[Intro]
C
[Strophe]
C                              G 
  Living on the road my friend, is gonna keep you free and clean 
F 
  Now you wear your skin like iron, 
     C                  G 
Your breath as hard as kerosene 
F                                           C               F 
  You weren't your mama's only boy, but her favorite one it seems 
      Am                   F    C    G 
She began to cry when you said goodbye, 
    F              Am     Am G 
And sank into your dreams
[Strophe]
C                        G 
  Pancho was a bandit boy, his horse was fast as polished steel 
F 
  He wore his gun outside his pants 
    C                       G 
For all the honest world to feel 
F                                      C               F 
  Pancho met his match you know on the deserts down in Mexico 
    Am                F  C  G            F                 Am    Am G 
And nobody heard his dying words, ah but that's the way it goes
[Refrain]
F                      C                        F 
  All the Federales say they could have had him any day 
Am                  F    C G         F              Am    Am G 
  They only let him slip away out of kindness, I suppose
[Strophe]
C                                G 
  Lefty, he can't sing the blues all night long like he used to. 
F                                     C           G 
  The dust that Pancho bit down south ended up in Lefty's mouth 
F                                    C               F 
  The day they laid poor Pancho low, Lefty split for Ohio 
Am                  F    C   G         F            Am     Am G 
   Where he got the bread to go, there ain't nobody knows
[Refrain]
F                      C                   F 
  All the Federales say could have had him any day 
Am                F    C G         F              Am    Am   F   C   C 
  We only let him slip away out of kindness, I suppose
[Solo]
| F      | F      | C      | F      |
| Am     | F C | G      | G      | F      |
| Am     | Am  G  |
[Strophe]
C                                G 
  The poets tell how Pancho fell, and Lefty's living in a cheap hotel 
F 
  The desert's quiet and Cleveland's cold, 
C                  G 
  And so the story ends we're told 
F                                     C                   F 
  Pancho needs your prayers it's true, but save a few for Lefty too 
Am                    F C G          F                Am    Am G 
  He only did what he had to do, and now he's growing old
[Refrain]
F                      C                   F 
  All the Federales say could have had him any day 
Am                F   C  G         F              Am    Am G 
  We only let him slip away out of kindness, I suppose  
F                         C                   F 
  A few gray Federales say could have had him any day 
Am                F  C  G               F            Am     Am   F   C 
  We only let him go so long, out of of kindness, I suppose