Pancho and Lefty Songtext
von Willie Nelson & Emmylou Harris

Livin′ on the road, my friend, was gonna keep you free and clean
But now you wear your skin like iron and your breath as hard as kerosene
Weren't you momma′s only boy, but her favorite one, it seems?
She began to cry when you said goodbye
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
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 Pancho bit down South, ended up in Lefty's mouth
The day they laid poor Pancho low, Lefty split for Ohio
Where he got the bread to go
There 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 boys tell how old Pancho fell, and Lefty′s livin' in cheap hotels
The desert′s quiet, Cleveland's cold
And so the story ends, we're told
Pancho 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"
They only let him go so long
Out of kindness, I suppose

A few gray Federales say, could′ve had him any day
They only let him go so long
Out of kindness, I suppose