[Verse 1]
Living on the road, my friend
Was gonna keep you free and clean
Now you wear your skin like iron
Your breath's 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

[Verse 2]
Pancho was a bandit, boys
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
In the deserts down in Mexico
And nobody heard his dying words
Oh, that's the way it goes

[Chorus]
All the federales say
They could have had him any day
Only let him slip away
Out of kindness, I suppose
[Verse 3]
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]
All the federales say
Could have had him any day
We only let him slip away
Out of kindness, I suppose

[Verse 4]
The poets tell how Pancho fell
Lefty's living in a cheap hotel
The desert's quiet and 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]
All the federales say
Could have had him any day
We only let him slip away
Out of kindness, I suppose

[Outro]
A few gray federales say
Could have had him any day
We only let him go so long
Out of kindness, I suppose