| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – The Weeping Song Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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"We heard of you, Father, we heard of you. I have buried my little son, and I have come on a pilgrimage. I have been in three monasteries, but they told me, 'Go, Nastasya, go to them'- that is to you. I have come; I was yesterday at the service, and to-day I have come to you." "What are you weeping for?" "It's my little son I'm grieving for, Father. he was three years old- three years all but three months. For my little boy, Father, I'm in anguish, for my little boy. He was the last one left. We had four, my Nikita and I, and now we've no children, our dear ones have all gone I buried the first three without grieving overmuch, and now I have buried the last I can't forget him. He seems always standing before me. He never leaves me. He has withered my heart. I look at his little clothes, his little shirt, his little boots, and I wail. I lay out all that is left of him, all his little things. I look at them and wail. I say to Nikita, my husband, 'let me go on a pilgrimage, master.' He is a driver. We're not poor people, Father, not poor; he drives our own horse. It's all our own, the horse and the carriage. And what good is it all to us now? My Nikita has begun drinking while I am away. He's sure to." - Fyodor Dostoevsky, "The Brothers Karamazov" |
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| Neil Young – The Old Homestead Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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This is a pretty oblique song, but there's one line in it that makes it possible to interpret as quite autobiographical. That line, of course, is "Why do you ride that crazy horse" - or more precisely perhaps, "Why do you ride that Crazy Horse". In 1974, CSN&Y had "pushed it over the end" (to quote a phrase) with the disastrous tour and aborted album. Neil reformed Crazy Horse and over the next few years recorded, threw away, pieced together and released a number of erratic-but-great records - now with Crazy Horse, now solo, now with various friends. Sometimes he it brought him success ("Rust Never Sleeps"), sometimes he was on bar band tours as a backup guitarist in The Ducks. It's the story of Neil Young's career: he follows his whims, wherever they take him - sometimes for good, sometimes for bad. So in other words: the rider and the shadow are BOTH Neil, galloping through his own head - trying to understand himself. The shadow could be seen as the more perverse side of his artistry - the one that keeps wanting to head for the ditch, try something different and doesn't show remorse when colleagues get left behind (viz Neil's written note to Stephen Stills as he left their 1976 tour; "Funny how some things that start spontaneously end that way. Eat a peach, Neil.") The three birds - connected with money - might be Crosby, Stills and Nash; financially sound, artistically dead ("prehistoric" - see also "Thrasher": "There was nothing that they needed, nothing left to find"). The telephone booth - the possibility to "sell out" and go back to the big time anytime he wants. But the rider wants the moon, not the birds blocking it. And as the sky is filled with beautiful birds - all the little popstars - his shadow makes him leave the phone booth (though he keeps the change - keeps his options open) and keeps riding on his own, searching for his own path. Still feels the pull. |
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| Neil Young – Crime In The City Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| Agree that this is a great song, though it's too bad that he edited it for length. The full-length version, "Sixty To Zero", is only available on bootlegs. | |
| Neil Young – Like an Inca Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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"Like an Inca" appears to be a rewritten (and watered-down) version of the (apparently) very personal song "Hitchhiker" which he has played live a couple of times. It shares a melody and some of the lyrics, but the original has a much different focus... When I was a hitchhiker on the road I had to count on you But you needed me to ease the load And for conversation too Or did you just drive on through? You didn't see me in Toronto When I first tried out some hash Smoked some then and I'll do it again If I only had some cash Only had some cash. Then I tried amphetamines And my head was in a glass Taped underneath the speedometer wires Of my '48 Buick's dash. But I knew that wouldn't last. Then came California Where I first saw open water In the land of opportunity I knew I was getting hotter I knew I was getting hotter. But the neon lights And the endless nights The neon lights And the endless nights The neon lights And the endless nights The neon lights And the endless nights They took me by surprise The doctor gave me valium But I still couldn't close my eyes I still couldn't close my eyes. Then came paranoia And it ran away with me I couldn't sign my autograph Or appear on TV Or see or be seen See or be seen Or see or be seen. Living in the country Sounded good to me Smoking grass while the summer lasts In the real organic sea Where everything was green Everything was green. Then we had a kid and we split apart I was living on the road A little cocaine went a long long way To ease that different load But my head did explode My head did explode. I wish I was an Aztec Or a runner in Peru I would build such beautiful buildings To house the chosen few Like an Inca from Peru. When I was a hitchhiker on the road I had to count on you But you needed me to ease the load And for conversation too Or did you just drive on Did you just drive on Did you just drive on through? |
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| First Floor Power – Scissors, bag or a stone Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| Hehe. Lovely piece of Swenglish here: "Scissors, bag or stone" is the game most English-speakers would know as "Rock, paper, scissors". Not sure if that's intentional, but it's pretty fitting for a song about feeling uncomfortable in a new city, sung in a not-quite-comfortable language... | |
| The Fiery Furnaces – Spaniolated Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| "'My Fair Lady' a-humming" - indeed, the chorus is borrowed from "My Fair Lady". Love and theft, as Dylan called it. Using an established phrase in a new context. | |
| The Fiery Furnaces – Bright Blue Tie Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| About visiting people in Stockholm. Pretty straight-forward. | |
| The Fiery Furnaces – We Got Back the Plague Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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According to Matthew F, this is based on a true story; around the time of... I think it was the 2002 election, there was an actual case of bubonic plague in New York. Great song. "Read in my book on a Sunday afternoon/So it's easy to think the end's coming soon" - referring, of course, to evangelical Christians believing Armageddon is close. |
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| Lou Reed – The Kids Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| The really scary thing about this song is the way Lou spends most of it listing the shortcomings of the woman - "that miserable, rotten SLUT!" - making us think that taking her kids from her is probably best for all involved. Then once that idea has had time to sink in, WHAM. He hits us with the other side of it, the kids screaming their hearts out. Sadistic, and absolutely beautiful. | |
| Lou Reed – The Day John Kennedy Died Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| Self-explanatory, sure, but the way it's told is magnificent. The way it progresses very subtly from the dream of a perfect world to the realization that it WAS just a dream, the way the reports go from "the president's been shot and may be dead" to "someone shot him in the FACE". This is Lou the prose lyricist at his best, proving once again that "cynic" is just what you call the biggest romantics after they've had their illusions taken from them. | |
| Spiritualized – Cop Shoot Cop Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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"Cop": To obtain illegal drugs. "Shoot": To inject said drugs. Repeat as needed. |
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| The Knife – You Take My Breath Away Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| A duet with Jenny Wilson from the band First Floor Power (whose first EP was called "We Are The People", hence the chorus). So it's basically a little bit of mutual admiration between two great bands, and a testimony to the power of music. | |
| Bob Dylan – The Levee's Gonna Break Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| Above all, of course, it refers to Memphis Minnie's "When The Levee Breaks" (also recorded by Led Zeppelin). | |
| Monty Python – The Idiot Song Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| Parody of John Lennon's "Imagine". Later stolen by Oasis who used the melody for "Whatever". Neil Innes supposedly sued the Gallaghers. | |
| Gillian Welch – Ruination Day (Part 2) Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| Also references the old songs "500 Miles" (a civil war ballad, I think, recorded by among others The Kingston Trio) and "Casey Jones", based on the true story of an engineer who crashed his own train but managed to save his passengers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casey_Jones | |
| Grandaddy – Miner At The Dial-A-View Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Isn't the title a very obvious pun? "Dial-a-view" - remove the D, say it out loud and see what you get... I don't really see the album as post-apocalyptic; it's about today. Alienation, reliance on technology, experiencing life not through your own eyes but through machines that choose what you get to see... Of course, you could argue that this world IS post-apocalyptic, or at least apocalyptic, but that's another discussion. |
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| Roger Waters – Late Home Tonight, Part II Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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"The song is about something having to do with war." Gee, you think? The song is about how a mom'n'apple pie young kid can be told to just follow orders, follow routine, fly halfway around the world, bomb another country, and the only negative consequence he'll suffer is that he'll be slightly later home than usual. Chilling. |
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| David Bowie – The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| Early 70s revisited; taking two songs Bowie worked on - his own "Oh! You Pretty Things!" and the Stooges' "Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell" and looking at where the world has gone since then. | |
| David Bowie – Song for Bob Dylan Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Another in a line of songs - Joan Baez's "To Bobby" and Country Joe & The Fish's "Hey Bobby" spring to mind - seeming to think that Dylan had some sort of responsibility to lead the people ("Give us back our unity, Give us back our family" - what is he, Jesus?) and sing about social injustice rather than his own experiences. "Judas!" indeed. "I was sick of the way my lyrics had been extrapolated, their meanings subverted into polemics and that I had been anointed as the Big Bubba of Rebellion, High Priest of Protest, the Duke of Disobedience, Leader of the Freeloaders, Kaiser of Apostasy, Arch-bishop of Anarchy, the Big Cheese. What the hell are we talking about? They were songs - not sermons." - Bob Dylan But a nice song nonetheless, and the "voice like sand and glue" line is great. (Oh, and incidentally, Dave: Dylan legally changed his name to Robert Dylan in 1962.) |
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| David Bowie – Rock 'n' Roll Suicide Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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There are two ways to interpret this song, IMO: 1. Ziggy/Bowie reaching out to everyone who's as depressed as he is - "You're not alone! Give me your hands! You're wonderful!" - asking them to help each other NOT die. 2. Ziggy/Bowie reaching out to everyone who's as depressed as he is asking them to JOIN him in death. After all, time is gonna get us all anyway. "Don't let the sunlight blast your shadow, don't let the milklfloats ride your mind" - ie be gone by sunrise. And then the album (and eventually, as saturnine pointed out, Bowie's whole career as Ziggy) ends in crash of music and Ziggy is never seen again. Whichever explanation you choose, it's wonderfully subversive. |
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| Black Box Recorder – Rock N Roll Suicide Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Cover of the David Bowie song, of course. While it's creepy, I'm still not sure if it measures up to the original. One of the things I always liked about Bowie's version is the way it's quite two-faced; is the "You're not alone - give me your hands" a plea from Ziggy to his fellow suicides to help each other, save each others' life, or is he inviting them to join him in death? BBR seem to have picked a side; Sarah's detached voice and the general moroseness of the song sounds more like... well... "Life is unfair, kill yourself" to quote a phrase. It's beautifully done and everything, and BBR are the perfect band to do it, but it lacks the double-edged threat of the original. |
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| Tom Waits – Kommienezuspadt Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| "Komme nie zu spät" is "Dont' be late" in German. I don't know if there's a point to his misspelling it, but it goes along with all the pretend German he spews in the song between the English lines. "Sei punktlich" means "Be punctual". Basically it's the rabbit stressing down the hole as if his life depended on it. Fun song. | |
| Tom Waits – Invitation to the Blues Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| My favourite Tom Waits song. He KNOWS she's not saint, he KNOWS she's got baggage, he KNOWS it'll end in tears... and yet you get back on that horse called romance. And the imagery, man. "You feel just like Cagney, she looks like Rita Hayworth"... yet you get the feeling she probably isn't THAT good-looking in real life, she's getting on a bit, and he's just a drifter who's nothing like Jimmy Cagney. But hey, that's life. | |
| Bob Dylan – Senor (Tales of Yankee Power) Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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A beautiful, multi-layered song. I always thought that this was partly inspired by the story of Don Quijote, as seen from the perspective of his servant Sancho Panza; the poor man following the rich man, doing what he's told although he never learns exactly why and doesn't understand that his master is, in fact, mad. Then, of course, there's the fact that "Señor" means not only "Sir" but also "Lord" (as in "God") in Spanish. And there's the alternate title: "Tales of Yankee power". Where is America going, "Lincoln County Road" - the road to freedom - or Armageddon? And the drug reference. And the mysterious, nameless "she". Bottom line? I think the song is about the dangers of becoming so focused on something, following something so blindly that you lose all ability to decide for yourself. Whether that something is a politician, religion, love or drugs. (And yes, I know that doesn't rhyme very well with the fact that Dylan himself became a crusader for Christ shortly after recording this.) But at the end of the song, the narrator is none the wiser; he's still asking his "Señor" questions - where are we going, what are we waiting for, when is it going to happen, what the hell is the point of all this - that are never going to be answered. He's a slave to his own need to have his questions answered, but we see no sign that they ever will be. And so he remains. |
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| Bob Dylan – If You See Her, Say Hello Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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This is one of those songs whose lyrics have changed around a lot as Dylan has re-examined his life. The above is the released version. The original demo (available on The Bootleg Series) had the much rawer (and less poetic) verse: If you're making love to her, kiss her for the kid who always has respected her for doin' what she did Oh, I know it had to be that way, it was written in the cards. But the bitter taste still lingers on, it all came down so hard. Then in 1976, as the divorce was becoming unavoidable, the song turned real vicious: If you see her say hello, she might be in North Saigon She left here in a hurry; I don't know what she was on You might say that I'm in disarray and for me time's standing still Oh I've never gotten over her, I don't think I ever will A bright light from me I saw, a shattering of souls Just one of them reckless situations, which nobody controls Well, the menagerie of life rolls by, right before my eyes And we all do the best we can, which should come as no surprise If you're making love to her, watch it from the rear You'll never know when I'll be back, or liable to appear For it's natural to dream of peace as it is for rules to break And right now I've got not much to lose, so you'd better stay awake Sundown, silver moon, hitting on the days My head can't understand no more, what my heart don't tolerate Well I know she'll be back someday, of that there is no doubt And when that moment comes - Lord, give me the strength to keep her out In more recent versions the "either I'm too sensitive" line has become "Her hair was blue, her eyes were too, her voice was so sweet and soft" (which has GOT to be some sort of joke, unless Bob is dating the Golden Girls) and the final line "If she's passing back this way, and you know I hope she don't/Tell her she can look me up, I'll either be here or I won't". |
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| Bob Dylan – You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| Reportedly written about Ellen Bernstein, a representative at CBS whom Dylan had a brief affair with; she did indeed have red hair ("crimson hair across your face") and came from Ashtabula. | |
| The Breeders – 900 Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Inspired by John Franklin' expedition to find the Northwest Passage in 1845. The ship got frozen in the arctic ice and the crew tried to walk across the ice to safety - but because they were a) half-mad from hunger and lead poisoning, and b) British, they ended up trying to carry everything valuable they could salvage from the ship. Tables, chairs, bibles, silverware... The only thing they DIDN'T have was boots and coats. Everybody died. Some of them ate each other. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Franklin Oh, and great song. One of my favourite Breeders songs, actually. |
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| Sex Pistols – Pretty Vacant Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Glen Matlock has admitted that the chorus is ripped off from ABBA's "SOS". Sing along to hear it: "Oh we're so pretty, oh so pretty - we're vay-cunt!" "So when you're near me, darling, can't you hear me, SOS" "Glen was a closet ABBA fan, and funny enough, so was Sid. We got rid of one ABBA fan and got another in its place." - John Lydon Brilliant song at any rate, hooky and sing-along-worthy but still in your face. |
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| Sparklehorse – Spirit Ditch Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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I think there are at least 2 references to other works in this. "Burned-out basement" - from Neil Young's "After The Gold Rush". "The owls have been talking to me" - from "Twin Peaks". To me, that somehow sums up Sparklehorse's music: A very stoned Neil Young seen through a David Lynch filter. Nothing makes perfect sense, yet somehow it does, and creeps me out to no end - but I love it. |
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| Bob Dylan – Dirge Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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I always had a feeling that this song was partly inspired by Dylan's relationship with his fans. When he (quickly) wrote this, he hadn't been on tour for 7 1/2 years after the chaotic end of the '66 tour, was about to jump in again after a long period out of the public eye. ("I've paid the price of solitude, but at least I'm out of debt") The mixed feelings of performing and being hounded by fanatical fans, journalists and managers looking for the Spokesperson Of The 60s Generation... "Heard your songs of freedom and man forever stripped Acting out his folly while his back is being whipped Like a slave in orbit he's beaten 'til he's tame All for a moment's glory and it's a dirty, rotten shame" |
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| Bob Dylan – She's Your Lover Now Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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There's a solo version of this out on bootlegs, which is just Bob alone at the piano stomping his foot for rhythm and singing with almost scary intensity. The version above leaves out the last verse: Oh, why must I fall into this sadness? Do I look like Charles Atlas? Do you think I still got what you still got, baby? Her voice is really warm It's just that it ain't got no form But it's just like a dead man's last pistol shot, baby Oh, your mouth used to be naked, your eyes used to be so blue Your hurts used to be so nameless and your tears used to be so few Now your eyes cry wolf while your mouth cries: "I'm not scared of animals like you." And you there's really nothing about you I can recall I just saw you that one time and you were just there, that's all But I've already been kissed, I'm not gonna get into this I couldn't make it anyhow You do it for me You're her lover now |
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| Bob Dylan – Band of the Hand (It's Hell Time Man!) Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| Written for the movie "Band Of The Hand", so I'm guessing the lyrics are inspired by the plot of the movie. Or maybe I'm just trying to excuse one of Dylan's most awful lyrics. | |
| The Band – Long Distance Operator Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| Most likely written by Bob Dylan; it was performed at least once with The Hawks/The Band in 1965. | |
| Bob Dylan – Brownsville Girl Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Brilliant song, and there's not many of Dylan's 80s tunes you can say that about. Written partly as a response to Lou Reed's "Doing The Things That We Want To" - which is a tribute to among others Sam Shepard. Dylan keeps getting stuck on the image from "The Gunfighter" and "can't remember why I was in it or what part I was supposed to play" - is he the young upstart, the wise lawman or the oldie has-been? Mix that up with the memories of a woman he once loved and the one he's with now, various ruminations on storytelling, identities and "keeping on keeping on". Something tells me there's some very personal stuff in this, buried under the western clichés and whatnot; the man from "Dont Look Back" looks back, 20 years later. Also, I love the chorus girls' "Oh yeah?" after Dylan claims not to have any regrets. Oh, and how the hell does he fit all those words into one line? |
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| Bob Dylan – Abandoned Love Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Brilliant examination of knowing a relationship is over but not wanting it to be, wanting to be the first to leave but not wanting to leave at all... There's a live version of this where the last three verses are different (and better, IMO). I can't play the game no more, I can't abide by their stupid rules which kept me sick inside They've been made by men who've given up the search Whose gods are dead and whose queens are in the church. Send out for Saint John the Evangelist All my friends are drunk, they can be dismissed. My head says that it's time to make a change But my heart is telling me I love ya but you're strange. So step lightly, darling, near the wall Put on your heavy make-up, wear your shawl. Won't you descend from the throne, from where you sit? Let me feel your love one more time before I abandon it. |
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| Van Morrison – Baby Please Don't Go Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| Including this one. Old blues number, done by hundreds if not thousands of artists. Fair guess is that Them picked it up from Muddy Waters. | |
| Stina Nordenstam – Mary Bell Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Mary Bell was a 10-year-old English girl who murdered two little boys. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Bell Stina obviously changes the facts here. "One was nearly seven, her sister almost five" - the two *boys* Bell killed were 4 and 3. Gives the song a coating of fiction and universality. How many children are abused? How many go on to abuse others? Stina wants to protect Mary Bell, wants her to be safe, before it all went wrong for her... |
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| Stina Nordenstam – This Time, John Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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One of Stina's "child murder" songs: this one about John Hron, a Swedish teenager who was brutally murdered by four neo-nazis. See http://www1.us.nizkor.org/hweb/people/h/hron-john/murder-of-john-hron.html What I love about this song is the freeze-frame of the moment. You can't stop bad things from happening, but you can remember them. The dead aren't truly dead until we forget they lived. "But you're still floating." |
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| Townes Van Zandt – A Song For Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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From Townes' last studio album before his death, I believe. One should always be careful in assuming that a song is autobiographical, but let's just say this is a song for someone who's spent his whole life traveling, making music, failing to be successful, and who now sees the finish line up ahead much too soon. I always thought the title was a very dry joke, depending on any cover of the song of course listing the songwriter on the record sleeve. After all these years of writing songs for others, here finally is "A Song For (Townes Van Zandt)". There's a heartbreaking version on the "Together At The Bluebird Cafe" album. |
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| Townes Van Zandt – Pancho & Lefty Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Loved this song even long before I finally got what happens in it - and then I loved it even more. Key lines: "Where he got the bread to go ain't nobody knows", "He just did what he had to do" Lefty sells Pancho to the cops. He betrays his best friend (and possibly more than that, if you want to over-interpret the "gun outside his pants for all the honest world to feel" line). Pancho gets killed, Lefty gets to live with the guilt and 30 pieces of silver. Yet Townes has at least as much sympathy for Lefty as for Pancho - "Pancho needs your prayers, it's true, but save a few for Lefty too". Lefty's the villain of the piece, but also the one who ends up losing everything. Extremely sad and beautiful song. |
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