Living on the road, my friendWas gonna keep you free and cleanNow you wear your skin like ironYour breath's as hard as keroseneYou weren't your mama's only boyBut her favorite one, it seemsShe began to cry when you said goodbyeAnd sank into your dreams

Pancho was a bandit, boysHis horse was fast as polished steelWore his guns outside his pantsFor all the honest world to feelBut Pancho met his match, you knowOn the deserts down in MexicoNobody heard his dying wordsBut that's the way it goes

And all the federales sayThey could have had him any dayThey only let him hang aroundOut of kindness, I suppose

Lefty, he can't sing the bluesAll night long like he used toThe dust that Pancho bit down southEnded up in Lefty's mouthThe day they laid poor Pancho lowLefty split for OhioWhere he got the bread to goThere ain't nobody knows

Y los federales bienQue hablaban sobre élY que era muy fácil pa'garrarPero no lo pienso yo

Well, the poets tell how Pancho fellLefty's living in a cheap hotelThe desert's quiet and Cleveland's coldSo the story ends, we're toldPancho needs your prayers, it's trueBut save a few for Lefty, tooHe just did what he had to doOh, and now he's growing old

Y los federales bienQue hablaban sobre élY que era muy fácil pa'garrarPero no lo pienso yo

A few great federales sayThey could have had him any dayThey only let him go so wrongOut of kindness, I suppose

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