D
Livin' on the road my friend
A7
Was gonna keep you free and clean
G
Now you wear your skin like iron;
D                           A7
Your breath's as hard as kerosene
G
You weren't your momma's only boy
D                         G
But her favorite one, it seems
Bm                            A7
She began to cry when you said goodbye
G                   Bm
And sank into your dreams 

[Verse]
D
Pancho was a bandit, boys
A7
His horse was fast as polished steel
G
Wore his gun outside his pants
D                         A7
For all the honest world to feel
G
Pancho met his match, you know
D                      G
On the deserts down in Mexico
Bm                      A7
Nobody heard his dying words
G                  Bm
That's the way it goes

[Chorus]
G
All the federales say
D                        G
They could have had him any day
Bm                      A7
They only let him slip away
G                   Bm
Out of kindness, I suppose

[Verse]
D
Lefty, he can't sing the blues
A7
All night long like he used to
G
The dust that Pancho bit down south
D                   A7
Ended up in Lefty's mouth
G
The day they laid poor Pancho low
D                 G
Lefty split for Ohio
Bm                        A7
Where he got the bread to go
G                   Bm
There ain't nobody knows

[Instrumental]
Bm D A7 G D A7 G D G Bm A G Bm D 

[Verse]
D
The poets tell how Pancho fell;
A7
Lefty's living in a cheap hotel
G
The desert's quiet; Cleveland's cold
D                         A7
So the story ends, we're told
G
Pancho needs your prayers, it's true
D                      G
But save a few for Lefty, too
Bm                       A7
He just did what he had to do
G                Bm
Now he's growing old

[Chorus]
G
All the federales say
D                        G
They could have had him any day
Bm                      A7
They only let him go so wrong
G                   Bm
Out of kindness, I suppose