This is the Austin City Limits version of the song, but there's also live versions which substitute the line "the pushers and the pawns" for "the pussies and the johns".
On ACL he describes he was inspired to write this after seeing Townes Van Zandt perform about three months before his death. A few months after that, Johnny Cash died and this song was born.
This is the Austin City Limits version of the song, but there's also live versions which substitute the line "the pushers and the pawns" for "the pussies and the johns".
On ACL he describes he was inspired to write this after seeing Townes Van Zandt perform about three months before his death. A few months after that, Johnny Cash died and this song was born.