you away!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Amos
Date: 14 Jan 08 - 11:12 AM

After all was said and done,
By the light of a setting sun,
Charley Noble stood alone,
Harvesting the long thread home,
And as the sea was turning red,
Charley shook his noble head,
"They've all gone off to other things..."
But that's the way it goes.

A few old professorés claim
They understood the singer's brain
But they couldn't find the footnote source
When the winds began to blow,
Oh, woooah, when the winds began to blow..."


I can see Willy doing this on his old beater....on YouTube.



A

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Charley Noble
Date: 13 Jan 08 - 01:00 PM

I suppose the rest of the gang has all gone off to greener pastures, leaving me to harvest this thread.

Well, it's a risky job. It makes a man watchful, and a little lonely.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Charley Noble
Date: 12 Jan 08 - 10:45 AM

Well, I did have this recurring nightmare the other night:

There are those who only hear the story told,
And those who read between the lines for gold;
What truth lies beneath the surface - no one knows,
But there may be more than lies, I suppose;
Pancho was a bandit but was his pal a bandit too?
And did Lefty betray his pal or just sing the blues?
Now there ain't no use for us to ask the muse –
That's the way it goes.

Yet a few old bro will have their say,
Try to shut 'em up an' you'll be blown away;
You don't learn such wisdom any day,
It's all a public service, I suppose.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Little Hawk
Date: 12 Jan 08 - 12:22 AM

Man, I cannot wait to hear Chongo's interpretation. Too bad he's so busy at the moment.

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Rapparee
Date: 11 Jan 08 - 10:21 PM

Republican booshwa!

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Amos
Date: 11 Jan 08 - 10:14 PM

As if things weren't quite bad enough
Rapaire said he could strut the stuff
He trotted out a bunch of meanings
Defined by long lost social leanings
He talked about the Left and Right,
And kept on talking half the night,
But somehow, never got it right,
The usual, it seems.

All the professorés swear
They'd heard of his repute somewhere.
But they couldn't find the footnote source,
When the wind began to blow....

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Rapparee
Date: 11 Jan 08 - 10:03 PM

Now Lefty he can't sing the blues
All night long like he used to
The dust that Pancho bit down South
It ended up in Lefty's mouth
The day they laid old Pancho low
Lefty split for Ohio
Where he got the bread to go
Well there ain't nobody 'knows

Good Lord, the meaning of this is obvious! It's a Marxist tragedy!

"Lefty" is obviously an old Socialist, a member of the political Left. "He can't sing the blues" because he abandoned the Revolution and went to Ohio, which everyone knows is about as bourgeois a state as there is in the Union but he was probably bought off by the Capitalist Oppressors Of The Workers ("Where he got the bread to go...."). Pancho is symbolic of all of the workers of the world, a la Woody's "Deportee" song. Lefty is responsible not only for the death of the Revolution, but for the death of the workers (the "Panchos") and when the Workers "bit the dust" is ended up in Lefty's mouth because Lefty was responsible for it all.

Viva Che! A La Pared Con Los Tradores!

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Charley Noble
Date: 11 Jan 08 - 10:01 PM

This may be too much of a good thing.

Wonder what verses will come to me as a dream tonight?

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Rapparee
Date: 11 Jan 08 - 09:44 PM

Hell, Spaw, you know that the professor types always say that the last person to know what a piece of writing's about is the guy who wrote it.

Like Peter Yarrow once said about "Puff," "Here I find out in 'Time' that it's a druggie song. All along I thought it was about a loss of youth and innocence. But what do I know? I only wrote it."

Shuck and darns, I got a book called "The Pooh Perplex" that's got some interesting takes on ol' Winnie The.

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: catspaw49
Date: 11 Jan 08 - 09:26 PM

That's it ain't? You find your thoughts flowing in "P&L meter."

Amos hit it on the head
I'll think this way until I'm dead
This friggin' tune's inside my mind
I'd like to kick Townes' dead behind
And while it is a catchy tune
I'd like to send it to the moon
And think of other songs I know
Like Row,Row,Row, your boat......

Spaw

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Little Hawk
Date: 11 Jan 08 - 09:22 PM

Matter of fact, yes, I do recall hearing about that, and I thought it was quite an interesting take on the song.

As for cereal boxes, check out Shreddies (or any other Canadian cereal). French on one side, English on the other. Bonus!

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Amos
Date: 11 Jan 08 - 08:44 PM

It's been running in its original form through my damn head for three days now, Spaw.

Way down at the Dairy Queen,
Ole Dick Pomfret's acting mean,
Trying to make the young girls cry
Between their milkshakes and their fries.
Now Dick he likes to act real tough
Until some young thing screams "Enough!"
But he was bound to meet his match
When Rhonda came to town.

Now, Rhonda was a high-school dream,
A green-eyed svelte cheer-leading queen
The kind that ends up getting drunk
And screwing half the football team
But Rhonda always got her way,
She had two black belts in Karatay,
And had a trust fund just to pay
For when the chips were down.

The Dairy Queen was lit up bright
Late one August Friday night
And Dick rode up the strip in town
The music up, and the top turned down,
He cruised a Rocket 88,
He drove just to impress his dates
An' he spotted Rhonda sittin' there
Drinkin' a root beer down

All the jocks on the second string
Say he coulda dipped his thing
He only let her get away
Out of manners, I suppose

Dick pulled right up and raised his shades,
Thinking about gettin' laid,
Young Rhonda looked within the law,
And man, did he like what he saw!
But Dick, he made his moves too fast,
The line he used would be his last.
He ended up in his '88
Comin' to in Shanty Town.

All the jocks from the second string
Swear he could have dipped his thing,
An; he only let her slip away,
Out of manners, I suppose....


There's something naturally compelling about the rhythm TVZ discovered for his story. It just keeps rolling and rolling! :D


A

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Rapparee
Date: 11 Jan 08 - 08:43 PM

I've been watching this thread, I have. And if you're bad-mouthin' my friend Amos, remember that I can use a six-shooter to good effect (.357 magnum, single action, six rounds, gate load).

It ain't worth doin' for Amos, but I thought you'd like to know.

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Charley Noble
Date: 11 Jan 08 - 08:11 PM

They're all mad! We're all mad!

How glorious!

Little Hawk, you done good! You can probably sell the production rights to Broadway and then to Hollywood, and then retire on your royalties. You should hire a good lawyer immediately.

Spaw, you've given me something to think about the next time I go shopping.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: catspaw49
Date: 11 Jan 08 - 07:38 PM

awferchrissakes.........LOL.....This thread has so greatly improved that those who posted early have no idea what they're missing......or if they check in, no idea why its where it is.

I have managed not to give in to the rewrites but is anyone else having trouble getting this sucker out of their heads? For cryin' out loud I'm putting words to this damn tune for everything I'm doing.........

I walked into the Kroger store
As I had many times before
Walked back to the olive bar
Where 5 bucks will not go too far
In the produce line I had to pass
The broccoli which gives me gas
The red leaf lettuce looked real bad
I bought Romaine instead

This is just nuts!!!!!

Spaw

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Little Hawk
Date: 11 Jan 08 - 06:37 PM

Livin on the road my friend, was gonna keep you lean and mean
Now you wear size Xtra Large
Your hair's slicked back with vaseline
You weren't your momma's only boy, but her hungriest it seems
She began to cry when you broke the scales
And sank right through the floor!
Sancho was a football king, he rode a big white limousine
He wore his bling outside his vest
Which turned the other gangstas green
But Sancho met his match you know, on the pavement down in old 'Frisco
Nobody heard his dyin' words when he said, "I gots to go!"

And all the LAPDs say, they could've had him any day
They only let him slip away, out of blindness I suppose

Hefty he can't dance the blues all night long like he used to do
The pavement Sancho bit down south ended up in Hefty's mouth
The day they laid poor Sancho low, Hefty split for Kokomo
Where he got the kingsize waterbed, there ain't nobody knows

All the LAPDs say, they could've had him any day
They only let him slip away out of blindness I suppose

The boys tell how old Sancho fell, and Hefty's livin' in Penthouse "L"
Old Frisco's quiet, L.A.'s hot
And Sancho's turf's been sold and bought
Now Sancho needs your prayers it's true, but save a few for Hefty too
He only did what a man must do, and now he's growing old

All the LAPDs say, they could've had him any day
They only let him go so long, out of blindness I suppose

I even heard Mark Fuhrman say, "I coulda had him any day!"
They only let him get away, out of blindness I suppose

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Bert
Date: 11 Jan 08 - 06:07 PM

The Weimaraner has a great deal of depth. But it's all on he surface. Deep down, it's a Dachshund.

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Little Hawk
Date: 11 Jan 08 - 06:02 PM

Sort of like George Bush, only the other way around...

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Amos
Date: 11 Jan 08 - 06:00 PM

YEah, Dick, I unnerstan' what you mean.

It's for them as like listening to songs regardless ...



A

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 11 Jan 08 - 05:49 PM

The original song has a great deal of depth. But it's all on he surface. Deep down, it's very shallow.

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Charley Noble
Date: 11 Jan 08 - 12:49 PM

Excellent, Mick!

What a bravo of bro!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: catspaw49
Date: 11 Jan 08 - 09:35 AM

LMAO.....I'd say more but I gotta' go watch the TrisMan bowl......helluva' job Bro.......

Spaw....still LOL

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Big Mick
Date: 11 Jan 08 - 08:51 AM

I spend my days on the road,
in motel rooms all full of mold.
Tryin' to fight the bosses greed,
spreadin'out the workers creed.
Its important work you know its true
takes all my time to push it through
So why am I sitting here with you
laughing like a fool????

Spaw, he is a funny boy
Charley constantly sings "Ships Ahoy"
Amos, a master of hyperbole
He's almost as good as me
Up in Princeton, Dick bitches of wrongs
committed by rubes on the old songs
What Little Hawk is saying in Canada's snows
Ain't nobody knows

All the bosses are happy today
Cause ole Mick has gone away,
instead of fighting for fairer pay
He's writing this stupid song



***chuckle***

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Franz S.
Date: 10 Jan 08 - 10:15 PM

"We create our own reality." And it's a lot more fun that way.

(Or is it Uber-reality?)

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Charley Noble
Date: 10 Jan 08 - 08:45 PM

Gentlemen-

TVZ's ghost may not be one of us. Shouldn't we nurture this contact with the afterlife, rather than evoke consternation? At least consider carefully (I know that's asking a lot) before posting.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Little Hawk
Date: 10 Jan 08 - 07:50 PM

Look, it wasn't me, Amos. Got that? It wasn't. I swear upon the honor of Winona Ryder that it wasn't me, and that's serious business.

Whoever it was, though, I like his sense of humor. Or if it really was TVZ's ghost, then I can sympathize with his point of view.

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Amos
Date: 10 Jan 08 - 07:38 PM

Aw, Little Hawk, your feathers!!! I yam sorry I stepped on your toes there. I was swept away in the glorious floodgates of creative ejaculation; I am sure you understand that.

No need to go using an artificial entity there just to say what you feel when you have been insulted.

A

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Little Hawk
Date: 10 Jan 08 - 07:35 PM

Well spoken, Mr Van Zandt. I fully understand your frustration with this tasteless desecration of your worthy and memorable songwriting. But I fear that it may continue, because Amos can keep spinning out more inane codswallop indefinitely, and Spaw has been hanging out so long with those damned filthy Weimaraners that he has basically forgotten whatever he once knew about common restraint and decency.

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Amos
Date: 10 Jan 08 - 07:21 PM

That's jus' ole Hawk gettin' even, Charley. I thought you knowed.


A

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Charley Noble
Date: 10 Jan 08 - 07:04 PM

Ghost of TVZ-

Thanks for sharing!

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: GUEST,Ghost of Townes van Zant
Date: 10 Jan 08 - 06:45 PM

I just want all of you frivolous and whimsical bastards to know that, despite an afterlife spent visiting and haunting the various taverns, greasy spoons, performance venues, Greyhound Bus Stations, whorehouses, and Steve Earle's condominium, I still have time to occasionally haunt the Mudcat Cafe and keep an eye on you worthless sons of bitches. And I don't like what I'm seeing.
I don't like the over-analysis of my songs, any more than Picasso would like you creeps overanalyzing his painting, finding Santa Claus taking a leak in the top right corner of the Guernica, or fighting over whether the Man with the Blue Guitar is playing a Guild or a Martin. (Its a goddam Harmony by the way). Anyway, lay off and get a life while there's still time.
Shee-it.

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: catspaw49
Date: 10 Jan 08 - 05:58 PM

Well that and then when you figure he's multi-tasking and typing with only one hand, his other being actively engaged in polishing his tiny knob, well.........ya' just gotta' be im-damn-pressed!

Spaw

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Little Hawk
Date: 10 Jan 08 - 05:45 PM

You have to wonder. ;-) He seems to have a great deal of time on his hands.

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Charley Noble
Date: 10 Jan 08 - 05:15 PM

LOL

I wonder if Amos is as quick drawing a six-shooter?

What's he do for a day job?

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Little Hawk
Date: 10 Jan 08 - 05:14 PM

I suppose you think you can goad me into spending some of my valuable time composing yet more doggerel to the framework of Pancho and Lefty, do you, Amos?

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Amos
Date: 10 Jan 08 - 05:11 PM

Ole Hawk, he stayed behind in school,
While they taught him not to drool,
Until they turned him out, alone,
To face the cold inside his bones.
He couldn't stand the cold inspections,
And grammar, text and style corrections,
So he dropped out in Canada,
Where no-one knows his past.

The poets sing about the threads
That he fucked up and left for dead,
And where he lives is bitter cold,
And that is how the tale is told.
But Little Hawk still gets his say
--he writes pedantic posts, by day,
They show the latest dusty trace
Of the thumb that's up his ass.

A few old professorés claim
They could have understood his brain,
They only had to run away
When the wind began to blow...