C [Verse 1] C G Living on the road my friend, is gonna keep you free and clean F Now you wear your skin like iron, C G Your breath as hard as kerosene F C F You weren't your mama's only boy, but her favorite one it seems Am F C G She began to cry when you said goodbye, F Am Am G And sank into your dreams [Verse 2] C G Pancho was a bandit boy, his horse was fast as polished steel F He wore his gun outside his pants C G For all the honest world to feel F C F Pancho met his match you know on the deserts down in Mexico Am F C G F Am Am G And nobody heard his dying words, ah but that's the way it goes [Chorus] F C F All the Federales say they could have had him any day Am F C G F Am Am G They only let him slip away out of kindness, I suppose [Verse 3] C G Lefty, he can't sing the blues all night long like he used to. F C G The dust that Pancho bit down south ended up in Lefty's mouth F C F The day they laid poor Pancho low, Lefty split for Ohio Am F C G F Am Am G Where he got the bread to go, there ain't nobody knows [Chorus] F C F All the Federales say could have had him any day Am F C G F Am Am F C C We only let him slip away out of kindness, I suppose [Solo] | F | F | C | F | | Am | F C | G | G | F | | Am | Am G | [Verse 4] C G The poets tell how Pancho fell, and Lefty's living in a cheap hotel F The desert's quiet and Cleveland's cold, C G And so the story ends we're told F C F Pancho needs your prayers it's true, but save a few for Lefty too Am F C G F Am Am G He only did what he had to do, and now he's growing old [Chorus] F C F All the Federales say could have had him any day Am F C G F Am Am G We only let him slip away out of kindness, I suppose F C F A few gray Federales say could have had him any day Am F C G F Am Am F C We only let him go so long, out of of kindness, I suppose