Pancho and Lefty

Living on the road, my friend, was gonna keep you free and clean
Now, you wear your skin like iron
And 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

Poncho 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
Poncho met his match, you know, on the deserts down in Mexico
Nobody heard his dyin' words
Ah, 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

Lefty, he can't sing the blues all night long, like he used to
The dust that Poncho bit down south, ended up in Lefty's mouth
Day they laid poor Poncho low, Lefty split for Ohio
Where he got the bread, to go, ain't nobody knows

All the Federales say, they could've had him any day
We only let him slip away, out of kindness, I suppose

The poets tell how Poncho 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
Poncho 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, we could've had him any day)
We only let him go so long, out of kindness, I suppose

A few great Federales say, we could've had him any day
We only let him go so long, out of kindness I suppose