Pancho and Lefty

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It’s one of the most beloved and recognizable Texas country songs ever recorded, but do you know what inspired Pancho and Lefty?Willie Nelsonand Merle Haggard made the song famous with their 1983 duet, but the song had its origins on a 1972 album by the man widely regarded as the greatest Texas songwriter of all-time: Townes Van Zandt.

Pancho and Lefty is a story song, one of the finest of the genre. It tells of a Mexican bandit named Pancho and his friendship with Lefty, the man who ultimately betrays him. Many of the details in the lyrics mirror the life of Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa, who was killed by unknown assassins in 1923. Villa’s dying words? “Don’t let it end like this, tell them I said something great.” Or perhapsnot; it’s…