If so, it makes his comment about wanting to read the dissertation that a student was writing on his song in order to find out it’s meaning, especially witty. Perhaps he really had no memory of what inspired the song or the act of writing it.
Making sense of how all of the details fit together is less important than if we take the story literally.īefore taking any of these interpretations too seriously I want to point out that the song wasn’t written by a disciplined poet, but by an addict/alcoholic with mental illness. If we take this approach the other details don’t matter as much, as the song is an allegory. Also, Townes did have a brother, so that fits this interpretation. It could be that he withdrew and “sank into his dreams” after that event.
Wikipedia says that giving Townes that treatment was the greatest regret of his mother’s life and that he lost all of his long term memory as a result. Perhaps this refers to the insulin shock therapy that Townes went through when his parents brought him back from college at CU. That interpretation gives meaning to the line: Still others believe that the song is about Townes himself. Other posters believe that Lefty was a compadre of Pancho who sold him out for a payoff from the Federales. Jesus may have been an outlaw, but he wasn’t a bandit. One person posting on this site says that Townes said the song was about Jesus and Judas. I have had a great time searching the posts here and getting other’s ideas on the meaning. I will add that she was a folk and blues singer, and music major, when I met her in 1978, so I respect her taste. She referred to it as “haunting” and I agree. At the end I played her Emmy Lou’s version and she agreed it was the most moving. She couldn’t remember who did it, so we did a search for the song on Rhapsody and we listened to many versions. This first search ended with nothing solid, so I let it go.Ī few nights ago my wife came home from work talking about a live version of the song she heard on KBCO, a Denver station that records many musicians when they play in Denver. I was curious to find out if it was based on a real event. After listening to it on the way home from work one night I got on the internet to find out more about the song. Interestingly, he chose Harris version of “Pancho and Lefty” though I know he is familiar with Willie and Merle’s version. A few years back a friend gave me a CD with a collection of Townes’ songs, mostly sung by others.
I loved it then, but didn’t spend a lot of time trying to figure out the meaning. I first heard this song by Emmy Lou Harris back in the late 70’s. My InterpretationMusic lovers, I just found this site ( /songs/view/142055/) while doing an internet search on “Pancho and Lefty.”
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