Living on the road, my friend, was gonna keep you free and clean
Now, you wear your skin like iron
And your breaths as hard as kerosene
You werent your mamas 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 thats the way it goes
All the Federales say, they couldve had him any day
They only let him slip away, out of kindness, I suppose
Lefty, he cant sing the blues all night long, like he used to
The dust that Poncho bit down south, ended up in Leftys mouth
Day they laid poor Poncho low, Lefty split for Ohio
Where he got the bread, to go, aint nobody knows
All the Federales say, they couldve had him any day
We only let him slip away, out of kindness, I suppose
The poets tell how Poncho fell and Leftys living in a cheap hotel
The deserts quiet and Clevelands cold
And so the story ends, were told
Poncho needs your prayers, its true, but save a few for Lefty too
He only did what he had to do and now hes growing old
All the Federales say, we couldve had him any day
We only let him go so long, out of kindness, I suppose
A few great Federales say, we couldve had him any day
We only let him go so long, out of kindness I suppose