| C | G |
| Living on the road my friend | Is gonna keep you free and clean |
| F | C | G |
| Now you wear your skin like iron | Your breath as hard as | kerosene |
| F | C | F |
| Weren’t your mama’s only boy but her | favorite one it | seems |
| Am | F | C | G | Am | G | |
| She | began to cry when you | said | good | bye and sank into your | dreams ... |
| C | G |
| Pancho was a bandit boys | his horse was fast as polished steel |
| F | C | G |
| He wore his gun outside his pants 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 | G | F | Am | G |
| Nobody heard h | is | dy | ing | words ah but | that’s the way it | goes ... |
| F | C | F |
| All the Federales say | they could have had him | any day |
| Am | F | C | G | F | Am | G |
| They only let him | slip | awa | y out of | kindness I sup | pose ... |
| 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 | G |
| Where he got the | bread | to | go there | ain’t nobody | knows ... |
| F | C | F |
| All the Federales say | could have had him | any day |
| Am | F | C | G | F | Am | G |
| They only let him | slip | awa | y out of | kindness I sup | pose ... |
| C | G |
| Poets tell how Pancho fell and | Lefty’s living in a cheap hotel |
| F | C | G |
| The desert’s quiet and Cleveland’s cold, | 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 | G |
| He only did what he | had | to | do and | now he’s growing | old ... |
| F | C | F |
| All the Federales say | could have had him | any day |
| Am | F | C | G | F | Am | G |
| We only let him | slip | awa | y out of | kindness I sup | pose ... |
| F | C | F |
| A few gray Federales say | could have had him | any day |
| Am | F | C | G | F | Am | G |
| We only only let him | go | so | long out of of | kindness I sup | pose ... |