jackassworld

Below is one of my favorite songs of all time. It’s called “Pancho and Lefty” and it was written by the brilliant and touched Texas songwriter Townes Van Zandt. You may remember that Hisao Shinagawa, who we featured here on jackassworld twice in the past month, was very good friends with Townes before he passed away in 1997. He died at age 52 as he had vowed, because that’s how many cards were in a deck. Van Zandt was an odd magical bird who spent time in a mental institution for falling four stories out of a window “just to see what it felt like.” As I have stated, his family stuck him in the loony bin for that one. Once inside, the doctors (under his family’s orders) fried out all memories of his childhood with shock treatment. Tragic stuff, I know, and if you want to hear more about Townes’ music and life there is an excellent documentary about him called Be Here To Love Me.

I am not writing this just to tell you to check out Townes Van Zandt (although I would be thrilled if you did), I am writing this specifically because this song had a huge impact on me. I listened to it for quite a while thinking it was about two friends, Pancho and Lefty. But then one day I really listened to the lyrics and I realized that Lefty may have fucked over Pancho and sold him out to the federales. I was heartbroken that Lefty would have done such a thing, because I really thought these guys were pals. I called my cousin Roger immediately to ask him if in fact that was the case. Did Lefty betray Pancho? He replied that that’s how the song was written, or at least that’s how he took it. I am not lying when I say to you my eyes welled up, and I immediately asked Roger to absolve Lefty by writing another verse to the song. My cousin, who would do anything for me, declined this request. It’s the first and only time he has ever said no to me and that’s no bullshit. He said, “That would be like re-writing the end to Romeo and Juliet,” and my shoulders sunk realizing the full absurdity of my plea.

I did get a little relief when I was watching Be Here To Love Me and there’s a small section on this song. The gist of it was Townes wrote it ambiguously on purpose. He left it for the listener to decide what happened between Pancho and Lefty. I damn near jumped out of my shoes when I heard that. Woohoo!, I thought, Pancho and Lefty are friends once again … at least in my eyes.

Today what I want to know is after reading the lyrics to this song, do you think Lefty betrayed Pancho, or do you think he remained loyal to him up to the end? I know, I know, I may be a little irrationally obsessed with these lyrics, but I want to know what you all think about them. I have concocted a whole story in my head that proves Lefty loyal to Pancho, and I will share that with you in the comments section later in the day, but right now I want to hear from you. Was Lefty low down or was he not?

Sincerely,

Johnny Knoxville

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

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