Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard proudly stand on any Mount Rushmore of outlaw country music you might care to imagine. They made this happen by not only singing the praises of living on the edge but also by honestly depicting some of the pitfalls of the lifestyle.
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Their 1983 dual album Pancho & Lefty is one of the most revered country LPs of its era. And it gains a lot of its power from “Reasons To Quit”, a song written by Haggard that ponders what happens when the toll starts to rival the thrills.
Compelling “Reasons”
By 1983, there were few career pinnacles that Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard hadn’t scaled in their own individual careers. But what about a dual album, one that would combine their estimable talents to see if the music could match the myth?
In actuality, it exceeded it. Nelson and Haggard recorded the album at Pedernales Recording, the studio that Willie had built himself near Austin. Texas. The legendary Chips Moman helped them to produce the album, while some of the best country session players in the world ensured it would sound immaculate.
In terms of the material, they mostly went with covers of country songs that were just enough off the beaten path that they could put their own stamp on things. The title track, which turned into a monster country hit, came from Townes Van Zandt.
Nelson earned a pair of solo writing credits on the record. Haggard scored just one. But that one haggard original, “Reasons To Quit”, provided a somber emotional centerpiece for this wonderful album. And its power hasn’t diminished a bit in all the years since it’s been released.
Examining the Lyrics of “Reasons To Quit”
“Reasons To Quit” almost reads like that old cliché about someone, when faced with a decision, with an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. Only in this case, neither entity seems overly enthusiastic about the choices ahead for the narrator, who seems to already be worse for the wear and tear of the years behind him.
The narrator immediately admits that he’s maxed out his pleasure. “The smoke and booze don’t do me like before,” he complains. “And I’m hardly ever sober/My old friends don’t come ‘round much anymore.” “The low is always lower than the high,” he admits. But that doesn’t mean he’ll stop chasing it: “And the reasons to quit/Don’t outnumber all the reasons why.”
In the second verse, Haggard’s lyrics take a turn for autobiography, as he talks about the songwriting process. The drugs and drink stand in his way. “There’s no rhyme of reason when you’re high,” he laments.
The refrain changes the perspective to the first-person plural so that Nelson and Haggard can sing in harmony about bad choices. “Laughing at the price tag that we pay,” they sing together. In the final line, they admit to potential changes. “And the reasons for quittin’s gettin’ bigger each day,” they explain.
In a winking twist, “Reasons To Quit” ends the first side of the Pancho & Lefty album. What was the opening song on the second side? “No Reason To Quit”, written by Dean Holloway. Which proves that Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard had a sense of humor to go about their outlaw ways, to go along with the bittersweet feelings expressed by this wonderful song.
Photo by Gary Miller/Getty Images
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