The original from The Best of Townes Van Zandt is tuned down a half-step! Intro: Finger pick F to Am Verse:

^CLiving on the road my friend ^FWas gonna keep you free and clean ^FNow you wear your skin like iron Your ^Cbreath's as hard as ^Fkerosene ^FYou weren't your mama's only boy But her ^Cfavorite one it ^Fseems ^AmShe began to cry when you ^Fsaid good^Fbye And ^Fsank into your ^Amdreams

Pancho was a bandit boys His horse was fast as polished steel 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 That's the way it goes

^FAll the federales say ^CThey could have had him ^Fany day ^AmThey only let him ^Fhang a^Fround Out of ^Fkindness I sup^Ampose

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 They only let him slip away Out of kindness I suppose The poets tell how Pancho fell Lefty's livin' in a cheap hotel The desert's quiet and Cleveland's cold So the story ends we're told Pancho needs your prayers it's true, But save a few for Lefty too He just did what he had to do Now he's growing old A few gray federales say They could have had him any day They only let him go so wrong Out of kindness I suppose

Townes van Zandt - Pancho and lefty