Living on the road my friend
Is gonna keep you free and clean
Now you wear your skin like iron
And your breath is hard as keroseneYou 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 dreamsPancho was a bandit boy
His horse was fast as polished steel
He wore his gun outside his pants
For all the honest world to feelPancho met his match, you know
On the deserts down in Mexico
Nobody heard his dying words
Ah but that's the way it goesAll the Federals say
They could have had him any day
They only let him slip away
Out of kindness, I supposeLefty, 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 mouthThe day they laid poor Pancho low
Lefty split for Ohio
Where he got the bread to go
There ain't nobody knowsAll the Federals say
They could have had him any day
They only let him slip away
Out of kindness, I supposeThe 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 toldPancho 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 oldAll the Federals say
They could have had him any day
They only let him go so long
Out of kindness, I supposeA few grey Federals say
They could have had him any day
They only let him go so long
Out of kindness, I suppose