I was born, raised, and lived my whole life in Brooklyn, NY and probably should have no business liking James McMurtry. But I guess talent always prevails. Needless to say, I am a big fan.

I left Levelland almost eighteen years ago. I came back. I came back to this flat dusty part of Texas where I was born and raised. I just rejoined some of my old bandmates and we are going to start rocking again and kick up some dust.

McMurtry out does himself with this song. And Dave Grissom's brilliant guitar work makes it really special. McMurtry is singularly able to intertwine story lines of a little dried-up west Texas town right out of The Last Picture Show; from which he tells his story making us all at once, mad, sad and weeping for the simplicity and dependability of our past. A brilliant songwriter and damn great perfomer. A unique and irreplaceable American musical artist.

In college at Texas Tech early 02-06 used to birdhunt between lubbock and levelland. Gods country and people. Never turned down once for permission to hunt on farmers land for free. Some of the best times and memories where the land land is level. Wreck em Tech.

Songwriters like this are meant to be secret, so people like us can enjoy the hell out of knowing we have something special to share with each other.

Mr. McMurtry has sure hit it out of the park more times than I can count. He's up there with the very, very best in my opinion. He finds the loneliness, sadness and disappointment deep down in the soul without ever being overly sentimental or maudlin. I live in Austin and go to see him several times per year - solo acoustic and with his band - and his consistency is remarkable. I try not to take him for granted for one day he won't be playing those weekly shows. He really is a very brilliant songwriter.

His greatest gift is to put a 48 year old man from Liverpool right into the place he is singing about even though that man has never been there or will probably never go there , but gets it. Be it Texas, Missouri, the Forgotten Coast. Saw James and his superb band in a tiny pub in Nottingham, injustice when you see gobshites selling out arena's and charging £ 70.

This guy Blows my mind, I've been listening to him for years, One of the best song writers,with Rocking music behind him,that ever was.I respect the fact that even thought he never got the huge money and acclaim that he deserved. He just said Fuc* It and kept on Playin his stuff. Thanks James you are The real Deal

the best American songwriter since Bob Dylan no question about it

I was a football coach in Texas during the 80's and every small town band learned to play smoke on the water and joy to the world. How he knew this and incorporated it into this song is amazing and shows his Texas roots. Amazing song

One of James McMurty's best songs. PEACE!

Man, this is such a good song. I sometimes get irritated with folks bashing on the panhandle but I get the complaints and this guy bottles them up and serves them cold for everyone to enjoy. He really grasps the quiet desperation of living in the center of 500 sq miles of direct fields and telephone poles.

i live in levelland and thats levelland for sure

James McMurtry is my Dylan.

His writing makes me cry. Beautiful and simple and true. He's an American icon.

This is the best country song that never was. Even Bob Dylan and Townes Van Zandt have to tip their cap to McMurty on these lyrics. And I do say so myself. What a fantastic song. It deserves more recognition.

"don't think she's seen the sky, since we got the satellite dish" is such an incredibly sad line, 💔

Hands down the most accurate song ever written about West/Panhandle Texas ever written.

wish this guy would live to 100 and keep making kick ass music!

Some of the best guitar, mandolin and banjo pickers I know learned their craft in Levelland at South Plains.

A truly great song! When I first heard it I would have sworn up and down that it was Bruce Cockburn!

Shawn Mullins introduced me to McMurtry and his music by playing 'Levelland' in a live show I saw a long time ago. Great song

You grow up there and spend your time trying to figure how to leave it behind. You move on and see the world only to find that longing for that place where the sand blows. There is a hidden beauty in that country and some of the finest people I have ever met live there. It will always be home to me......

Just saw James McMurtry in Denver for the first time ever...we were blown away...emotional

Too many great songwriters never get the public exposure that they deserve...James McMurtry is one of them.

He captures the vibe of living in this strangely hypnotic place. I've never left West Texas behind. It will always be part of me.

My grandfather homesteaded in the panhandle of Oklahoma (both) my parents lived through the dust bowl at young ages. I grew up ranching in eastern Colorado and irrigation farming in the Arkansas Valley 50 miles east of Pueblo. This song is a great tribute to the people that reside there as well as all the people that have left. I have to revisit the area yearly just to make sure its all still there.

I just want to tell James from the UK how far out is his fine music. Thank you for bringing so much hope and pleasure. Your work is heard and your talent realised. Rock on man

My favourite James McMurtry song. Love this guy. Lyrical genius!

I love this guy's music. Im a teen, and more into the blues, but my construction teacher introduced me to his song "whered you hide the body?"

" Lookin' out through the bugs on the windshield.. "

having grown up above the Caprock southeast of Amarillo, I have an appreciation for this song and McMurtry's ability to capture the essence of life and living in West Texas

He is an an great songwriter and a fine person ..

Fantastic as is all of James’ material Gets better the more times you hear it Great indeed

I heard this song playing in a music store in Greune Texas on a vacation to hill country. I asked who it was. Bought it. Fan ever since. Amazing lyrical storyteller through song. Interestingly, I'm a few miles north now of Levelland South Carolina. I know it's not about here, but it kind of is. It's meaning is not lost as it relates to a lot of forgotten flyover places. Like here.

Those of you who might he's ridiculing the area and the people -- this song is about LOVE. McMurtry's song is fearsomely compassionate. It's more foolish to love a place on false sentimental terms than on true hardbitten ones; all it brings you is lies and self-deception. I lost some loved ones living there, and this song is about as fine an elegy for them as one could produce.

The chorus: “levelland” sung by baritones. James McMurtry calls up Lou Reed and Bruce Cockburn especially, for me, but with consistently kickass Blues rock grooves when called for.

Dave Grissom just crushed that solo.

Not many writers of this caliber around these days and the guitar playing is sublime.

I'm from Central Pennsylvania....and this song hits home with me. As I'm sure it does with people all over the world. James knocked this one out of the park. Thanks to REK for exposing me to this song.

Good song nd everything tht described my home town Levelland TX

This twang thang gets my toes tappin' and my soul rockin'.

My cousin lived in Levelland for a few years and bemoaned being there. He was an agricultural pilot and recently died in a crash. This song is one of my favorite ways to remember him.

I live in North Texas not in the panhandle but also not too far from it and that line "Makes you wonder why they stopped here" gets me every time.

Among the best songs I have heard. This has character!

It's a humbling experience to go on stage at the Continental Club on Weds before James, Jon Dee and William. It was always fun as a child to travel to Levelland to visit family.

I've always been the black-sheep of the family. And, our family was always the black-sheep of the rest of the family for one simple reason, we were poor. I guess thats why I like this song so much. I've always felt like my minds been incomplete. GB

I left there almost 40 years ago and get back every now and then to visit mom and family. This song is as much Levelland today as it was then.

Another McMurtry song that could be the national anthem, lol. And i'm not from anywhere near Texas

I keep going back to his music. It's especially relevant today, but I would love to hear what he's writing about since you-know-who came into office. We Can't Make it Here Anymore is even more heartbreaking now than it was when released. Is there anything recent that anyone knows of? "High on jesus and hooked on dope". I love how perfectly balanced that line is.

the simpicity of JMcM language and the depth of thought and image is just remarkable. And great hats...

I wish the world would find out about James and his music. It is 21st century folk rock at its best. Keep'em coming James.

This one hits home. I lived in Levelland as a kid before my family moved to Dallas. My aunt had a house near the high school where you could always hear the marching band practicing. I lived outside of Levelland where it actually looked like what you see in the video vs what you saw in town. I used to sneak out and go running around in the dust storms.

Thanks to KZfaq, we can discover this great music, and never turn on our FM radios again.

It also nicely sums up central Indiana.

This ballad hit’s pretty darn close to my home town of …… “Levelland”

McMurtry is a national treasure..... yet so slept on....

I was just thinking of my home town.. And looked up to see if any videos of it.. And I find this beautiful song about home... I live in South Orgeon now. But I will never forget were my life started.. Thank you for this wonderfully written song...

That HAS to be levelland. I live there and I would know that railroad from anywhere. It goes straight past everything. The pics are exactly what i think of when i think of home. :D

hockley county texas can definately be interesting with its horizontal snow and red dust storms. you have to be there to share the excitement. well my burger and cherry lime 7-up is ready at the chat-n-chew counter-

Yeah, been to Lubbock. James is pure Texan!

Just discovered this fine songwriter and guitar player, purely by accident and I'm so glad I did.

This MV should have 677 million views not 677K views. Maybe that is what is wrong with the world today?

Just have never seen a more seamless, meaningful blend of uniquely American poetry, music and videography. Absolutely galvanizing. Thank you.

One of the best understated songwriters and performers ever! Saw him on Letterman back in the day singing Painting By Numbers. It was awesome seeing him surprisingly open for Jason Isbell a few years ago.

I lived 2 years in Lubbock and went to Levelland some. It is definitely dry, flat, and windy but somehow beautiful to me. I guess it's the good memories I carried away with me when I left. I often wish I could travel back in time to the south plains and do it all again. This song and video do, in a small way, let me go back, Guns Up TTU

I was stationed in Clovis, NM, for six years. So maybe, 1hr and 20mins from Levelland. It is crazy moving from Colorado Springs, Colorado to the Great Plains. How much I miss that region of that country. Being surrounded by cows, cornfields, and wind turbines gave a sense of calming loneliness and serenity that I’ve missed so much since moving back to the city. Along with Minot, Cannon could be considered the worst duty station in the Air Force. But man, there’s something about that place I want a piece of in Colorado.

I went to the college down in Levelland for a few years; they had a great country music program going that Tom T. Hall had thrown some hefty $$ at, building a nice facility with recording studios, etc. There were young folks from all over the world converging on Levelland, especially banjo players, since the college had lured banjo great Alan Munde to teach there. From Switzerland, Japan, France, Columbia, etc., and from all over the US they came--I came from Chicago. I guess McMurtry must have missed it--he could have played a gig there and had a good time with the house musicians--but instead he wrote this song running the place down; this song came out only a couple of years after I left there. It's a good song, especially the guitar solo, but I remember the place differently, I guess. The people were pretty friendly, and were always tolerant of people who were in "the program at the college," and proud of West Texas' musical legacy. Looking at his Wiki, I see he mostly grew up in VA, so maybe he never spent enough time in Levelland to get to really know it.

JAMES THANKS FOR YOUR SONGS "CAN'T MAKE IT HERE" ONE OF THE BEST. WRAPS UP ALL OUR PROBLEMS INTO A NEAT LITTLE PACKAGE. IM A NEW FAN. DETROIT

Ain't nothin' wrong with Levelland. Fed lots a people, made lots of other people happy. Guess ya had to be there....

James McMurtry brilliantly portrays the American experience through his lyrics. Each song could be a full movie script. Awesome!

So glad my Father discovered him back in 90s! Great songwrotong and beatuful music

one of the best songs i've ever heard and a devastatingly written account of dislocation in your own hometown. in a perfect world this would be an fm radio staple.

James McMurtry is an American treasure. He is a very powerful songwriter, as witnessed in this song. I've seen him live and he puts on a fantastic show.

I was born in Levelland. My grandfather owned a concrete company there. We all migrated to Dallas in the late 70's. I returned to Levelland to specifically attend South Plains College where I studied in their sound technology program.

I went to pilot training at an Air Force base near the town of Levelland Texas that is the subject of this song. I flew over it many tines...this song brings back memories to me of that time in West Texas.

BRILLIANT,SONGWRITER, EXCELLENT GUITAR BY DAVID GRISSOM, A JOY TO BEHOLD,BEST WISHES FROM ENGLAND

So many levels his lyrics hit the mark on wry ironic observations it boggles my songwriter's mind...pretty much genius I'd say.

have seen him 10 times or more a "wordsmith" he is a great writer

Used to jam this going burd huntin,pheasant quail dove and ducks and geese near levelland TX while at texas tech 02 to 06. Def gods country and nicest people you'll ever meet. Miss those days missed a lot of class chasing birds around these plains. Never had to pay a dime to hunt. Just toss some beer and birds to landowner and were good. Wreck em some of my best memories. This is true texas.

Great video thanks 😍❤️😻👍

McMurtry is one of the great American poets of all time. It's all there, exposed and naked, a slice of America. And, yeah, the music is damn fine too.

We live on a flat level plain. ❤

Under appreciated genius American songwriter.

One of my favourites! Of course Stancliff’s Lament paint s a picture too.

I was working overseas on a military base and IT friend did me up a 500 gig hard drive loaded with music and books. Among them was St. Mary Of The Woods . I haven't looked back. I'll go o see him in Austin before we die. Also discovered The Bottlerockets . Similar . Excellent songwriting with a Zeppelin edge. Or Conway Twitty....

I'm was writing an essay about Owens Valley and the Los Angeles Aqueduct when I stumbled upon this... needless to say, 'm quoting McMurtry in it =)

David Grissom's guitar playing is great!

Born and raised in Levelland TX yep song and Video do it justice

Great James & David Grissom

This song captures the isolated feeling of the area, but doesn't come close to describing the friendly people of Levelland!

And there really is a town in Texas named Levelland. Just west of Lubbock. And how anybody can live in such a dreary landscape is beyond me. This video and James's music capture it so well.

This is one of my all time favs.

James musical and poetic brilliance has enhanced my life! Really an awesome talent.

Gr8 Song from an exceptional talent!! The song & the video was like a trip back in time. When I was just a kid we used to live 20-miles from Levelland in a little town called Whiteface. The landscape was just the same. lol....I remember shopping trips into Levelland. lol Thanks for a great post!

Saw James last night at the Castle theatre, I was so happy that he did this one in his set...

I’m from Bakersfield California and this song hits home.

I got the chance to speak to producer Don Dixon a few years back and told him that he should have won a Nobel Prize or at least a Grammy for production on this album. He said that the big secret was having McMurtry and drummer Dave Brock do about five days of rehearsal together, and then bring in the rest of the the musicians once the others had the rhythms locked down.

AMEN

great James and great Grissom on guitar !!!