Pancho and Lefty

Pancho and Lefty is a country song, originally written by Townes Van Zandt. The best-known version is a duo by Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard (Nelson sings the first three verses and the chorus, and Haggard the last verse; Van Zandt has a cameo role in the accompanying video).

Though commonly believed to be a tale about the notorious Mexican outlaw Pancho Villa, Van Zandt claims that is not the case (Villa was never captured or killed during his lifetime).

The song tells of a criminal duo: Mexican national Pancho and his American partner Lefty. Pancho is killed by the federales (the Mexican national police), whereupon Lefty returns to the United States; Lefty is now growing old, living in cheap motels in Cleveland.

The lyrics contain much ambiguity: the federales repeatedly claim (even years after his death) that they could have captured Pancho whenever they wanted, but didn't "out of kindness, I suppose" (implying that bribery was likely involved), while the circumstances surrounding Lefty's return to Ohio (and how he got the funds to do so) are also suspicious (it is implied that Lefty sold out Pancho to the federales, in exchange for his freedom and the reward money).