acoustic guitar covers – Three Days to Darkness

Townes Van Zandt’s Pancho and Lefty

Townes Van Zandt’s life touched mine only tangentially until recently. I first heard of Van Zandt through Nanci Griffith’s cover of his song “Tecumseh Valley.” Like many Van Zandt ballads, it tells a tragic and beautifully melodic story about a woman named Caroline. “Techumseh Valley” is about a life, a time, and a place far from the life I’ve led. Yet, it’s a song I’ll never forget. Although Van Zandt never became a big name in the music world during his career, it is because of the depth, emotion, and poignancy of songs like “Tecumseh Valley” that the singer and songwriter is remembered and celebrated today, almost thirty years after his death.

There are two more Van Zandt songs that have really touched me. They are “If I Needed You” and “Pancho and Lefty.” I’m covering “Pancho and Lefty” here. “If I Needed You” will arrive in the near future.

Thanks for listening.

ENHANCED VERSION

SOLO VERSION

Breaking Up With Kindness

The ending of a love relationship is often painful and dramatic. In “Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye,” Leonard Cohen has penned a poetic plea for a graceful, respectful breakup that honors the beauty of a dying connection, rather than dwelling on the pain, anger, and lingering regret of the ending.

Cohen wrote the song in 1966 on a decrepit bed in the Penn Terminal Hotel in Midtown Manhattan. In 1967, Judy Collins, who became Cohen’s good friend, recorded the song for her album Wildflowers. The following month, Cohen’s own version was released on his debut album, Songs of Leonard Cohen.

Cohen described the song as “a moment of clarity in the middle of a love affair’s end.” He also explained, “It’s about acknowledging that love changes but doesn’t truly die. The bodies may part, but the connection remains in the light and the words left behind.”

While introducing “Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye” during his 1976 Live at Montreux performance, Cohen memorably said: “As you eastern metaphysicians know, just as from the darkest mud blooms the whitest lotus, so from the brownest hotel room you occasionally get a good song.”

Playing heartfelt, beautiful songs like this one juices me up. Enjoy these cover versions.

Solo Version