Tecumseh Valley
A miner's daughter in Depression-era Oklahoma, cut twice in two years.
Townes Van Zandt, from Our Mother the Mountain (1968)
- Written by
- Townes Van Zandt
- Released
- 1968
- Length
- 4:45
- Album
- Our Mother the Mountain
Mark Lager describes it as a heartbreaking reminiscence of a miner's daughter in Depression-era Oklahoma who earns low wages at a bar and, after her father dies, is forced into prostitution and an early death. Pitchfork says Mickey Newbury signed him to a management contract after hearing a demo of it. On the debut, For the Sake of the Song, the mention of prostitution was stripped out after Clement asked him to alter a potentially offensive line, and the decision started a rift between Jack Clement and Kevin Eggers. Townes recut the song for Our Mother the Mountain in 1969, unhappy with the debut's production.
He played it at the Old Quarter in 1973 and on Rear View Mirror.
Covers and versions
- Bobby Bare
- Nanci Griffith
- Matthew Cook
- Steve Earle
More songs by Townes Van Zandt
Pancho and Lefty, Waiting Around to Die, Lungs, To Live Is to Fly, Mr. Mudd and Mr. Gold, Nothin'
Sources
- Our Mother the Mountain, Wikipedia
- Townes Van Zandt: The Nashville Sessions, Pitchfork (2025-05-25)
- Our Mother the Mountain, Discogs