Pancho and Lefty

[Verse 1: Willie Nelson]

Living on the road, my friend

Was gonna keep you free and clean

And now you wear your skin like iron

And your breath 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

[Verse 2: Willie Nelson]

Pancho was a bandit boy

His horse was fast as polished steel

He wore his gun 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 dying words

But that's the way it goes

[Chorus: Willie Nelson]

All the Federales say

They could've had him any day

They only let him slip away

Out of kindness, I suppose

[Verse 3: Willie Nelson]

Lefty, he can't sing the blues

All night long like he used to

The dust that Pancho bit down South

Ended up in Lefty's mouth

The day they laid poor Pancho low

Lefty split for Ohio

Where he got the bread to go

There ain't nobody knows

[Chorus: Willie Nelson]

All the Federales say

They could've had him any day

We only let him slip away

Out of kindness, I suppose

[Verse 4: Merle Haggard]

The poets tell how Pancho fell

And Lefty's living in cheap hotels

The desert's quiet, 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

[Chorus: Willie Nelson]

(All the Federales say)

(We could've had him any day)

They only let him go so long

Out of kindness, I suppose

[Outro: Willie Nelson]

A few gray Federales say

They could've had him any day

They only let him go so long

Out of kindness, I suppose