Pancho and Lefty
Townes Van Zandt
Verse 1.
G
Living on the road my friend
D
Was gonna keep you free and clean
C
Now you wear your skin like iron
G D
Your breath's as hard as kerosene
C
You weren't your mama's only boy
G C
But her favorite one it seems
Em C D
She began to cry when you said goodbye
C Em
sank into your dreams
Verse 2.
G
Pancho was a bandit boys
D
His horse was fast as polished steel
C
Wore his gun outside his pants
G D
For all the honest world to feel
C
Pancho met his match you know
G C
On the deserts down in Mexico
Em C D
Nobody heard his dying words
C Em
That's the way it goes
Chorus :
C
All the federales say
G C
They could have had him any day
Em C D
They only let him hang around
C Em
Out of kindness I suppose
Verse 3.
G
Lefty he can't sing the blues
D
All night long like he used to
C
The dust that Pancho bit down south
G D
Ended up in Lefty's mouth
C
The day they laid poor Pancho low
G C
Lefty split for Ohio
Em C D
Where he got the bread to go
C Em
There ain't nobody knows
Chorus :
C
All the federales say
G C
They could have had him any day
Em C D
They only let him slip away
C Em
Out of kindness I suppose
Verse 4.
G
The poets tell how Pancho fell
D
Lefty's livin' in a cheap hotel
C
The desert's quiet and Cleveland's cold
G D
So the story ends we're told
C
Pancho needs your prayers it's true,
G C
But save a few for Lefty too
Em C D
He just did what he had to do
C Em
Now he's growing old
Chorus:
C
A few gray federales say
G C
They could have had him any day
Em C D
They only let him go so wrong
C Em
Out of kindness I suppose
(repeat)
C
A few gray federales say
G C
They could have had him any day
Em C D
They only let him go so wrong
C Em
Out of kindness I suppose