Living on the road my friend
Was gonna keep us free and clean
But bow you wear your skin like iron
And your breath's as hard as kerosene
You weren't your momma's only boy
But her favorite one it seems
She began to cry when you said goodbye
And sank into your dreams
Pancho was a bandit boy
Rode his horse fast as polished steel
Wore his guns outside his pants
For all the honest world to feel
Pancho met his match, you know
On the deserts down in Mexico
No one heard his dying words
But that's the way it goes
All the Federales say
They could've had him any day
They only let him slip away
Out of kindness I suppose
Now, Lefty, he can't sing the blues
All night long like he used to
The dust that Pancho bit down South
It ended up in Lefty's mouth
The day they laid old Pancho low
Lefty split for Ohio
Where he got the bread to go
There ain't nobody knows
All the Federales say
They could've had him any day
They only let him slip away
Out of kindness I suppose
Now poets sing how Pancho fell
And Lefty's living in a cheap hotel
The desert's quiet and Cleveland's cold
And so the story ends we're told
Pancho needs your prayers, it's true
But save a few for Lefty too
He only did what he had to do
And now he's growing old
All the Federales say
They could've had him any day
They only let him go so long
Out of kindness I suppose
A few grey Federales say
They could've had him any day
They only let him go so long
Out of kindness I suppose