[Verse 1: Willie Nelson]
Living on the road, my friend
Was gonna keep you free and clean
And now you wear your skin like iron
Your breath as hard as kerosene
You weren't your momma's only boy
But her favorite one, it seems
She began to cry when you said goodbye
And sank into your dreams

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

[Chorus: Willie Nelson]
All the Federales say
They could've had him any day
They only let him slip away
Out of kindness, I suppose

[Verse 2: Willie Nelson]
Lefty, he can't sing the blues
All night long like he used to
The dust that Pancho bit down South
Ended up in Lefty's mouth
The day they laid poor Pancho low
Lefty split for Ohio
Where he got the bread to go
There ain't nobody knows
[Chorus: Willie Nelson]
All the Federales say
They could've had him any day
We only let him slip away
Out of kindness, I suppose

[Verse 3: Merle Haggard]
The poets tell how Pancho fell
And Lefty's living in cheap hotels
The desert's quiet, Cleveland's cold
And so the story ends, we're told
Pancho needs your prayers, it's true
But save a few for Lefty too
He only did what he had to do
And now he's growing old

[Chorus: Willie Nelson]
(All the Federales say)
(We could've had him any day)
They only let him go so long
Out of kindness, I suppose

[Outro: Willie Nelson]
A few gray Federales say
They could've had him any day
They only let him go so long
Out of kindness, I suppose