intro
| A | A | Bm | Bm |
1.
D  D
Living on the  road,  my friend, 
A  A
was gonna keep you  free  and clean. 
G  G
Now you wear your skin  like  iron 
D A
and your  bre ath’s as hard as  ker osene. 
G  G
You weren’t your mama’s  only  boy, 
D G
but her  fav orite one it  seems. 
Bm G A A 
She be gan  to cry when you  said  good bye 
G Bm Bm 
and  sank  into your  dreams. 
2.
D  D
Pancho was a  ban dit, boys. 
A A
His  horse  was fast as  pol ished steel. 
G  G
Wore his gun out side  his pants 
D A
for  all  the honest  world  to feel. 
G G
Pan cho met his match,  you  know, 
D G
on the  des erts down in  Mex ico. 
Bm G A A 
And nobody  heard  his  dy ing  words. 
G Bm Bm 
Ah, but  that ’s the way it  goes. 
chorus
G  G
All the feder ales  say 
D  G
they could have had him  any day. 
Bm  G A
They only let him  hang  around 
A  G Bm Bm 
out of  kind ness, I sup pose. 
3.
D  D
Lefty, he  can’t  sing the blues 
A  A
all night long like  he  used to. 
G G
The  dust  that Pancho bit down  south 
D A
end ed up in  Left y’s mouth. 
G G
The  day  they laid poor  Pan cho low 
D G
Lef ty split for O hi o. 
Bm G A A 
Where he  got  the  bread  to  go? 
G Bm
Ah, there  ain ’t nobody  knows.  
chorus
G  G
All the feder ales  say 
D  G
they could have had him  any day. 
Bm  G A
They only let him  slip  away 
A  G Bm Bm 
out of  kind ness, I sup pose. 
4.
D D
Well,  the poets tell how  Pan cho fell 
A A
and  Lef ty’s livin’ in a  cheap  hotel. 
G G
The  des ert’s quiet and  Cleve land’s cold. 
D A
So the  sto ry ends we’re  told. 
G G
Pan cho needs your  pray ers it’s true, 
D G
but  save  a few for  Lef ty too. 
Bm G A A 
He just  did  what he  had  to  do, 
G Bm Bm 
and  now  he’s growing  old. 
chorus
G
A  few  grey federales say 
D G
they  could have had him  any day. 
Bm G A
They  only let him  go  so  wrong 
G Bm Bm 
out of  kind ness, I sup pose.  𝄇