Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson Pancho and Lefty

Composed by Townes VanZandtLiving on the road, my friend Was gonna keep you free and clean Now you wear your skin like iron And your breath's as hard as kerosene You weren't your mama's only son But her favorite one it seems She began to cry when you said goodbye And sank into your dreamsPoncho 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 Poncho met his match, you know On the deserts down in Mexico Nobody heard his dyin' words But that's the way goesAll the Federales say, They could have had him any day They only let him slip away, Out of kindness, I supposeLefty he can't sing the blues All night long like he used to The dust that Poncho bit down south Ended up in Lefty's mouth Day they laid poor Poncho low Lefty split for Ohio Where he got the bread to go There ain't nobody knowsAll the Federales say, They could have had him any day They only let him slip away, Out of kindness, I suppose[ guitar ]The poets tell how Poncho fell And Lefty's living in a cheap hotel The desert's quiet and Cleveland's cold And so the story ends we're told Poncho needs your prayers, it's true Vut save a few for Lefty too He only did what he had to do And now he's growing oldAll the Federales say, They could have had him any day They only let him slip away, Out of kindness, I supposeA few grey Federales say They could have had him any day They only let him go so long, Out of kindness, I suppose.