Living on the road my friend Was supposed to keep you free and clean And now you wear your skin like iron And your breath as hard as kerosene Weren't your mama'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 Ah but that's the way it goes All the Federales say They could have had him any day They only let him slip away Out of kindness, I suppose 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 All the Federales say They could have had him any day We only let him slip away Out of kindness, I suppose The poets tell how Pancho fell And Lefty's living in a cheap hotel 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 All the Federales say We could have had him any day We only let him slip away Out of kindness, I suppose A few gray Federales say We could have had him any day We only let him go so long Out of kindness, I suppose
This is my favorite version of Pancho and Lefty. I feel like it really captures the beauty and pathos of the song.
I love Emmylou's version but this is my favorite. Can't get enough of it.
Living on the road my friend
Was supposed to keep you free and clean
And now you wear your skin like iron
And your breath as hard as kerosene
Weren't your mama'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
Ah but that's the way it goes
All the Federales say
They could have had him any day
They only let him slip away
Out of kindness, I suppose
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
All the Federales say
They could have had him any day
We only let him slip away
Out of kindness, I suppose
The poets tell how Pancho fell
And Lefty's living in a cheap hotel
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
All the Federales say
We could have had him any day
We only let him slip away
Out of kindness, I suppose
A few gray Federales say
We could have had him any day
We only let him go so long
Out of kindness, I suppose
Next to Townes, the best version to me. And there are a lot of good ones out there, I grew up on Willie
Exquisite 💜
I love Gillian but no one will ever come close to Townes singing this…
What a version!
How can I purchase this album? Can't find it anywhere!
So far only available as a download.
@@tomformanek3312 Where can I purchase the download?
Where can this version be purchased and down-loaded?