Townes told Dutch television,
“I wrote that song right after I finished reading The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis. However long ago. And I was away, on the road, I’d been there for a long time. I was in New York, upstate New York, I’d been reading that book and I finished it, and...
[Verse 1]
Hey mama, when you leave, don't leave a thing behind
I don't want nothing, I can't use nothing
Take care into the hall and if you see my friends
Tell 'em I'm fine, not using nothing
[Verse 2]
Almost burned out my eyes and threw my ears down to the floor
I didn't see nothing, I didn't hear nothing
I stood there like a block of stone knowing all I had to know
And nothing more, man, that's nothing
[Verse 3]
As brothers our troubles are, locked in each others arms
And you better pray that they never find you
'Cause your back ain't strong enough for burdens double-fold
They'd crush you down, down into nothing
[Verse 4]
Being born is going blind and bowing down a thousand times
To echoes strung on pure temptation
Sorrow and solitude, these are the precious things
And the only words that are worth remembering
Nothin’ was written by Townes Van Zandt.
Nothin’ was produced by Kevin Eggers & Ronald Frangipane.