Pancho and Lefty

All the federales say

Pancho met his match, you know
"We could have had him any day"
And now you wear your skin like iron
"They could have had him any day"
Weren't you mama's only boy
The dust that Pancho bit down south
Out of kindness, I suppose
The poets tell how Pancho fell
They only let him slip away
And now he's growin' old
The desert's quiet and Cleveland's cold
Lefty split for Ohio
He only did what he had to do

And so the story ends, we're told
All the federales say

Lefty he can't sing the blues
And your breath as hard as kerosene
For all the honest world to feel
But her favorite one, it seems
Out of kindness, I suppose

They only let him go so long
A few old gray federales say
We only let him slip away
She began to cry when you said, "Goodbye"
Pancho was a bandit, boy
His horse was fast as polished steel
Nobody heard his dyin' words
The day they laid poor Pancho low
We only let him go so long
He wore his gun outside his pants

But save a few for lefty, too

Out of kindness, I suppose
There ain't nobody knows
"They could have had him any day"
Ended up in lefty's mouth
"Could have had him any day"
All night long like he used to
On the deserts down in Mexico
And lefty's livin' in a cheap hotel
Where he got the bread to go

But that's the way it goes
Pancho needs your prayers, it's true

All the federales say
Sank into your dreams