Pancho and Lefty

[Verse 1: Shane Smith]

Living on the road, my friend

Was gonna keep you free and clean

Now you wear your skin like iron

Your breath's as hard as kerosene

You weren't your mama's only boy

But her favorite one, it seems

She began to cry when you said goodbye

And sank into your dreams

[Verse 2: Hayes Carll]

Pancho was a bandit, boys

His horse was fast as polished steel

He wore his gun outside his pants

For all the honest world to feel

But Pancho met his match, you know

In the deserts down in Mexico

Nobody heard his dying words

Ah, but, that's the way it goes

[Chorus: Both]

And all the Federales say

They could have had him any day

They only let him slip away

Out of kindness, I suppose

[Verse 3: Shane Smith]

And 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

And where he got the bread to go

Ain't nobody knows

[Chorus: Both]

And all the Federales say

They could have had him any day

They only let him slip away

Out of kindness, I suppose

[Verse 4: Hayes Carll]

The poets tell how Pancho fell

Lefty's living in a cheap hotel

The desert's quiet, Cleveland's cold

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: Both]

And a few gray Federales say

They could have had him any day

They only let him slip away

Out of kindness, I suppose

And a few gray Federales say

They could have had him any day

They only let him go so long

Out of kindness, I suppose