Livin on the road my friend, is gonna keep you free and clean
Now you wear your skin like iron
Your breath as hard as kerosene
You werent your mommas only boy, but her favorite one it seems
She began to cry when you said goodbye
And sank into your dreams
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 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 Pancho bit down south ended up in Leftys mouth
The day they laid poor Pancho low, Lefty split for Ohio
Where he got the bread to go, there aint nobody knows
All the Federales say, they couldve had him any day
They only let him slip away out of kindness I suppose
The boys tell how old Pancho fell, and Leftys livin in cheap hotels
The deserts quiet, Clevelands cold
And so the story ends were told
Pancho 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, they couldve had him any day
They only let him go so long, out of kindness I suppose
A few gray Federales say, they couldve had him any day
They only let him go so long, out of kindness I suppose