Townes Van Zandt - Tecumseh Valley Lyrics

This song is heartbreakingly tender and sad... Fare thee well Tecumseh Valley...

Anyone with an ear for from the soul gets it others should be in awe

As good as Bobby Bare’s version was, the original was way better. I shed some tears. Damn, I wish Townes Van Zandt was still alive.

That poor guy had such a horrible life. Wish he had found a decent psychiatrist. Townes Van Zandt deserved better.

like Tom Waits

I absolutely love how sad this song is

Beautiful. Finally found the best version again, not the one with Jack Clement's awful production...

A legend that the world should know. But don't. RIP Townes!

Whilst other songwriters may possess more scope of feeling in their songs, no one can deliver a gentle, beautiful, emphatic dagger to the heart like Townes.

his songs make me relax

Guy Clark wrote a great tune called Stuff That Works. Townes IS stuff that works. 
Stuff that works, stuff that holds up
The kind of stuff you don’t hang on the wall
Stuff that’s real, stuff you feel
The kind of stuff you reach for when you fall

the man and his chicken. RIP Townes

Where can one find this version??

Steve Earle lived in his van in Townes driveway to learn all he could from Townes.

Everyone come visit Gypsy Sally's in Georgetown Washington, DC - them music there cannot be beat!

I just became very very sad

me too. times is hard

I've been sad for roughly 15 years......Good times... Or something of that nature..
....but with a deep lining of sadness.

Great Texan, but what about kristofferson

As a 10th generation Montanan I am proud to boast his early residency in Billings along with Charlie Pride in Helena

The name she gave was caroline
Daughter of a miner
Her ways were free
It seemed to me
That sunshine walked beside her

She came from spencer
Across the hill
She said her pa had sent her
'cause the coal was low
And soon the snow
Would turn the skies to winter

She said she'd come
To look for work
She was not seeking favors
And for a dime a day
And a place to stay
She'd turn those hands to labor

But the times were hard, lord,
The jobs were few
All through tecumseh valley
But she asked around
And a job she found
Tending bar at gypsy sally's

She saved enough to get back home
When spring replaced the winter
But her dreams were denied
Her pa had died
The word come down from spencer

So she turned to whorin' out on the streets
With all the lust inside her
And it was many a man
Returned again
To lay himself beside her

They found her down beneath the stairs
That led to gypsy sally's
In her hand when she died
Was a note that cried
Fare thee well... Tecumseh valley

The name she gave was caroline
Daughter of a miner
Her ways were free
It seemed to me
That sunshine walked beside her

The coal was low
And soon the snow
Would turn the skies to winter

Greatest songwriter ever

Man. There will never be another Townes... One of the greatest ever.

Townes died some years ago...I still hear his voice, in my head

with you all the way judith------So many years .....so many tears...Godamm I miss him

Who on 'Mericas green earth thumbs this song down? Like, WTF?

heartworn highway is a cool movie with townes, guy clark, steve earle, coe. I like the buzzed version of silent night they all sing at the table

amazing song. masterpiece. this song hit me like a buick first time I heard it--nanci Griffith version. she introduced me to Townes. so good

Me encantaría escuchar la versión del banjo, dado q él la escribió para el banjo. Me imagino q se le tocaba con más ritmo. No obstante, q preciosa esa canción.

sunshine walked beside her. 💓

ma che palle....morto suicida?

vincenzo poerio Te contesto en español si te agrada... es q ella era una prostituta después de q se muriera su padre. Toda la vida le brindaba sufrimiento, ósea q padecía mucho. Se encontró debajo la escalera de Gypsy Sally, el bar donde trabajaba ella. Parece q sí era un suicidio, pero no se dice claro en la canción. Ya q dejó una carta de despedido, uno puede imaginarse de q sí, fuera un suicidio. La canción es bien poderosa.

Torna ad ascoltare despacito

The only version that compares is Nanci Griffith at the tribute concert.

Listen to Griffith’s version in Norway.

Bobby Bare did a decent job also.

Tragically beautiful........

...worth to be rescued!

if you r single and female. and if like me believe townes is genius. please text me. want to marry you. lol. Shawn.

Townes is right there with Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, and Phil Ochs, as a great American songwriter.

They are my other TOP FAVORITES ...so I MUST SAY SO! & "P.L.U.R"!

Bob agrees. He told Townes that he had all his albums! And don't fgret John Prine.

I agree

a genuine artist

i would really love to hear why 3 people gave this a thumbs down... maybe they just can't appreciate music from the bottom of the soul

faithful827 because they have a point of view and opinion that differs from yours

they don't know what real music is

Codeine can take you off your aim.

Stupid people. No idea about real music.

faithful827 They’re prob used to a cover & can’t sing along to the original.

Beautiful.

one of the greats with all the soul and sadness in his voice is heartfelt. what a legend

Has anyone heard the version of this song that is in a much faster tempo?....I used to own it....

I've got the faster version. I prefer it.

this song is heartbreaking...Townes had a sadness in his voice that was so real...a one off right here. one the truly great songwriters that's completely underrated.

no Scott jelly didn't perform it better. imo.

I think Scott Kelly performed it better.

+ZeMeOne Gave it a listen. To me it sounds laboured. Each to their own. Sounds like he's trying to hard to make it his own to me personally. We all like different stuff. So thanks for the heads up even if it wasnt for me.

Scott Kelly couldn't carry Townes' balls in a paper bag

Fort Worth's finest!

help the folks who don"t understand

forgive them, for they know not what they do

Who wrote this? Was it TVZ or is it older

+Joel Gallob all tvz ... one of my top 3 favorites of his along with marie and if i needed you

@faithful827 Ever hear "None But the Rain"? The story of a man who comes back to marry the girl he loved, only to find that she had died and was buried...and "none but the rain" will cling to her bosom......

@Joe Marshall of course, it is a rare tvz song that i have not heard... and i treasure them when i stumble across them

Absolutely the saddest song ever written.

Hot dog fuck

the coal was low

beautiful

Not many songs that are both the most beautiful and the most sad--this is one.

He was a great troubadour. Miss him.

Guy Clark and Ray Wylie Hubbard

Yes. All Texans are amazing.. Unfortunately there was only one Townes. We still have Willie and Robert Earl Keen though.

you forgot guy clark RIP

Dont forget about Jerry Jeff Walker.

love the picture .. and the music of course

are most texans like this??

Some, yes

I wish I had money to pay for this. This music is worth it

"cause the coal was low and soon the snow would turn the skies to winter" Urghhhhh. This is from Live at the Old Quarter, far far better than the album version. Amazing.

Thank you for posting this, eggcetrafarms.

i prefer the version where he says she took to walk the streets and many a man came to walk beside her it leaves more hiddden i think although the song is amazing when he just kind of throws the whorin out there it's not as ood i don't think townes is still amazing i just think sometime you can leave it to imagination

The thing about this song is.....you don't know if the incident took place in 1980 or 1880. There is a timeless Western thing going on in the lyrics that makes it archetypal. That's why the word "whorin'" is so powerful...it's such an 1800s word......and the phrase "took to whorin" sounds like something Huckleberry Finn might have said when he got a little older.....good songwriters are never fully satisfied with their lyrics.

Astonishing song. Only discovering this wonderful songwriter now.

Astonishing is the right word...that's exactly how I felt the first time I heard it........Like a 19th century painter who becomes fascintated with a prostitute...the sadness and beauty both.

"The sunshine walked beside her." Pure poetry!

What a song!