Listen to Pancho & Lefty (Live at The Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA - April 30, 2023) by Willie Nelson & George Strait

Pancho & Lefty (Live at The Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA - April 30, 2023)

Willie Nelson & George Strait

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LYRICS

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Pancho & Lefty (Live at The Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA - April 30, 2023)

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Credits

PERFORMING ARTISTS

Willie Nelson

Performer

George Strait

Performer

Audley Freed

Guitar

Benmont Tench

Organ

Don Was

Bass

Gabe Witcher

Fiddle

Greg Leisz

Pedal Steel Guitar

Jamey Johnson

Guitar

Mickey Raphael

Harmonica

Terence Higgins

Terence Higgins

Drums

Tom Bukovac

Guitar

Alfreda McCrary

Alfreda McCrary

Background Vocals

Ann McCrary

Background Vocals

Regina McCrary

Background Vocals

COMPOSITION & LYRICS

Townes Van Zandt

Townes Van Zandt

Songwriter

Lyrics

[Verse 1]

Living on the road, my friend

Was gonna keep you free and clean

Now you wear your skin like iron

And your breath is hard as kerosene

Weren't your mama's only boy

But her favorite one, it seems

But she began to cry when you said goodbye

And sank into your dream

[Verse 2]

Pancho was a bandit, boys

His horse was fast as polished steel

He wore his gun outside his pants

For all the honest world to feel

And Pancho met his match, you know

On the deserts down in Mexico

Nobody heard his dying words

But that's the way it goes

[Chorus]

All the Federales say

They coulda had him any day

They only let him slip away

Out of kindness, I suppose

[Verse 3]

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

Ain't nobody know

[Chorus]

All the Federales say

They coulda had him any day

They only let him slip away

Out of kindness, I suppose

[Verse 4]

Poets tell how Pancho fell

And Lefty's living 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

Save a few for Lefty, too

He only did what he had to do

Now he's growing old

[Chorus]

All the Federales say

They coulda had him any day

They only let him slip away

Out of kindness, I suppose

[Outro]

Few gray-haired Federales say

"We coulda had him any day

We only let him go so long

Out of kindness, I suppose"

Written by: Townes Van Zandt

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