Living on the road my friend,
Was gonna keep you free and clean
And now you wear your skin like iron,
And your breath as 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 Federales 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 Federales say
We could have had him any day
We 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 Federales say
We could have had him any day
We only let him go so long
Out of kindness, I supposeA few gray Federales say
We could have had him any day
We only let him go so long
Out of kindness, I suppose
Songwriters
KRISTOFFER KRISTOFFERSONPublished by
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group