Poncho and Lefty
Emmylou Harris · Luxury Liner [Rhino Records] [2004]
(Townes Van Zandt)
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, boys
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
And nobody heard his dyin' words
Ah, but that's how the story goes.
All the Federals say
Could've had him any day
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
Could've had him any day
Only let him slip away
Out of kindness I suppose.
--- Instrumental ---
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 to.
All the Federals say
Could've had him any day
Only let him slip away
Out of kindness I suppose.
A few great federals say
They could have had him any day
They only let him slip away
Out of kindness I suppose...
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, boys
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
And nobody heard his dyin' words
Ah, but that's how the story goes.
All the Federals say
Could've had him any day
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
Could've had him any day
Only let him slip away
Out of kindness I suppose.
--- Instrumental ---
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 to.
All the Federals say
Could've had him any day
Only let him slip away
Out of kindness I suppose.
A few great federals say
They could have had him any day
They only let him slip away
Out of kindness I suppose...