Weren't you mama's only boy
He only did what he had to do
The dust that Pancho bit down south
But her favorite one, it seems
We only let him slip away
All the federales say
They only let him slip away
And now he's growin' old
And now you wear your skin like iron
There ain't nobody knows
They only let him go so long
We only let him go so long
"We could have had him any day"
Pancho was a bandit, boy
And lefty's livin' in a cheap hotel
Out of kindness, I suppose
Out of kindness, I suppose
Nobody heard his dyin' words
All the federales say
Pancho met his match, you know
Lefty he can't sing the blues
"They could have had him any day"
He wore his gun outside his pants
The day they laid poor Pancho low
All night long like he used to
The poets tell how Pancho fell
And so the story ends, we're told
All the federales say
She began to cry when you said, "Goodbye"
"Could have had him any day"
The desert's quiet and Cleveland's cold
Pancho needs your prayers, it's true
Out of kindness, I suppose
And your breath as hard as kerosene
But save a few for lefty, too
Lefty split for Ohio
But that's the way it goes
For all the honest world to feel
His horse was fast as polished steel
"They could have had him any day"
A few old gray federales say
Sank into your dreams
Where he got the bread to go
On the deserts down in Mexico
Ended up in lefty's mouth
