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Pancho And Lefty

Townes Van Zandt
Version1
90

Chords in this song

Strum
D-DU-UDU
 Finger pick  to
Living  on the road my friend
Was  gonna keep you free and clean
Now  you wear your skin like iron
 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
 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
All  the federales say
They  could have had him any  day
They  only let him hang  around
 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
 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

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Readable chord sheet for Pancho And Lefty by Townes Van Zandt

Finger pick [A] to [Bm]

[D]Living on the road my friend
[A]Was gonna keep you free and clean
[G]Now you wear your skin like iron
Your [D]breath's as hard as [A]kerosene
[G]You weren't your mama's only boy
But her [D]favorite one it [G]seems
[Bm]She began to cry when you [G]said good[A]bye
And [G]sank into your [Bm]dreams

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

[G]All the federales say
[D]They could have had him [G]any day
[Bm]They only let him [G]hang a[A]round
Out of [G]kindness I sup[Bm]pose

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

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