Pancho and Lefty . Townes Van Zandt

INTRO: 1 verse chords

V1
C
Livin' on the road, my friend
G
Was gonna keep us free and clean
F
now you wear your skin like iron
 C                        G
And your breath's as hard as kerosene
F
weren't your mama's only boy
C                        F
But her favorite one, it seems
Am                        F/f   /e   G
She began to cry when you said good bye
F                   Am
And sank into your dreams

V2
C
Pancho was a bandit, boys
G
horse fast as polished steel
F
Wore his guns outside his pants
C                        G
For all the honest world to feel
F
Pancho met his match, you know
C                      F
On the deserts down in Mexico
Am                F/f /e  G
Nobody  heard his dyin'   words
F                     Am
But that's the way it goes

CHORUS
F
And all the federales say
C                           F
They could have had him any day
Am                F/f  /e  G
They only let him hang around
       F               Am
Out of kindness, I suppose

V3
C
Lefty he can't sing the blues
G
All night long like he used to
F
The dust that Pancho bit down South
C              G
It ended up in Lefty's mouth
F
The day they laid poor Pancho low
C                  F
Lefty split for Ohio
Am               F/f   /e  G
Where he got the bread to go
F                    Am
ahh there ain't nobody 'knows

CHORUS
F
And all the federales say
C                           F
They could have had him any day
Am                F/f  /e  G
They only let him hang around
       F               Am
Out of kindness, I suppose

V4
C
poets tell how Pancho fell
G
Lefty's livin' in a cheap hotel
F
The desert's quiet and Cleveland's cold
C                        G
And so the story ends, we're told
F
Pancho needs your prayers, it's true
C                          F
But save a few for Lefty, too
Am                  F/f /e  G
He only did what he had to do
F                    Am
And now he's growin' old

CHORUS/OUTTRO
F
Yes a few old gray federales still say
C                           F
They could have had him any day
Am                F/f /e   G
They only let him go so wrong
       F                Am
Out of kindness, I suppose

REPEAT