Lyrics:

[ with Merle Haggard ]



Living on the road my friend was gonna keep you free and clean

Now you were your skin like iron and your breath's as hard as kerosene

You 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

Poncho 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

Poncho met his match you know on the deserts down in Mexico

Nobody heard his dyin' words ah but that's the way it goes

All the Federals say they could've had him any day

We 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 Poncho bit down south ended up in Lefty's mouth

Day they laid poor Poncho low Lefty split for Ohio

Where he got the bread to go there ain't nobody knows

All the Federals say they could've had him any day

We only let him slip away out of kindness I suppose

[ guitar ]

The poets tell how Poncho fell and Lefty's living in a cheap hotel

The desert's quiet and Cleveland's cold and so the story ends we're told

Poncho 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 Federals say they could've had him any day)

We only let him slip away out of kindness I suppose

A few Federals say could've had him any day

We only let him go so long out of kindness I suppose