D A Living on the road my friend, is gonna keep you free and clean G Now you wear your skin like iron, D A Your breath as hard as kerosene. G D G You weren't your mama's only boy, but her favorite one it seems D G D A She began to cry when you said goodbye, G Bm Dm And sank into your dreams. D A Pancho was a bandit boy, his horse was fast as polished steel G He wore his gun outside his pants D A For all the honest world to feel. G D G Pancho met his match you know on the deserts down in Mexico D G D A G Bm Gm Nobody heard his dying words, ah but that's the way it goes. G D G All the Federales say they could have had him any day D G D A G Bm They only let him slip away out of kindness, I suppose. BAD D A Lefty, he can't sing the blues all night long like he used to. G D A The dust that Pancho bit down south ended up in Lefty's mouth G D G The day they laid poor Pancho low, Lefty split for Ohio D G D A G Bm Where he got the bread to go, there ain't nobody knows BAG G D G All the Federales say they could have had him any day D G D A G Bm Dm They only let him slip away out of kindness, I suppose. D A The boys tell how Pancho fell, and Lefty's living in cheap hotels G The desert's quiet, Cleveland's cold, D A And so the story ends we're told G D G Pancho needs your prayers it's true, but save a few for Lefty too D G D A G Bm He only did what he had to do, and now he's growing old BAG G D G All the Federales say they could have had him any day D G D A G Bm They only let him slip away out of kindness, I suppose. BAG G D G A few gray Federales say they could have had him any day D G D A G D D They only let him slip away out of kindness, I suppose. notes on playing: D G D A She began to cry when you said goodbye, Try playing the G D A as: GDA |-s-3--2---- |-s-3--3---2 |-s-4--2---2 |----------2 |----------- |----------- G Bm Dm And sank into your dreams. and G Bm Gm ah but that's the way it goes. The transitions at the ends of these lines are similar. Play the Bm like: Bm |---2------- |---3------- And then walk the bass line up or down the 5th string |---4------- to make the change to the final D or G. It's a quick |---4------- transition. |---2------- |----------- BADBAG |---2------2 |---2------3 |---3------3 |---3------0 |---4------2 |---4------0 |---4------- |---4------0 |---2---4--- |---2---0--2 |----------- |----------3 And throughout the song, as you strum or pick your way merrily along, try to keep an alternating bass line going, it gives the song a lot of it's character. Submitted by John Kearney (jk13@aol.com)