The Ballad of Lefty and Righty

Living on the road, my friend Was gonna keep you free and clean Now you wear your skin like iron 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
Righty was a bandit, boys His horse was fast as polished steel Wore his gun outside his pants For all the honest world to feel But Righty met his match, you know In the deserts down in Mexico Nobody heard his dying words That's the way it goes
And all the federales say They could have had him any day They only let him hang around Out of kindness, I suppose
And Lefty, he can't sing the blues All night long like he used to The dust that Righty bit down south Ended up in Lefty's mouth The day they laid poor Righty low Lefty split for Ohio And where he got the bread to go Ain't nobody knows
And all the federales say They could have had him any day They only let him slip away Out of kindness, I suppose
Well, the poets tell how Righty fell Lefty's living in a cheap hotel The desert's quiet, Cleveland's cold So the story ends, we're told Righty needs your prayers, it's true But save a few for Lefty, too He just did what he had to do And now he's growing old
And a few gray federales say They could have had him any day They only let him go so wrong Out of kindness, I suppose