The Late Great Townes Van Zandt

By townes van zandt

Living on the road my friend,
Is gonna keep you free and clean
Now you wear your skin like iron,
Your breath as hard as kerosene.
You weren't your mama's only boy,
But her favorite one it seems
She began to cry when you said goodbye,
And sank into your dreams.


Pancho was a bandit boy,
His horse was fast as polished steel
He wore his gun outside his pants
For all the honest world to feel.
Pancho met his match you know
On the deserts down in mexico
Nobody heard his dying words,
Ah but that's the way it goes.


All the federales say
They could have had him any day
They only let him slip away
Out of kindness, i suppose.


Lefty, he can't sing the blues
All night long like he used to.
The dust that pancho bit down south
Ended up in lefty's mouth
The day they laid poor pancho low,
Lefty split for ohio
Where he got the bread to go,
There ain't nobody knows


The poets tell how pancho fell,
And lefty's living in cheap hotels
The desert's quiet, cleveland's cold,
And so the story ends we're told
Pancho needs your prayers it's true,
But save a few for lefty too
He only did what he had to do,
And now he's growing old

By townes van zandt

If i needed you
Would you come to me,
Would you come to me,
And ease my pain?
If you needed me
I would come to you
I'd swim the seas
For to ease your pain


In the night forlorn
The morning's born
And the morning shines
With the lights of love
You will miss sunrise
If you close your eyes
That would break
My heart in two


The lady's with me now
Since i showed her how
To lay her lily
Hand in mine
Loop and lil agree
She's a sight to see
And a treasure for
The poor to find

don't let the sunshine fool ya'
(guy clark)

Me & this friend streetlife brown
We got a bottle of red and walked downtown
One hand on the jug and one on time
He said i bet you a dollar against this next line

Don't let the sunshine fool ya
Don't let the bluebirds tool ya
Don't let the women do ya
Put your hand in mine

Advice is fine if you've got a mind
To listen to the end that's got the time
But the muse'll get ya if you don't watch out
He's equipped to know what it's all about

Don't let the sunshine fool ya
Don't let the bluebirds tool ya
Don't let the women do ya
Put your hand in mine

Fanon street in the afternoon
An easy way to get out of tune
But the hard soap salesman said no dice
When i asked politely for a better price

Don't let the sunshine fool ya
Don't let the bluebirds tool ya
Don't let the women do ya
Put your hand in mine

Here's a song for you child of mine
I hope you make it through this time
Get yourself a piece of that rainbow pie
No reason in the world you can't get by

Don't let the sunshine fool ya
Don't let the bluebirds tool ya
Don't let the women do ya
Put your hand in mine

Don't let the sunshine fool ya
Don't let the bluebirds tool ya
Don't let the women do ya
Put your hand in mine

By townes van zandt

Of those that sailed the silver ships
From andilar i am the last
The deeds that rang our youthful dreams
It seems shall go undone
North for the shores of valinor
Our bows and crimson sails were made
Our captains were strong, our lances long
And our liege the holy king


The hills did turn from green to blue
And vanish as on the decks we watched
But every thought in that noble company
Was forward bound
To the lifeless plains of valinor
Where reigns the dark and frozen one
And with tongues afire and glorious eyes
We pledged our mission be


The clime from mild to bitter ran
The wind from fair to fierce did blow
Oath and prayer did turn to thoughts
Of homes left far behind
Longed every man for some glimpse of land
And the host that did await us there
But each new day brought only a sea
And sky of ice and gray


Thanks give no word can drag you through
Those endless weeks our ships did roll
Thanks give you cannot see those sails
And faces bleach and draw
Ice we drank and leather did chew
For the oceans are unwholesome there
The dead that slid into the seas
Did freeze before our eyes


Then a wind did fling the ships apart
Each one to go her separate way
The sky did howl, the hull did groan
For how long i do not know
And what men were left when the winds had ceased
Grew dull and low of countenance
For soldiers denied their battle plain
On comrades soon must turn


So one by one we died alone
Some by hunger, some by steel
Bodies froze where they did fall
Their souls unsanctified
Until only another and i were left
Then just before his flame did fail
We shone ourselves brothers-in-arms
To serve the holy king


Perhaps this shall reach andilar
Although i know not how it can
For once again he's hurled his wind
Upon the silver prow
But if it should my words are these
Arise young men fine ships to build
And set them north for valinor
'neath standards proud as fire

By townes van zandt

When the bandits have stolen your jewelry and gone
And your crippled young gypsy, he's grown tall and strong
And your dead misconceptions have proven you wrong
Well then, princess, where you plannin' to turn to?
When your magazine memory has spun you around
And you realize your lovers were just painted clowns
And outside your window you start hearing sounds
Where they're building a cross for to burn you


When all your bright scarlet turn slowly to blue
Will you stop and decide that it's over?


When your teardrops go sour and no longer fall
The splash cross the virgin that lives down your hall
And spends all her nights with an ear to your wall
Well then, what will you have you can offer?
When the firedancers finish and leave you alone
With nothing but embers and sacks full of stone
That hang round your neck, slicing through to the bone
Will there still be place for your laughter?


As your shattered illusions come a-tumblin' home
And all of the butchers you've nourished have grown
And they are suddenly able to leave you alone
And they run like slaves that are set free
When your questions are answered and your pleading is done
And your mind starts to screaming that you ain't the one
That once dwelled within you, will you turn, will you run
Then princess, will you come home and get me?