If I Needed You

There are several things that resonate with me in this song and Van Zandt's recounting of how he came to write it. First of all, he was broke, sick, and alone (with regard to companionship of his own) at the time. Secondly, it was his unconscious that wrote the song in a dream, waking him up in the middle of the night. Thirdly, it is the lyrics that poignantly and clearly articulate a place of need and a desire to be loved in that need. Townes Van Zandt was a brilliant man with a powerful insight. - DOB