In 1983, six years after Emmylou Harris had first popularized it, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard covered his song "Pancho and Lefty", reaching number one on the Billboard country music chart. Much of Van Zandt’s life was spent touring various dive bars, often living in cheap motel rooms and backwoods cabins. For much of the 1970s, he lived in a simple shack without electricity or a phone.
His influence has been cited by countless artists across multiple genres, and his music has been recorded or performed by numerous artists, including Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Norah Jones, Emmylou Harris, The Counting Crows, Steve Earle, Robert Earl Keen Jr., Nanci Griffith, Guy Clark, Wade Bowen, Gillian Welch, Pat Green and Natalie Maines.
He suffered from a series of drug addictions, alcoholism, and was given a psychiatric diagnosis of bipolar disorder. When he was young, the now-discredited insulin shock therapy erased much of his long-term memory.
Van Zandt died on New Years Day 1997 from cardiac arrythmia caused by health problems stemming from years of substance abuse. A revival of interest in Van Zandt occurred in the 2000s. During the decade, two books, a documentary film (Be Here to Love Me), and numerous magazine articles about the singer were written.
Born in Fort Worth into a wealthy family, Van Zandt was a third-great-grandson of Isaac Van Zandt (a prominent leader of the Republic of Texas) and a second great-nephew of Khleber Miller Van Zandt (a major in the Confederate army and one of the founders of Fort Worth). Van Zandt County in east Texas was named after his family in 1848.
Townes's parents were Harris Williams Van Zandt (1913–1966) and Dorothy Townes (1919–1983). He had two siblings, Bill and Donna (1941–2011). Harris was a corporate lawyer, and his career required the family to move several times during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1952, the family transplanted from Fort Worth to Midland, Texas, for six months before moving to Billings, Montana.
At Christmas in 1956, Townes's father gave him a guitar, which he practiced while wandering the countryside. He would later tell an interviewer that "watching Elvis Presley's October 28, 1956, performance on The Ed Sullivan Show was the starting point for me becoming a guitar player... I just thought that Elvis had all the money in the world, all the Cadillacs and all the girls, and all he did was play the guitar and sing. That made a big impression on me." In 1958 the family moved to Boulder, Colorado. Van Zandt would remember his time in Colorado fondly and would often visit it as an adult. He would later refer to Colorado in "My Proud Mountains", "Colorado Girl", and "Snowin' on Raton". Townes was a good student and active in team sports. In grade school, he received a high IQ score, and his parents began grooming him to become a lawyer or senator. Fearing that his family would move again, he willingly decided to attend the Shattuck School, in Faribault, Minnesota. He received a score of 1170 when he took the SAT in January 1962. His family soon moved to Houston, Texas.
The University of Colorado at Boulder accepted Van Zandt as a student in 1962. In the spring of his second year, his parents flew to Boulder to bring Townes back to Houston, apparently worried about his binge drinking and episodes of depression. They admitted him to the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, where he was diagnosed with manic depression. He received three months of insulin shock therapy, which erased much of his long-term memory. Afterwards, his mother claimed her "biggest regret in life was that she had allowed that treatment to occur". In 1965, he was accepted into the University of Houston's pre-law program. Soon after he attempted to join the Air Force, but was rejected because of a doctor's diagnosis that labelled him "an acute manic-depressive who has made minimal adjustments to life". He quit school around 1967, having been inspired by his singer-songwriter heroes to pursue a career in playing music.
Van Zandt was addicted to heroin and alcohol throughout his adult life. At times he would become drunk on stage and forget the lyrics to his songs. At one point, his heroin habit was so intense that he offered Kevin Eggers the publishing rights to all of the songs on each of his first four albums for $20. At various points, his friends saw him shoot up not just heroin, but also cocaine, vodka, as well as a mixture of rum and Coke. On at least one occasion, he shot up heroin in the presence of his son J.T., who was only eight years old at the time.
As a result of Van Zandt's constant drinking, Harold Eggers, Kevin's brother, was hired on as his tour manager and 24-hour caretaker in 1976, a partnership that would last for the rest of the singer's life. Although the musician was many years older than he was, Eggers would later say that Van Zandt was his "first child." His battles with addiction led him to be admitted to rehab almost a dozen times throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Medical records from his time in recovery centers show that he believed his drinking had become a problem around 1973, and by 1982 he was drinking at least a pint of vodka daily. Doctors' notes reported: "He admits to hearing voices, mostly musical voices", and "Affect is blunted and mood is sad. Judgment and insight is impaired." At various points in his life, he was prescribed to take the antidepressant Zoloft and the mood stabilizer lithium. His final and longest period of sobriety during his adult life was a period of about a year in 1989 and 1990.
Van Zandt has been referred to as a cult musician and "a songwriter's songwriter." Musician Steve Earle, who met him in 1978 and considered Van Zandt a mentor, once called Van Zandt "the best songwriter in the whole world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that." The quote was printed on a sticker featured on the packing of At My Window, much to Van Zandt's displeasure. In the years following, the quote was often cited by the press, much to Van Zandt and Earle's embarrassment; in 2009, Earle told the New York Times, "Did I ever believe that Townes was better than Bob Dylan? No." But he concluded at the end of the same article that, "As a songwriter, you won't find anybody better." Earle has championed the songwriter on a number of occasions: his eldest son, Justin Townes Earle, also a musician, is named after Van Zandt. Earle wrote the song "Fort Worth Blues" as a tribute to the singer in the late 1990s, and in 2009 released an album titled Townes, which featured all covers of Van Zandt songs.
His Texas-grounded impact stretched farther than country. He has been cited as a source of inspiration by such notable artists as Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Willie Nelson, Guthrie Thomas, John Prine, Lyle Lovett, Chelsea Wolfe, Scott Avett of The Avett Brothers, Emmylou Harris, Nanci Griffith, Cowboy Junkies, Vetiver, Guy Clark, Devendra Banhart, Norah Jones, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, The Be Good Tanyas and Jolie Holland, Rowland S. Howard, Michael Weston King, Josh Ritter, Gillian Welch, Garth Brooks, Simon Joyner, Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes, Caleb Followill of Kings of Leon, Laura Marling, Andrew Adkins and Frank Turner. Folk musician Shakey Graves has credited his fast-paced, rhythmic style of finger picked guitar playing partially to Van Zandt's influence.
In 1994, Israeli singer David Broza performed with Van Zandt during a Writers in the Round concert in Houston. When Van Zandt died, he left a shoe box full of unreleased poems and lyrics with a request that Broza set them to music. The resulting album was Night Dawn: The Unpublished Poetry of Townes Van Zandt.
In 2012, Van Zandt was inducted into the Texas Heritage Songwriters Hall of Fame.
In July 2012, Neurot Recordings released a three-way split album in tribute to Van Zandt, featuring Neurosis singer/guitarists Scott Kelly, Steve Von Till and doom/stoner metal legend Scott "Wino" Weinrich.
On June 18, 2015, Van Zandt was inducted into the second year's ceremony of the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame, along with Asleep at the Wheel, Loretta Lynn, Guy Clark and Flaco Jimenez. Gillian Welch inducted Van Zandt by telling stories about how he had come to her early gigs in Nashville and how he had bolstered her confidence in writing sad songs.
No Place To Fall
Townes Van Zandt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And I needed to
Could I count on you
To lay me down?
I'd never tell you no lies
I don't believe it's wise
You got pretty eyes
I ain't much of a lover it's true
I'm here then I'm gone
And I'm forever blue
But I'm sure wanting you
Skies full of silver and gold
Try to hide the sun
But it can't be done
Least not for long
And if we help each other grow
While the light of day
Smiles down our way
Then we can't go wrong
Time, she's a fast old train
She's here then she's gone
And she won't come again
Won't you take my hand
If I had no place to fall
And I needed to
Could I count on you
To lay me down?
In the song "No Place To Fall," Townes Van Zandt sings about the concept of vulnerability and the importance of having someone you can trust when you're feeling lost. The opening lines "If I had no place to fall, and I needed to, could I count on you to lay me down?" illustrates the idea of relying on a particular person for comfort and support when things get too overwhelming. Van Zandt continues with "I'd never tell you no lies, I don't believe it's wise, you got pretty eyes won't you spin me 'round," suggesting his honesty and vulnerability as he seeks comfort in his lover's eyes.
The next verse, "I ain't much of a lover it's true, I'm here then I'm gone, and I'm forever blue, but I'm sure wanting you," reflects the singer's insecurities and fear of commitment. The following lines contrast with the previous verse, with "Skies full of silver and gold try to hide the sun, but it can't be done, at least not for long." This highlights the idea of hope and positivity, an indication that not all hope is lost despite the difficulties presented.
The final verse, "Time, she's a fast old train, she's here then she's gone, and she won't come again, won't you take my hand," addresses the ephemeral nature of time while emphasising the importance of companionship. Overall, "No Place to Fall" is about yearning for love, with a distinct sense of searching and uncertainty.
Interesting facts about the song:
- When Steve Earle and Van Zandt first met, Steve was so impressed with Townes' musical talent that he asked him to teach him how to play guitar.
- The song was first released on Van Zandt's 1978 album Flyin' Shoes.
- The song has been covered by several artists, including Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, and Willie Nelson.
- Van Zandt was known for his melancholic folk songs and poetic lyrics, leading him to be described as a "songwriter's songwriter."
- Van Zandt wrote another song called "Nothin'," which had a similar theme and appeared on his debut album For The Sake of the Song.
- "No Place to Fall" was reportedly inspired by Van Zandt's wife at the time, Cindy Morgan.
- The song was used in the soundtrack of the 2009 film Crazy Heart.
- Despite his acclaim as a songwriter, Van Zandt struggled with alcoholism and drug addiction throughout his career.
- Several of Van Zandt's songs, including "No Place to Fall," have been covered by punk band The Meat Puppets.
- Van Zandt has been cited as a major influence by several contemporary artists, including Norah Jones and Conor Oberst.
Chords:
The song is played in the key of C. The chords used are C, E, F, G, and Am.
Verse: C-G-F
Chorus: Am-G-F
Line by Line Meaning
If I had no place to fall
If I was struggling and had nowhere to turn
And I needed to
And I required assistance
Could I count on you
Can I rely on you
To lay me down?
To offer comfort and support to me
I'd never tell you no lies
I would never be dishonest with you
I don't believe it's wise
I think it's unwise to be untruthful
You got pretty eyes
You have beautiful eyes
Won't you spin me 'round
Won't you dance with me or make me feel happy
I ain't much of a lover it's true
I'm not very romantic
I'm here then I'm gone
I appear for a short time and then leave
And I'm forever blue
And I'm always sad
But I'm sure wanting you
But I really desire you
Skies full of silver and gold
Beautiful and valuable things in life
Try to hide the sun
Attempt to conceal the truth or happiness
But it can't be done
It's impossible to do so forever
Least not for long
Not for a significant amount of time
And if we help each other grow
If we aid each other in improving
While the light of day
During the daytime
Smiles down our way
Shines on us favorably
Then we can't go wrong
Then we will succeed and be happy
Time, she's a fast old train
Time passes by quickly
She's here then she's gone
It flies by fast and disappears quickly
And she won't come again
You can't get it back once it's gone
Won't you take my hand
Please offer to help me or be with me
If I had no place to fall
If I was struggling and had nowhere to turn
And I needed to
And I required assistance
Could I count on you
Can I rely on you
To lay me down?
To offer comfort and support to me
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Townes Van Zandt
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@ingeguo3384
If I had no place to fall
And I needed to
Could I count on you
To lay me down?
I'd never tell you no lies
I don't believe it's wise
You got pretty eyes
Won't you spin me 'round
I ain't much of a lover, it's true
I'm here, then I'm gone
And I'm forever blue
But I'm sure wanting you
Skies full of silver and gold
Try to hide the sun
But it can't be done
Least not for long
And if we help each other grow
While the light of day
Shines down our way
Then we can't go wrong
Time, she's a fast old train
She's here, then she's gone
And she won't come again
Won't you take my hand
If I had no place to fall
And I needed to
Could I count on you
To lay me down?
@fabianhardt310
People say Townes wasn’t a great singer, well I disagree. No one can sing a Townes song like the man himself could.
@IHeartAtx
The warmth in his voice is often imitated, but can't be duplicated. See Hayes Carll, Jack Ingram, and many others.
@owendocherty9275
I come back to this song regularly. I was introduced to Townes by my brother and the first time I heard 'fare thee well miss carousel' and 'pancho and lefty', I fell in love. I dove deeper into his music and during the darkest days of my life to date I turned to this song in particular. I'm forever grateful to the family and friends I have who are there for me when I fall. If we help each other grow we can't go wrong. X
@onjohns1
15 years ago today Townes passed away. We miss you and we love you. Thank you for all the great music.
@lanettesuggs5130
Everytime I hear his songs....I get this tightness in my throat, this sadness in my heart. I wish you had reached out to someone,.......and they would have taken your hand and led you to that place of perfect peace that you were always seeking.
@greenroomdude
Me too
@michaelcollins9698
I just flat out cry like a baby when I hear one of his songs
@lifethroughacrackedwindshi2654
He might have. We dont know it all.
@mrjasondylan
From what I've read about Townes I don't think a lack of love was his problem the problem was inside his head.
@owendocherty9275
Self sabotage was what took Townes down. I'm sure the true friends he had led him away from it as much as they could. If you really want to take yourself down there's nobody can stop you.