Pancho and Lefty

For the album of the same name on which this song is featured, see Pancho & Lefty (album).
"Pancho and Lefty"
Song by Townes Van Zandt from the album The Late Great Townes Van Zandt
Released 1972
Genre Country
Length 3:40
Label Tomato
Writer(s) Townes Van Zandt
Producer(s)
The Late Great Townes Van Zandt track listing

"Fraulein"
(7)
"Pancho and Lefty"
(8)
"If I Needed You"
(9)
"Pancho and Lefty"
Single by Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson
from the album Pancho & Lefty
B-side "Opportunity to Cry"
Released April 30, 1983
Genre Country
Length 4:44
Label Epic
Producer(s)
Merle Haggard singles chronology
"You Take Me for Granted"
(1983)
"Pancho and Lefty"
(1983)
"What Am I Gonna Do (With the Rest of My Life)"
(1983)
Willie Nelson singles chronology
"Little Old Fashioned Karma"
(1983)
"Pancho and Lefty"
(1983)
"Why Do I Have to Choose"
(1983)

"Pancho and Lefty" is a song written by country music artist Townes Van Zandt. Often considered his "most enduring and well-known song," Van Zandt first recorded it for his 1972 album, The Late Great Townes Van Zandt.[1]

Cover versions

Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.[3]

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, 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 assassinated."[4]

In the same interview, Van Zandt recalled, "We got stopped by these two policeman and...they said 'What do you do for a living?', and I said, 'Well, I'm a songwriter', and they both kind of looked around like 'pitiful, pitiful', and so on to that I added, 'I wrote that song Pancho and Lefty. You ever heard that song Pancho and Lefty? I wrote that', and they looked back around and they looked at each other and started grinning, and it turns out that their squad car, you know their partnership, it was two guys, it was an Anglo and a Hispanic, and it turns out, they're called Pancho and Lefty ... so I think maybe that's what it's about, those two guys ... I hope I never see them again."[4]

Chart performance

Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard

Chart (1983) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles 1
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary 21
Canadian RPM Country Tracks 1

Notes and sources

  1. Beviglia, Jim (30 April 2012). "Townes van Zandt, "Pancho and Lefty"". American Songwriter. Retrieved 5 June 2012.
  2. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 148.
  3. Western Writers of America (2010). "The Top 100 Western Songs". American Cowboy. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014.
  4. 1 2 1984 PBS series, "Austin Pickers". Ed Heffelfinger. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZrAy6iXj7o
Preceded by
"The Closer You Get"
by Alabama
Billboard Hot Country Singles
number-one single

July 23, 1983
Succeeded by
"I Always Get Lucky with You"
by George Jones
RPM Country Tracks
number-one single

August 6, 1983
Succeeded by
"He's a Heartache (Looking for a Place to Happen)"
by Janie Fricke
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