Pancho And Lefty - Willie Nelson (with Merle Haggard)

Living on the road, my friend 
Was gonna keep you free and clean
Now you wear your skin like iron 
And your breath's as hard as kerosene
You weren't your mama's only son 
But her favorite one it seems
She began to cry when you said goodbye 
And sank into your dreams

Poncho was a bandit, boys 
His horse was fast as polished steel
He wore his gun outside his pants 
For all the honest world to feel
Poncho met his match, you know 
On the deserts down in Mexico
Nobody heard his dyin' words 
But that's the way goes

All the Federales say,
They could have 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 Poncho bit down south 
Ended up in Lefty's mouth
Day they laid poor Poncho low 
Lefty split for Ohio
Where he got the bread to go 
There ain't nobody knows

All the Federales say,
They could have had him any day
They only let him slip away,
Out of kindness, I suppose

[ guitar ]

The poets tell how Poncho fell 
And Lefty's living in a cheap hotel
The desert's quiet and Cleveland's cold 
And so the story ends we're told
Poncho needs your prayers, it's true 
Vut save a few for Lefty too
He only did what he had to do 
And now he's growing old

All the Federales say,
They could have had him any day
They only let him slip away,
Out of kindness, I suppose

A few grey Federales say
They could have had him any day
They only let him go so long,
Out of kindness, I suppose.