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Pancho and Lefty
Townes Van Zandt
Capo 1
There are a few measures of 2/4 in this song. I’ve notated them like this: / F C /. F and C each last for one beat.
| Chord Guide | |||
|
32 1 C: x32010 |
3 4
G: 3x0003 |
T 321
F: 1x321x |
231
Am: x02210 |
| Picking Guide: |
|
------------------ 2 -----------X------ 1 -------X-------X-- T -----X-------X---- ------------------ T* -X-------X-------- 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
* Bass note depends on chord. |
Intro Solo:
/ C - - - / - - - - / G - - - / - - - - /
/ F - - - / - - - - / Am - - - / - - - - /
C (2)
Living on the road my friend
G (2)
Is gonna keep you free and clean
F (2)
Now you wear your skin like iron
C G
Your breath as hard as kerosene
F (2)
Weren't your mama's only boy
C F
But her favorite one it seems
Am / F C / G (2)
She began to cry when you said good - bye
F Am (2)
And sank into your dreams
C (2)
Pancho was a bandit, boys, his
G (2)
horse was fast as polished steel
F (2)
He wore his gun outside his pants
C G
For all the honest world to feel
F (2)
Pancho met his match you know on the
C F
deserts down in Mexico
Am / F C / G (2)
Nobody heard his dying words
F Am (2)
but that's the way it goes
CHORUS:
F (2)
All the Federales say they
C F
could have had him any day
Am / F C / G (2)
They only let him slip a - way
F Am (2)
out of kindness I suppose
C (2)
Lefty he can't sing the blues
G (2)
all night long like he used to
F (2)
The dust that Pancho bit down south
C G
ended up in Lefty's mouth
F
The day they laid poor Pancho low
C F
Lefty split for Ohio
Am / F C / G (2)
Where he got the bread to go
F Am (2)
there ain't nobody knows
CHORUS
SOLO:
/ C - - - / - - - - / G - - - / - - - - /
/ F - - - / - - - - / Am - - - / - - - - /
C (2)
Poets tell how Pancho fell and
G (2)
Lefty's living in a cheap hotel
F (2)
The desert's quiet and Cleveland's cold,
C G
And so the story ends we're told
F (2)
Pancho needs your prayers it's true but
C F
save a few for Lefty too
Am / F C / G (2)
He only did what he had to do
F Am (2)
and now he's growing old
OUTRO CHORUS:
F (2)
All the Federales say
C F
could have had him any day
Am / F C / G (2)
We only let him slip a - way
F Am (2)
out of kindness I suppose
F
A few gray Federales say
C F
could have had him any day
Am / F C / G (2)
We only only let him go so long
F Am (2)
out of of kindness I suppose
End on Am
Solo:
This file is the author's own work and represents his interpretation of this song. It's intended solely for private study, scholarship or research.
