Steve Earle said of Townes van Zandt: "He's the best songwriter in the whole world … I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table and say that." A cult songwriter battling alcoholism, drug addiction, and bipolar disorder, Van Zandt's love of Elvis Presley and Hank Williams inspired work such as Flyin' Shoes – bleak songs, but full of energy.
Van Zandt found Flyin' Shoes at his nearby river, where he'd frequently sit and talk to the water. He was daydreaming about the Battle of Franklin, and the fate of wounded soldiers in the Civil War (both Confederates and Yankees) who were forced to lie there all night, awaiting rescue or death. The song is about a man who doesn't think he'll make it through to morning, but the lyrics are more universal. For me it reads like an ode to escape: over the last 18 months I've found myself drawn to songs that are about this desire to run away and be free.
I first encountered Flyin Shoes via Be Here to Love Me – a brilliant documentary about Van Zandt – and was immediately struck by the raw beauty of the track. When recording a version of it for my new album of covers, Boys Don't Cry, I wanted to bring out the gospel element: this was a hymn for a dying man, and a soundtrack to a noble soldier's final hours. So I told all the musicians to get into character, almost, and to perform as if this was the last thing that they'd ever play. We added a harmonica line as the "final solo" of the fallen soldier, and the backing vocals at the end of the song are supposed to have this sense of ascension.
Tackling songs such as Flyin' Shoes is like going into the heart of darkness. But it's all about telling the story faithfully, and finding the right emotions in the original recordings. Townes van Zandt may not be a household name but his songwriting, and Flyin' Shoes especially, remains incredibly powerful. The inscription on his gravestone apparently reads: "To Live Is To Fly."
• Boys Don't Cry by Rumer is released on Atlantic on 28 May.
