Emmylou Harris – Pancho And Lefty (Guitar)

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Versions (2)

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Chords

(written by Townes Van Zandt) As done by Emmylou Harris on her album Luxury Liner [Intro] C [Verse 1]
C                              G
  Living on the road my friend, is gonna keep you free and clean

F
  Now you wear your skin like iron,

     C                    G
Your breath's as hard as kerosene

F                                           C               F
  You weren't your mama's only boy, but her favorite one it seems

      Am                   F    C    G
She began to cry when you said goodbye,

    F              Am     Am G
And sank into your dreams
[Verse 2]
C                           G
  Pancho was a bandit, boys, his horse was fast as polished steel

F
  He wore his gun outside his pants

    C                       G
For all the honest world to feel

F                                      C               F
  Pancho met his match you know on the deserts down in Mexico

    Am                F  C  G            F                 Am    Am G
And nobody heard his dying words, ah but that's the way it goes
[Chorus]
F                      C                        F
  All the Federales say they could have had him any day

Am                  F    C G         F              Am    Am G
  They only let him slip away out of kindness, I suppose
[Verse 3]
C                                G
  Lefty, he can't sing the blues all night long like he used to.

F                                     C           G
  The dust that Pancho bit down south ended up in Lefty's mouth

F                                    C               F
  The day they laid poor Pancho low, Lefty split for Ohio

Am                  F    C   G         F            Am     Am G
   Where he got the bread to go, there ain't nobody knows
[Chorus]
F                      C                   F
  All the Federales say could have had him any day

Am                F    C G         F              Am    Am   F   C   C
  We only let him slip away out of kindness, I suppose
[Solo] | F | F | C | F | | Am | F C | G | G | F | | Am | Am G | [Verse 4]
C                                G
  The poets tell how Pancho fell,  Lefty's living in a cheap hotel

F
  The desert's quiet and Cleveland's cold,

C                  G
  And so the story ends we're told

F                                     C                   F
  Pancho needs your prayers it's true, but save a few for Lefty too

Am                    F C G          F                Am    Am G
  He only did what he had to do, and now he's growing old
[Chorus]
F                      C                   F
  All the Federales say could have had him any day

Am                F   C  G         F              Am    Am G
  We only let him slip away out of kindness, I suppose

F                         C                   F
  A few gray Federales say could have had him any day

Am                F  C  G               F            Am     Am   F   C
  We only let him go so long, out of of kindness, I suppose