Pancho and Lefty

This article may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (July 2011)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2011)

"Pancho and Lefty" is a song written by country singer and songwriter Townes Van Zandt. Van Zandt first recorded it for his 1972 album, The Late Great Townes Van Zandt. Emmylou Harris then covered the song for her 1977 album, Luxury Liner and the song became a number one country hit in 1983 when Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson adopted it as the title track of their duet album Pancho & Lefty. Steve Earle performs "Pancho and Lefty" on his 2009 album Townes, which is composed of songs written by Townes Van Zandt, Earle's friend and mentor.

Content and composition

The song tells the story of a Mexican bandit named Pancho and a more enigmatic character, Lefty. The song tells of Pancho's death and implies that he was betrayed by his associate Lefty who was paid off by the Mexican federales.

Although the lyrics are not exactly reconcilable with the historic details of the life and death of the famous Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa, Van Zandt does not rule out the idea. In an interview, he recalled, "I realize that I wrote it, but it's hard to take credit for the writing, because it came from out of the blue. It came through me and it's a real nice song, and I think, uh, I've finally found out what it's about. I've always wondered what it's about. I kinda always knew it wasn't about Pancho Villa, and then somebody told me that Pancho Villa had a buddy whose name in Spanish meant 'Lefty.' But in the song, my song, Pancho gets hung. 'They only let him hang around out of kindness I suppose' and the real Pancho Villa was, uh, assassinated." ^[1]

Chart performance

Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard

Notes and sources

1. ^ 1984 PBS series, "Austin Pickers". Ed Heffelfinger. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZrAy6iXj7o

External links

• Chords and lyrics from the Townes Van Zandt Blue Sky Homepage
• Song review at Allmusic
• Townes Van Zandt explains "Pancho and Lefty" (MPEG video) from Townes Van Zandt Central