Standard (EADGBE)
Livin' on the road, my friend
Was gonna keep us free and clean
now you wear your skin like iron
And your breath's as hard as kerosene
weren't your mama's only boy
But her favorite one, it seems
She began to cry when you said good bye
And sank into your dreams
(Verse 2)
Pancho was a bandit, boys
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
Nobody heard his dyin' words
But that's the way it goes
(Chorus)
And all the federales say
They could have had him any day
(*
They only let him hang around
Out of kindness, I suppose
(Verse 3)
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 poor Pancho low
Lefty split for Ohio
Where he got the bread to go
ahh there ain't nobody 'knows
(Chorus)
(Verse 4)
poets tell how Pancho fell
Lefty's livin' 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 growin' old
(Chorus)
(Final Chorus)
Yes a few old gray federales still say
They could have had him any day
They only let him go so wrong
Out of kindness, I suppose